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Spitsbergen from north to south

by Brynje of Norway

Nyhet

Ambassadør

Even Sverdrup

In 2021, he had to give up his dream of skiing the length of Spitsbergen. In 2024, Even Leivestad Sverdrup made it!

Even L. Sverdrup and Thomas Lone attempted to walk the length of Svalbard in 2021. It turned out to be an impossible task due to extreme weather with hurricane and large amounts of snow. But Even is a man who does not give up so easily. In April 2024, he completed Spitsbergen lengthwise together with his friend Jørgen Kalvå Flå.

The two actually intended to challenge the existing record time of 14 days from North to South. But soon they found that they would rather take one day at a time, live in the moment and enjoy the experience. They set up the tent at the starting point and at 7 o'clock on March 26, they were on their way.

During the trip, they experienced -55 effective degrees celsius and there were both challenges and surprises along the way. Like when they discovered that a glacier had advanced a full 15 km since Even was there just three years earlier. After a total of 23 days, they were picked up at the border of Sør-Spitsbergen National Park. They had then covered 583 kilometres, and despite some frostbite and a non-functional sleeping bag, the trip was a success.