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Ice cave with snowcat - Hurtigruten Svalbard - Photo Thomas Griesbeck
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Ice Cave Exploration by Snowcat

Difficulty level
3
Suitable for those with average fitness
Duration
3 hours
Age limit
8 years
Period
Jan - May
Explore the sparkling underworld of ice, hidden deep inside one of the glaciers right behind Longyearbyen. You will get to the ice cave in a snowcat, a comfortable and fun vehicle that smoothly traverses its way up and down over the moraine.

Included in the tour

  • Transfer from/to your accommodation in Longyearbyen

  • Helmet with headlight, crampons

  • Hot drinks and biscuits

  • Guide with all necessary safety equipment

You will be picked up by the snowcat, and head directly up onto Longyearbreen (the ‘Longyear Glacier’). It is not a long drive, just a few kilometres south of town. When you step out on the glacier – a seemingly flat plateau of snow and ice – it is difficult to imagine what frozen wonderland awaits under the surface. You will be equipped with crampons to put on your shoes and a powerful headlamp. Then the guide shows you the little opening in the ground, leading you down into the magical world of ice and snow.

The headlight lights up the ice as you walk through the narrow passages. You can expect to see icicles, beautiful ice crystals and fascinating layering in the ice walls. A truly mesmerising scenery. Generally, we can walk a couple of hundred metres into the cave before the cave stops, or becomes difficult to follow.

Once we step back into daylight again, you will be served a hot blackcurrant toddy and a biscuit or two—the perfect end to a magical winter experience! Then we head back down to Longyearbyen.