Ski blog: powder trips from Japan to the Arctic

Ski touring in Svalbard sets people dreaming long before they leave: the sailing boat at anchor, glaciers sliding into the sea, the sun circling above the horizon all night. Before booking, three questions turn up in almost every email we receive: the level it takes, why late May, and what goes in the bag.

One fixed departure, Monday 24 to Monday 31 May 2027, twelve skiers aboard a schooner, two groups of six. The week as it runs from Isfjorden to Ny-Ålesund, €9,500 and what it covers, the level you need and how to hold a place.

In Spitsbergen you click in at the fjord's edge, skin up 800 to nearly 1,000 metres, and the run carries all the way to the sea. The boat, the mountain, the lines of a ski-and-sail expedition.

Two flights from Norway, touchdown at Longyearbyen, boarding the Noorderlicht: the first-hand story of getting to the Svalbard ski-and-sail schooner, told by PowderWeGo's founder.

The polar bear question comes up every time. Here's how a ski-and-sail expedition to Svalbard is really built around him — route chosen from the sea, a watch kept on shore — for calm skiing in Europe's last white desert.

Ski Spitsbergen from a sailing boat in late May: the sun never sets, you skin straight off the sea, and you watch for bears. A Svalbard ski and sail expedition aboard the schooner Noorderlicht, told by a tour operator.

Svalbard ski touring and sailing: a schooner as base camp off Spitsbergen, zodiac to the foot of the line, skins to the summit, descents to the sea ice.

Story of our ski-sailing adventure in Spitsbergen - Svalbard archipelago aboard the Noorderlicht with PowderWeGo , from LongyearByen to Ny-Alesund, crossing the Isfjorden, the St Jonsfjorden and Kingsbay. Our guides, Lionel, Olivier, Stephane, and Boris from PowderWeGo, accompany you on your ski touring adventures to the ends of the earth. We are honored to have such an incredible and international team of skiers: Diane, Nicolas, Olivier, Éric, Bruno, Pierre, Jean-François, D