[Not that I am calling the fine people of Longyearbyen mountain goats – or maybe I am…]
Slowly, slowly up the mountain…
I had wanted to trek to the top of Platåfjellet [the mountain looming to the west of Longyearbyen], but this late in the year I thought it may be a little too icy to tackle the steep trail. Not that such a little thing stopped the locals scarpering up one of their favourite walks.
Oh well, I thought, next time…
Then I found out a community charity climb had been organised – how could I possibly resist joining in?
There were a few additions to the climb to add a little more suspense:
•The start time was 6pm, meaning we would be climbing in the dark [head torches required].
•It was super icy and ridiculously steep, from a non-local perspective [boot spikes required].
•There was a howling frozen wind absolutely pelting in… [thankfully blowing in from the edge of the mountain].
After the safety briefing and rousing cheer, off we all went.
Well, I say ‘we’ all went... the hardy locals fairly ran up the mountain while a few of us mere mortals tried our hardest to keep up. A big incentive was to not lose sight of the polar bear guards in the dark.
The view across Longyearbyen from maybe a third of the way up
It was snowing and windy, then really windy, then reeeeeaally steep, then really, really windy.
Up, up, up… always seemingly up, hearing the melodic chat above calling us even higher.
Standing on top of the mountain was thrilling and a little nerve wracking as the wind had picked up – and there in the dark, where exactly was the edge…?
The blurry view from the top – the wind made it impossible to hold the camera still
The way down was equally suspenseful
To my fellow adventurer @yinglish – we made it, my friend…