My incredible camping trip to Svalbard, where temperatures dip to -25°C and polar bears outnumber humans

My amazing camping trip to Svalbard, where Russians and Ukrainians happily co-exist, temperatures dip to -25°C and polar bears outnumber humans (we took a big gun...just in case ) MailOnline Travel's Sadie Whitelocks went on a nine-day skiing and camping trip to the Norwegian archipelago She joined five other women traversing a section of the main island, pulling sleds with 80kg of equipment The team was accompanied by a rifleman but also took turns watching polar bears throughout the night They were trained in the use of the rifleman's big gun - even though the idea was just to scare the bears
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Posted: 11:05 BST, 28 Sep 2022 | Update: 28 September 2022 at 11:10 BST bear before setting off on a nine-day skiing and camping trip in the frigid wilderness of Svalbard above the Arctic Circle.
Polar bears outnumber humans here (3,000 vs. 2,552) and the prospect of sleeping in brutally cold temperatures surrounded by them filled me with a slight sense of dread, and, after a quick Google search, I found that the last fatal mutilation at a campsite in this area was quite recent - August 2020.< /p>
However , I was reassured that all would be well, as the team of six people – all women – would be joined by a trained rifleman with a big gun and plenty of ammunition in case bears attacked. So I packed up and headed north.

Travel Sep 28, 2022 0 82 Add to Reading List

My incredible camping trip to Svalbard, where temperatures dip to -25°C and polar bears outnumber humans

My amazing camping trip to Svalbard, where Russians and Ukrainians happily co-exist, temperatures dip to -25°C and polar bears outnumber humans (we took a big gun...just in case ) MailOnline Travel's Sadie Whitelocks went on a nine-day skiing and camping trip to the Norwegian archipelago She joined five other women traversing a section of the main island, pulling sleds with 80kg of equipment The team was accompanied by a rifleman but also took turns watching polar bears throughout the night They were trained in the use of the rifleman's big gun - even though the idea was just to scare the bears

Posted: 11:05 BST, 28 Sep 2022 | Update: 28 September 2022 at 11:10 BST bear before setting off on a nine-day skiing and camping trip in the frigid wilderness of Svalbard above the Arctic Circle.

Polar bears outnumber humans here (3,000 vs. 2,552) and the prospect of sleeping in brutally cold temperatures surrounded by them filled me with a slight sense of dread, and, after a quick Google search, I found that the last fatal mutilation at a campsite in this area was quite recent - August 2020.< /p>

However , I was reassured that all would be well, as the team of six people – all women – would be joined by a trained rifleman with a big gun and plenty of ammunition in case bears attacked. So I packed up and headed north.