Ski X Sail A Journey Through The Arctic

Last spring, I was invited to go on an expedition in Svalbard, by two guys from Tahoe, that I never met before. It often happens that I meet people and then instantly I end up on a crazy trip with them. Unlike this time, I usually know at least one person on the trip beforehand and I don't travel 6,000km without knowing anyone.

However, when I was told they were solid guys and that I should go for it, by one of my good friends Cristina Mittermeier, then I suppose there I was packing for a trip to the Arctic. I wanted a purposeful expedition with purpose, so I threw caution in the wind and went for it. I wish I could say this was easy, but I had never been more scared about a trip my whole life.

 I was set to camp 250 miles north of the northern most town in the world for 10 days, with two brothers I had never met before.

It took 11.5 hours of sledding in order to make it the roughly 250 miles north that to our camping spot. The light was variable, we got turned around, we dodged crevasse, my hair froze and at times we got completely whited out and had to blindly venture into the clouds.

After dogsledding and camping we finally embarked on a 10- day sailing trip. We traveled on a 70-foot sailboat run by Ice Axe expeditions (a Tahoe-based guiding company).

We were so fortunate to witness some of the most magical moments. From whales breaching in the distance, walruses sun-bathing on the shoreline, and waking up to a new place each day, created the most epic and grounding journey.

The crew would skin up towards their chosen summit for the day as I would follow behind trying to capture every breathtaking moment. On the way down the group of ten would ride massive runs back to the sailboat.

On the sailboat I experienced a deeper sense of human connection with everyone on board. There was no internet or cell service, just everyone gathered together telling stories and sharing laughs.