A Snowmobile Trip to East Svalbard

When we started researching things to do, a snowmobile trip to East Svalbard kept being mentioned. My first thought? It sounded like a very long day — about 10 hours. My second thought? I had zero experience driving a snowmobile. But let’s be honest — this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and would provide a unique perspective of the region. This is how we wound up on a full day tour snowmobile trip to East Svalbard with Spitzbergen Adventures.

Gearing Up

We already had on Smartwool base layers, fleece middle layers, and parkas. On top of that, we added a full-body, down-insulated snowsuit with a wind- and waterproof shell. Then came the full face balaclava, goggles, thick mittens, snow boots with super-chunky soles, and finally, a helmet. I could barely move and looked like a cross between Tinky Winky and Kenny from South Park. At least I was warm.

Driver’s Education

Our guide gave us a super quick intro to the snowmobiles. Start button, stop button, and a little safety pull tab to reset the ignition. That was it. I considered being a passenger princess and letting Andy drive for the day, but he encouraged me to drive my own. I’m glad he did even if I was mildly terrified for a good part of the day. I now know why travel insurance excludes snowmobiling.

And We’re Off!

The light was flat that morning, which made it really hard to spot bumps in the snow. Hitting a bump at 60–70 km/h sent me flying off the seat. My instincts said “just hang on!” so I’d grip the handlebars. The giant mittens would often accidentally hit the throttle, causing the snowmobile to lurch forward again. It was chaos. This would have made great Insta360 footage, but I was way too focused on survival to even think about pulling out my camera.

The route took us about 200 km round trip to a glacier on the east side of the island. We stopped every 30 minutes or so to regroup, take in the view, and give our poor hands a break from death-gripping the handlebars.

Peak Hour Traffic

One of the most surprising parts? Just how many people were out there. We saw groups coming from the opposite direction — meaning they’d spent the night somewhere deep in this icy wilderness. At one point we passed a lone musher on a dog sled, easily 50 km from town. We saw backcountry skiers hauling sleds — which we assumed had to be some sort of survival training, but nope, just a multi-day Arctic camping trip for fun. And in the afternoon, when the wind picked up, we even spotted kite surfers, flying along the snow like it was no big deal. Wild.

Lunch at the Glacier

Eventually we reached the glacier and found a sheltered spot for a lunch break. The views were unreal — wide-open ice, jagged ridgelines, total silence. Lunch was a dehydrated Norwegian classic (I picked spaghetti bolognese), eaten with a giant wooden spoon. It was almost impossible to eat with the giant spoon while wearing gloves, but I get why metal cutlery is a no-go in sub-zero temps.

The weather was all over the place — we went from total whiteout to blue skies, and from calm stillness to full-blown Arctic winds. It was total sensory overload, in an exciting way.

We’re so glad we did this tour — even though it completely wiped us out. Like, full-body soreness, rattled-to-the-core kind of tired. But the landscape felt like another planet — stark, surreal, and totally unforgettable.

If we ever did it again, we’d probably book a private tour so we could make more stops along the way (and maybe capture more photos without frostbite risk!).

Next up – A Photography Expedition on the M/V Freya