To the Edge

Taking a luxury cruiser to the margins of arctic ice, photographer Mike Jones experienced true wilderness sailing

- By Mike Jones. Photography by Mike Jones

A single walrus raised its frosted head, eyeing Firebird as we dropped anchor at Tynarebukta on the Isfjorden. Rugged mountains were enveloped by a glacier that spilled out onto the sea ice filling the bay. This was the crew’s first stop after setting out from Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard, and the most northerly city in the world. We retired to our bunks that evening with the blinds firmly closed, blotting out the still glowing sunlight reflecting on the snow late into the evening – this far north, there is 24 hours of daylight in July.

The following morning we gathered extra layers, skis and boot crampons, ice axes, shovels, and probes, carefully loading the Zodiac tender. Skis, poles and our essential guide, Massimo Candolini, went ashore in the first run, after captain Peter Madej and first mate Tim found the best landing spot and checked for bears. We landed the Zodiac on a black sand beach, where a small tide had cleared just a metre or so of snow away from the water’s edge.

After scrambling to the top of the snow ‘beach’, we clipped into our skis and took a moment to take in the beauty of this white world. A constant flutter of birds surrounded us, including geese and guillemots, as we began the long climb to the summit of Sten De Geerfjellet. The building wind picked up loose snow, creating dramatic whirls and vortices. As we climbed, the wind increased further and we donned ski crampons for the final pitch. Then, the descent, swooping back down to Firebird through a landscape that looked like it had been torn from a fairy tale book.