Polar exploration

The only sound is the breathing of six husky dogs pulling our sled along the snow-carpeted valley floor.

Our intrepid group are on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic where the 2,500 inhabitants are outnumbered by 3,000 polar bears.

The spot might be remote and the environment challenging, but you don’t have to be a polar explorer to enjoy what the area has to offer.

Each year, more and more tourists are opting for their own Arctic adventure, and my group has elected to come in winter, during the ‘polar night’ season, when the sun doesn’t rise and the only light comes from the moon peeking out from behind the clouds.

Standing 78 degrees north of the Earth’s equatorial plane, halfway between Norway and the North Pole, there’s no better place for would-be explorers than these islands in the Arctic Ocean. Known as the archipelago of Svalbard, they belong to Norway and were originally a base for whalers in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Now the untouched landscape attracts tourists keen to experience the wilderness and wildlife (plus spot the odd polar bear), even if it’s just for a few hours at a time before returning to the comfort of their hotel.

My first “expedition” on Spitsbergen is a dog-sledding trip along the Bolterdalen valley. It is an insight into how the islands’ trappers and hunters have moved across the snow-covered landscape for thousands of years.

Arriving at the kennels to meet the huskies who will be pulling us is a noisy experience: the dogs are friendly, excited and raring to go.

We’re taught how to harness and attach them to the sled, which is exhausting as the dogs rarely keep still and it takes several attempts to put them in the harness.

What doesn’t help is that I’m dressed in a bulky polar survival suit, with several layers below that and a pair of itchy long johns – all a must when the temperature is -20C below.

This is harsh terrain, conditions are extreme and having the right equipment is vital. But it’s all provided by the expert guides along with some encouraging words and instruction.

Dogs attached, we’re ready to go. In a convoy we glide over the snow, at what seems like breakneck speed, into the valley.

The cacophony of barking dies away as the dogs start to run. And within minutes the bottle of water in my rucksack has frozen solid.

The sledge is difficult to manoeuvre at first but I feel like Amundsen himself, the Norwegian explorer who was the first to reach the North Pole after he set off from Svalbard in 1926, once I get the hang of it. It’s hard work but exhilarating, and the darkly-lit scenery is spectacular.

The mountains on either side are just large shadows as the moon hovers over them. The glistening powdery snow feels as if it’s six feet deep (it probably is). Every so often I look up, trying to detect movement in the distance, just in case a polar bear ventures in our direction. But we don’t see any, not even a paw print.

After an hour we head back to the warmth of the Basecamp Trapper’s Station. Inside there is a glowing fire and we swap stories of our mini adventure as would-be mushers (dog-sled drivers) over a welcome bowl of Norwegian “klippfisk” (dried salted cod) soup, by candlelight.

The main settlement on Svalbard – and one of the world’s most northerly – is the town of Longyearbyen. It has more than 2,000 inhabitants, a small main street consisting mainly of outdoor shops, welcoming pubs and a clutch of hotels.

We stayed at the Basecamp Trapper’s Hotel, a quaint lodge furnished with driftwood from Barentsburg (the Russian settlement on Spitsbergen), slate stones and furs.

No rooms are alike and it gives the feeling of entering a Spitsbergen hunter’s cottage, which just adds to the genuine experience.

There are plenty of other activities on offer in the winter season and a slightly higher-octane excursion is a snowmobiling polar night safari.

For the more cerebral visitors, there’s also the Svalbard museum that opened in 1979 and was, until December 2005, located in the oldest part of Longyearbyen. Today it is housed in the Svalbard Science Centre, residing together with Svalbard’s University Centre and Norwegian Polar Institute.

Charting ways of life and standards of living through 400 years of human activity in Svalbard, it makes for an interesting and informative afternoon if you need a rest from all those outdoor activities.

Before embarking on our trip to Svalbard our party spent two days on the Norwegian mainland in the city of Tromsø, considered the gateway to the Arctic.

Tromsø, often referred to as the Paris of the North, is the largest city in the Nordic countries north of the Arctic Circle and is home to the world’s northernmost university, brewery and cathedral.

It is a lively city with a rich history, culture and vibrant social scene and top restaurants. It is also an ideal base if you’re keen to catch a glimpse of the spectacular Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis.

Tromsø is situated right in the centre of the Northern Lights zone and is, together with the interior ice in Greenland and the tundra in northern Canada, among the best places to observe the phenomenon.

Within an hour of arriving, I had witnessed them, glowing green in all their glory. It marked a perfect start to an unforgettable trip.

TRAVEL FACTS Victoria Mitchell flew SAS, which flies daily ex-Heathrow to Tromsø and Longyearbyen via Oslo. Return flights to Longyearbyen start around £330 including taxes and to Tromso from £252 (020 8990 7091 and www.flysas.com.uk).

She stayed at Basecamp Trapper’s Hotel, Longyearbyen (www.basecampexplorer.com) and at Rica Ishavshotell, Tromso (www.rica.no/ishavshotel). Tour operator Discover the World offers three nights at Trapper’s Hotel and three nights at Thon Hotel Tromso, both B&B, from £1,225 until March 15, 2012 (01737 218 800 and www.discover-the-world.co.uk).

For more information about Norway, call 020 7389 8800 or visit www.visitnorway.co.uk