The weather isn’t exactly our cup of tea today. Which is all the more disappointing, because as soon as I woke up, the sun was shining brightly outside. But as is often the case in the Arctic, the weather changes like a kaleidoscope. Moments after gathering our gear, the first clouds appeared in the sky, and not just any clouds, but rather the kind that herald precipitation. At the time, I didn’t realize it was a snowstorm.

We’re heading to Trollsteinen. It’s a low mountain, only 850 meters above sea level. Besides, you won’t find multi-thousand-meter peaks in Svalbard. The highest peak in the archipelago is Newtontoppen, at a mere 1,713 meters above sea level. In the Arctic, it’s not altitude that’s our biggest enemy, but the weather. With temperatures well below freezing, we have to be especially careful about frostbite. Strong winds not only restrict our movements and slow us down, but it’s easy to get lost in a blizzard.

We’re halfway there. So far, it’s been a pleasant walk. This is where the trail (if you can even call it any trail in the Arctic) “diverges”: to the right, Sarcophagus, to the left, Trollsteinen. As soon as we disappear around the bend, I feel like I’m on another planet. Everything is so… white. I’m reminded of the opening scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The wind is becoming increasingly unbearable. I put on a warm jacket, but it’s the last spare layer I’d brought with me. However, there’s an age-old rule: to stay warm, you have to keep moving. That’s no problem, as we haven’t reached the summit yet. I keep repeating in my head: right, left, right, left, to create a pleasant rhythm. In fact, now that the storm has truly raged, only the tips of my boots are in sight. I bent down briefly to adjust my shoelace, and at that very moment, the wind literally blew my sunglasses case out of my backpack pocket. Luckily, I had my sunglasses on. Although the sun had long since disappeared during the raging storm, I still needed to protect my eyes from the snow and wind. The small object vanished from my sight in the blink of an eye and flew away. Where? I’m not entirely sure. At the time, I didn’t even know what I’d actually “lost.”

The final stage, I take each step slowly, I’m the last one to go, so in front of me lies a path worn through the snow, which I carefully follow with my eyes. It’s a pointed ridge. Luckily, there’s nothing in sight, so the thought of falling didn’t even cross my mind. As soon as I reached the spot, I immediately hid behind a large troll rock at the top. I wanted to take a souvenir photo of the area. Well, I only managed to snap a selfie, showing only my wind-glazed eyes.