Snowmobile Tour to Barentsburg, Norway.   

Please Note:  The background on this page is an aerial photo of the sea ice near the island of Svalbard, Norway

Photo by C. Jeff Dyrek

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We were in the city of Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen about seven hundred miles north of the north coast of Norway high in the Arctic Circle.   Our goal was to drive to Barentsburg to see my Russian friends who played in the band.   In  the first part of our journey we had to drive our snowmobiles through the riverbed between Longyearbyen and the glacier.   As we drove, it was necessary to cross several roads and places where there was no or very little snow.  I never drove a snowmobile before but I didn't like the way the metal skis skidded across the dry ground.  If felt like they would grind off in just a very short time.  Once we reached the glacier our snowmobile tour group started our climb out of the valley to where we are now, in this picture, on top of the plateau.  Links about the Russian communities on Svalbard. Pulling out of Pyramiden