First ski tour

Right after I got up on Sunday I was told that a couple of people would go for a ski tour. One of the guys from the safety course has been living in Longyearbyen for quite some time and knows the area. When he picked us up he also brought a friend who is a guide up here. Considering this company I felt very safe on my first real trip out of town.

We started from our house and went into a side valley up to a glacier called Larsbreen. It was erie to skin up the mountain. The moon was so bright that we didn't use our headlamps most of the time. About half the way up also northern lights appeared in the sky. As if that wasn't enough the horizon to the south let us know that the sun still existed and gleamed in a faint red-gold.

We decided to climb even higher to a peak called Trollsteinen. On top the whole scene was even more stunning. It was amazing to see the surrounding landscape in the moonshine. And the peak itself definitely deserves its name due to a huge boulder that sits on top.
I really hated myself for not bringing my camera but fortunately the other guys had theirs with them. (click)

The snow on the way down was amazing (apparently very rare conditions for the area) and I really enjoyed my new skis. For me it was the first time to ski in the dark and I wasn't sure how good it is to go down with a headlamp. I found out that it works great and at least in the easy terrain we were in it was a lot of fun.