Bicy­cling has until now not been much of an issue in Spits­ber­gen, as the ter­rain is sim­ply not very sui­ta­ble for it. This may chan­ge to some degree now: “Fat­Bikes” have wheels thick enough to be used on snow unless it is too soft. The law is clear: vehic­les may be used only on roads and on fro­zen, snow-cover­ed ground. New tracks and ero­si­on of vul­nerable tun­dra are accor­din­gly not a pro­blem as long as the­se regu­la­ti­ons are fol­lo­wed.

Sin­ce August, the­re is an ope­ra­tor in Lon­ge­ar­by­en cal­led Fat­Bike Spits­ber­gen. The small com­pa­ny offers Fat­Bike excur­si­ons in the vici­ni­ty of Lon­gye­ar­by­en. This is an inte­res­t­ing addi­ti­on to the exis­ting ran­ge of orga­ni­zed tours, as it covers a part of the year whe­re offers are other­wi­se quite thin. The ear­ly polar night, which is start­ing now, is actual­ly an attrac­ti­ve time to visit Sval­bard: Lon­gye­ar­by­en is calm and far less cro­wed with visi­tors than during the sea­son. Accom­mo­da­ti­on is accor­din­gly easy to get and com­pa­ra­tively (!) afforda­ble. It is just the ran­ge of acti­vi­ties that is less com­pre­hen­si­ve than in spring or sum­mer. Now, the­re is ano­ther offer available for tho­se who want to get out.

During the snow-free sea­son, also nor­mal bicy­cles are actual­ly quite useful on the roads. If you walk, then they are actual­ly quite long. With a bicy­cle, attrac­ti­ve are­as such as Bjørn­da­len and Advent­da­len are sud­den­ly much more acces­si­ble.

Fat­Bikes Spits­ber­gen offers excur­si­ons gui­ded in Eng­lish, Nor­we­gi­an and Ger­man.

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