In April of 2026, I led a private 5-day winter snowmobile expedition to Svalbard for wildlife photography. The purpose of this expedition was to explore, on land, the landscape and wildlife within a day’s scooter drive of Longyearbyen. Svalbard is vast, and there is much to discover on land on a winter trip. Exploring by snowmobile on land meant we could stop wherever we wished to photograph wildlife as we found it. Using snowmobiles also means we can get much closer to wildlife than is usually possible on a ship. Staying in Longyearbyen also meant we had a warm base from which to operate, with hot showers and a choice of restaurants in the evenings.
At this time of year, the days are getting longer in Svalbard, with sunrise around 5:30am, sunset around 9:30pm, and last light around 10pm. This provides a huge amount of time for photography, but also means it is early starts and late finishes to catch the best light. During our five-day trip, we experienced temperatures ranging from -30º Celsius on the sea ice along the east coast to just a few degrees below 0º. Temperatures were generally unseasonably warm for this time of year, with most of our days being around -10º Celsius. Snowfall was also sparse compared with recent years, although the coverage was still good outside Longyearbyen. We also had starts as early as 5am departure and finishes as late as 10pm.
On day one of our expedition, we kitted ourselves out with snow scooters and snow suits, headed toward Svea for a valley (Reindalen) I know is home to a great many Reindeer. Reindalen is situated in Nordenskiöld Land on the main island of Spitsbergen and is roughly a 45-minute scooter ride in good conditions. This is a wide, flat, and open valley that offers excellent opportunities to photograph Reindeer in a clean, white snow environment.
On day two, we left Longyearbyen at 6am for the East Coast in the hopes of finding a polar bear on the sea ice. Although we did not find a bear on this day, we did have some wonderful opportunities with both Ptarmigan and Reindeer en route to Monbukta. This was our biggest day’s drive, covering over 298 kilometres in total and more than fourteen hours in the field. This whole east coast region of Svalbard contains some stunning scenery and is where much of my Ghosts of the Arctic film was shot.
On day three of our expedition, we took a slightly slower morning start and instead had a late afternoon and evening exploration of the Templefjorden area. This proved a boon, giving us our best Reindeer experience during the trip and one of the best I have ever had. With an abundance of fresh, clean snow on the mountains and lower valley in this area and more than a dozen reindeer, the opportunities were ongoing, and we spent several hours photographing them as they curiously approached us and retreated against the mountains.
On day four, we left Longyearbyen super early at 5am and headed for Monbukta on the East coast. On arrival at Monbukta, we headed south and encountered a large male polar bear in superb condition on the sea ice. Photographing a polar bear on the sea ice from a snowmobile is a very special and very different experience from shooting from a ship. On the ice, we are in their environment, with excellent opportunities to photograph the bears at eye level.
On day five, our last day, we departed Longyearbyen at 5am, at first light, and drove to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. Barentsburg is approximately sixty-five kilometres from Longyearbyen and is a wonderful scenic drive along the coastline, past the abandoned Coles Bay settlement. This is a region I know is inhabited by many Arctic Fox, as well as Reindeer and Ptarmigan.
On the way, we had a superb encounter with Ptarmigan before taking breakfast in town. We then spent over an hour photographing Arctic fox on the town outskirts in superb conditions and soft light. With the town of Barentsburg close by, the foxes in this area are more accustomed to humans and easier to approach, making it an ideal location for fox photography.
Over the course of the five-day expedition, we covered more than 1,000 kilometres of driving, including two visits to Monbukta on the East coast, which provided a wonderful and varied portfolio of arctic wildlife photographs. Private workshops such as this, with my company, Wild Nature Photo Travel, are available by request. Please get in touch to discuss your needs, and we can tailor a trip to suit your requirements.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 