In Search of Sunshine

It has been 75 days since I last saw the sun, that burning ball of light, high up in the sky!

At times, I have missed it sorely. When I first arrived, I had absolutly no sense of day from night, up from down, in part due to my jet lag but mostly because there was never any light. It really struck home how much I relied on the changes in daylight to tell the time. No beautiful sunrises to tell me it is time to throw back the covers and leap out of bed!

The view as I leap out of bed in the mornings. Hehe, who am I kidding, I dont leap out of bed, but this is my view!

But now, the light is definitly back at 78 degrees North. There is a sense of daytime, with blue light from around 8 in the morning, until about 4 pm. And on the weekend (16 February to be precise), I attempted my first adventure to see the sun.

Looking north, across Plateaufjellet and at Isfjorden

It was to be from Trollstein, a mountain near Longyearbyen, which is 849 m high (according to my map). This was my very first mountain to be climbed while wearing skis. 

The mountain top, just before midday

Now, my skiing is definitly in the class of "young giraffe in high heels wandering across the ice". But, I was determined to give it a go (will try anything once!) and as such, I stuck 'skins' on my borrowed skis, and set off up through the moraine and onto the glacier. It was actually alright - you dont sink into the snow so much, and sliding your feet along is much easier than having to lift them out of snow.

Me, attempting that "ski attitude" I have seen in pictures.

Twice, I had to remove my skis to walk up a steep section though. The second time was when I was 'traversing' (totally getting this language now!!) and starting going backwards, downhill. Not such a nice feeling, being unable to control your movement on a steep, hardpacked, snowy mountain side! 

This was a community event, plenty of people to talk to on the way up and down!

Eventually, I made it to the top, to look out at the stunning vista of mountain tops with the shy sun just peeking out....

The view to the east. Lovely crescent moon, but in the end, no sun whatsoever...

BUT nothing. Just a mass of grey cloud, very cold temperatures and a sense of disappointment!  And fear. Fear of skiing, down a steep slope, with nothing but a snow covered glacier to catch me!

After a biscuit, hot drinks and a quick chat with friends, I attached my skis to my backpack and walked down the steepest part. Then, tentatively re-attached my skis to go down a little bit... Only to panic for about 5 mins, take off skis, then run to catch up with friends and walk the rest of the way down.

All in all, a good trip but am uncertain about this downhill skiing. Just wait until you hear about my experiences of skiing with dogs...

Heading back down towards town, hot chocolate and cosy company!