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HFT, just read that too. The best part was this I am pretty excited that we don't have to deal with that in the San Juans. But this is pure stoke!

^ did you notice he only has three fingers?

Svalbard may be the only place I'd have to consider riding w/ a fokkin AK!

Don't worry though Bush..You'd go quick...You'd be bite sized appetizer for Mr. Polar. Followed by a main course of split Polack.. Then HFT's skinny ass for dessert, and toothpick.

Bonez would be too busy bonin' back in Bayfield to make the trip.

Splitrippersallynuts... Ain't no way I'm going first. All I need to do is go faster then you, and considering you come from the flatlands, and I am a trained ninja elf with mysterious ways of dissapearing safely, I'm not concerned. But if Bones isn't there to fight off the polars, I'm not going!

I've concluded a few things from Jones blog on Svalbard:

1) This place is Couloir central. Its littered with em, and you could spend years there and still have more. And I love couloirs.

2) Terje on this trip is absolutely epic. His methods are timeless, and this shot of his shadow even shows it.


3) Polar bears are scary, but this terrain might be just as much. SICK!

4) Further is going to be insane.
5) HFT having this idea prior is sick
6) I want to go to Svalbard

Do you guys know if this was a big snow year for them?

http://blog.jonessnowboards.com/2011/06/further-paradise-found/

Though I'd chime in on this:
Svalbard is a pretty standard "fun-to-visit" place for us mainland Norwegians, but sadly, most people never leave the outskirts of town. And if they do, it's on some over-organized 2 hours snowmobile trip or something.

That said, I felt kind of stupid after reading Jeremy's blog from up there. I have always suspected there were rideable mountains up there, but not at that scale. And here comes this dude from the US and shows us how very wrong we were...

So, Svalbard is now very high up on my list. A friend of mine is planning to move up there sometime this autumn, and even though he's a telemarker I'm sure he'll report back with his findings. I'm thinking 2 weeks late april or may 2012 up there. He'll be able to set me up with snowmobile and/or boat.

If anyone wants to join, I'll keep this space updated. I'll know more in 2-3 months.

BTW: As for polar bears, the stay near the coast. Every single polar bear accident up there happens when people camp or stay to close to water. Inland clacier camping should be safe.

Super interesting TR from the TGR forums...

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/show ... the-Arctic

At least if the snow sucks, there's some exploring to do!

Big news in the UK at the moment:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14415592

It's scared me all over again about our incident in Greenland. If I'd put my MP3 player on instead of poking my head out to check the weather...

Yeah... Svalbard stoke has went from "weeeeeeeeeeeee "

to:

Fokk dat cheeeet meng

Humans have no fokkin business going into an area where an animal will come to feed. We seem to think that because we have the parasitic ability to leech off any corner of the globe.. That this establishes our rights over animals whom hunt that area for food. It's like posting a McDonalds sign with tasty slow moving morsels on the menus for Polar Bears...

Dunno. It's a tricky one. I totally get where you are coming from and a good part of me agrees with you. But if this group had been doing things 100% right, they could have persuaded the bear to move away without confrontation, injury and 2 deaths.

Don't know if it's a world apart from camping in grizzly country in Alaska, or the rest of the US. We feel drawn to mountains and wilderness, that's why we're out there, and on here.

You're quite right when you say the attack could have been prevented. According to Norwegian media the bear did not trigger any flares when entering the camp. If it had triggered one it would have fled. There's also been some discussion around wether they were properly trained in using firearms, but this has not received a lot of attention due to the tragic turn of events.

Polar Bears are extremely curious beings, and they also try to eat pretty much anything they come across. Combined with the scarcity of food as there is less and less ice around (Polar Bears use the ice to hunt seals) attacks on humans are likely to increase.

While it's true that you're more likely to encounter one near the coast, the general rule for the entire island is that you don't travel anywhere outside the towns without a gun. There's special laws regarding rental of firearms to facilitate arming tourists.