79 DEGREES
NORTH

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A crew total of thirteen persons embarked on an Arctic Circle mission in May of 2019 for the purpose of skiing and snowboarding in the Fjords of Svalbard, Norway. This sparsely populated archipelago is widely known for its polar bear population that exceeds the total number of humans, but our mission was hiking up couloirs and split-boarding through the mountains while stationed on the sail boat in the icy waters below.

We sailed thirteen hours north of Longyearbyen, dropped anchor and began our exploration into the glacier filled mountains sitting at seventy-nine degrees north. Our ascent techniques were skinning up the rolling hills and mountains or installing the toe-spikes and walking straight up forty-four degree pitch couloirs and descending right back down them through a mix of powder, ice and slush. For six days we repeated the pattern of gathering for breakfast, making a plan, executing the route, documenting it, cheffing up dinner while reviewing clips, then laying down for a few hours rest.

This fantastic journey wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Burton Snowboards, Ice Axe Expeditions and the entire family of snowboarders, skiers, guides, ship captain and crew, snow management team, and Mother Nature for bringing in great conditions and safe snow.

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