Expedition Spitsbergen | Challenges of a border crossing - Part IV

Learning 1: Cameras are extremely tough

On this trip, my camera was a tool. And for tools to fulfill their purpose, you have to use them - even in bad weather.

I see many amateur photographers who pack their camera away at the first sign of rain or snow. If I had done the same on our expedition, no film would have come out. The first time I really noticed how robust this technology actually is was when I was skiing: Camera on the front of my backpack, I once fell lengthways forwards into the deep snow. Completely white, the camera too - and I panicked. What happened? Nothing. It worked perfectly.

I took it to the extreme on the expedition: The camera hung unprotected around my upper body at all times, in wind and weather. I often left it outside the tent at night - the next morning it was sometimes completely snowed in and worked perfectly. Even the batteries never lost more than 2-3% in the cold. When water got inside after a rainy day and my shutter froze, I held the camera over the running petrol stove for 30 minutes. After that, it ran again without any restrictions.

I once blew up my drone in a snowstorm and 40 km/h winds. The six others could hardly believe that I would risk it in these conditions - but how else would I have gotten aerial shots of us in the snowstorm? The DJI Mini 3 Pro flew without any problems.

Next time I would only do one thing differently: keep heavy rain away more consistently. Moisture doesn't necessarily damage the camera (in my experience), but it can paralyze it for hours or days.

So don't be afraid to use your camera in adverse conditions. This is the only way to achieve results that are not just good, but outstanding.

Beforehand, I had roughly calculated how much power my camera technology would consume and how much each of the others would need - and designed the case so that it would last for at least seven days without recharging.

I have prepared for nothing more on this expedition - and rightly so. If the power runs out, at best you can't take any more photos and at worst you can't send an SOS signal.

Learning 3: Comfort comes first

In the past, I often dismissed comfort: 'I'm still young, how bad can it get?' The result was some very unpleasant experiences. Now that I'm 30, I would always opt for more comfort, even if it means a few extra kilos in the pack.

This expedition opened my eyes. We had a lot more comfort items with us than usual: books, extra layers of clothing, a second pair of shoes for camp, downloaded movies on Netflix, lots of food and card games. I'm convinced that it was precisely this addition that made our tour exceptional and enjoyable.

And if there's one thing you should take with you that you didn't have before: a chair kit. The comfort of a backrest while sitting is priceless.

Learning 4: Don't skimp on the snacks

This still belongs to the topic of comfort, but deserves its own section.

We ate about 5,000 kcal per person per day - we probably burned a lot more. Breakfast was porridge in huge portions; I remember Jonas and I could barely finish our portions in the first week. For lunch and dinner we had Trek'n'eats, which we had plenty of, plus a reserve.

And then there were the snacks. We had 160 bars of chocolate with us - 32 kilograms, almost one bar per person per day. Looking back, our chocolate breaks were the highlights of every single day. After the resupply after 20 days, we added salamis, potato chips, cognac, cocoa and tea.

That doesn't save you from starvation. But mentally it had such a great effect that I wouldn't have wanted to do without it on any comparable expedition. Towards the end, I would have liked some gummy bears, sweets, iced tea powder and Seeberger trail mix.

Learning 5: Routines are the key to happiness

I have already gone into this in detail in my previous articles on the Spitsbergen expedition. The quicker you develop the necessary routines, the more relaxed you can enjoy the trip. One routine for the evening camp, one for packing in the morning, one for boiling water - and in my case, one for filming.

Especially in the Arctic, completely on your own, the simplest tasks become major challenges. Don't let this get you down and work out your own routines.

Learning 6: 40 days expedition = 40 days without privacy

You should be aware of this equation before you set off. You are constantly together with your expedition partners - during the day on the route, in the evening and at night in pairs or threes in the tent. The thin tent walls can withstand a storm, but not sound waves. So you can't talk freely about anything and everything. During the day, you can let yourself fall a little behind the group, but you are still dependent on the others for navigation, hazard management and logistics.

It was different with the rest of the team that Jonas put together. I didn't know any of the five Norwegians before the expedition. I got to know three of them a few months beforehand, two only on Spitsbergen, shortly before the start. Here I trusted Jonas 100%. I had to rely on him to choose exactly the people who would fit together well and between whom and me there would be no differences.

In our case, this worked excellently. I can say with a clear conscience that we were a dream team.

But things can also turn out quite differently (which, thank God, I only know from reports). You start a long trip with people you hardly know and after a few days the mood changes. This can be unpleasant: from mutual silence to the premature end of the tour.

Learning 8: You will have to repair things (and the success of an expedition partly depends on this)

From day 15 onwards, the binding on a good half of our ten expedition skis tore out of the ski. We still don't know why. That usually means exactly one thing: the end of the expedition. To be honest, I didn't think something like that could happen at all. But the five Norwegians in the team were prepared - we drilled new holes without any electrical equipment and moved the bindings by 1.5 cm. Not ideal, but we were able to continue.

We had similar problems with holes in gloves (Hermann had sewing material for leather with him), with my drone, which I reassembled in the tent in the evening with a mobile soldering iron, and with my frozen camera. The only thing I couldn't repair was my battery case: last week, I accidentally swapped two cables and caused a short circuit. A new fuse would have been enough - I didn't have one with me. If that had happened in the first week, it would probably have cost us the movie.

Before every expedition, look at every single part and ask yourself: What can break here and how do I repair it? The more precise this analysis, the greater the chances of success.

Learning 9: Polar bear watch is the best thing ever

Seven of us were able to split the nightly polar bear watch into shifts of a comfortable 1.5 hours. You are woken up, peel yourself out of your sleeping bag, perhaps make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and then stand outside your tent in the cold.

It sounds awful from the warmth of the living room. I loved this watch at some point - and sometimes really looked forward to being called to duty by Jonas at 3:30 in the morning. It also had a bit to do with the lack of privacy: During those 1.5 hours, I could let my mind wander, had no outside distractions, was completely alone. Hot coffee in one hand, flare gun in the other, absolute silence - there was something calming about it.

Whether everyone feels that way is another question. In my movie, you can see that Sigurd would have liked to go back to sleep immediately. It depends on the type.

Learning 10: An expedition like this is not life-changing. Or is it?

One thing is clear: my life after the expedition will never be the same as it was before. I will carry the experiences of these 40 days with me forever - and there is even a movie that I can still watch in 40 years' time.

On the other hand, nothing has really changed at all. I had resolved to eat porridge more often - but I still haven't done it. I wanted to appreciate things like sofas, running water and pizza from the Italian restaurant more - it was back to normal just a week later.

I can't say whether this is good or bad. But you have to accept that it may take more than a month and a half in an Arctic desert to really change your daily habits or lifestyle.