[25] See also “Equipment,” p. [82].
CHAPTER XII
MOUNTAINEERING IN THE ARCTIC (SPITSBERGEN)
BY SIR W. MARTIN CONWAY
Since the expedition which I took to Spitsbergen in the years 1896 and 1897, I have not heard of any parties of mountaineers going to that country. Mountains were incidentally climbed by the Russian-Swedish surveyors, who went up there in several successive years to measure an arc of the Meridian. Indeed, they discovered and climbed the highest point in the main island, which Garwood and I had beheld afar off in 1897 but were unable to reach. Mountaineering, however, was merely an incident in the work of those parties. It has always seemed to me strange that English climbers have never followed our example in the Far North, and it is therefore with little hope of being very serviceable that I now accede to the request of the editor of this work to contribute a chapter on “Arctic Mountaineering,” and how to set to work about it. Truth to tell, my own memory of details has become feeble; but such as it is, it shall be placed at the reader’s service.
Modes of Access.
The first question, of course, is how to get to Spitsbergen, and having got there, how to get away from it; for though tourist steamers not infrequently visit the western coast of the main island, they stop so short a time as to be useless for even the briefest mountaineering expeditions. The climber who wishes to have the best of the season should arrive not earlier than the end of June, and start away at latest towards the end of August, when the sun has already begun to set.
Nowadays a good many industrial enterprises, such as mines and, I believe, quarries, are being prosecuted in Spitsbergen, so that there must really be plenty of opportunities of being carried thither from Tromsö and brought back again; but it is impossible to predict beforehand what they will be. Probably the easiest way would be to make arrangements with the owner of one of the Tromsö or Hammerfest fishing sloops to convey the party up to its selected base and call for it again on a day fixed in advance. The price that should be charged for such accommodation ought to be moderate; but my experience of the North Norwegians was that they are liable to open their mouths pretty wide when they think they have a traveller in their power. In any case, such arrangements are best made by an agent long in advance and with all legal exactitude.
Equipment and Outfit.
The equipment necessary for Spitsbergen mountaineering need not be very elaborate. The temperatures to be faced will not exceed those of an ordinary English winter, and clothes will therefore not require to be of the Arctic character we associate with Polar expeditions. But a man does need to be really warmly clad with plenty of thick underclothing and thoroughly strong garments. For when the wind blows and the snow drives on the higher levels it is cold enough even at Midsummer, though on rare occasions in still air the warmth of the sun may be felt to a quite surprising degree. Near the sea-level and on the moraines and rocks the strongest mountaineering boots are none too strong. I doubt whether the ski-ing boots commonly worn for winter sport would adapt themselves for use in such places. Once the upper levels of the glaciers have been gained, which generally involves two or three days’ work with sledges from sea-level, travelling becomes easier and more agreeable, and is done almost entirely on ski. Sledges, ski, warm sleeping-bags, goat-hair stockings and warm clothing generally can be bought very well at Bergen or Trondhjem on the way out; but it would be well, as far as the sledges are concerned, to write beforehand and make sure that they would be available. British consuls at those places or the Norwegian Consul-General in London would doubtless inform inquirers as to the names of the best shops to deal with. Reindeer sleeping-bags are delightfully comfortable and warm, but they are distinctly heavy and bulky. Good eiderdown sleeping-bags with a rug or two would, I think, be quite warm enough till the 20th of August at any rate. The best tents to take are relatively large tents of the ‘Mummery’ type, made of strong Willesden canvas with rubber sheeting floor sewn in. It is absolutely essential that the floor should be sewn in, otherwise the tent could be easily blown away in a gale. I do not remember the exact arrangements of the tents of this kind made for me by Edgington’s. The floor space was probably about 6 feet or 6 feet 6 inches by 4 feet. The height may be judged by the fact that for poles we used ice-axes, with extra pieces about 18 inches long to fit over the points with a socket to lengthen them. Three or even four people might be crowded into such a tent, but no one would wish to share such a tent with more than one companion on a pleasure journey of a few weeks’ duration. The remainder of the kit would consist of cooking apparatus and supplies, to wit, a primus stove, some aluminium plates and pans, aluminium spoons and forks; and for provisions the usual tinned goods, concentrated soups and pots of jam, and a sufficient quantity of highly nutritious biscuits to take the place of bread. Far the best biscuits for this purpose we found were named ‘Triticumina,’ which contained plasmon; but the biscuits which have currants sandwiched into them form a very welcome change.
A liberal supply of brown sugar in tins should on no account be forgotten, though jam is almost as good. If the party contemplate spending their time in one district of the island, they will probably make for themselves a heavy and comfortable base camp, which may be as well stored as they please, as it will, of course, be situated close to the shore of some bay or harbour, and everything belonging to it will be landed direct from the boat, so that the question of porterage will not arise. This base camp ought to be equipped with a rowing boat of the type called a whale boat, such as can be readily hired from any North Norwegian port. It would be well to have one or two able-bodied Norwegian sailors to man the boat and help drag the sledges, and no difficulty would be experienced in finding in or about the Lofoten Islands suitable men, skilful also in going on ski. Our experience was that young unmarried men were to be preferred. The others got home-sick.