Four friends and explorers have set a common goal: to reach the northernmost scientific station in the world. The expedition, named “White Ghosts, on the trail of the Svalbard ghosts,” will take place in extreme conditions.
The team consists of Moufid Taleb, a professional expedition guide from Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Ludovic Ibba, an archaeologist and explorer who has led expeditions from the Amazon to the Yukon, Jordan Buatois, a mountain wanderer, and Benjamin Peroni, a seasoned traveler with adventures of all kinds.
Their goal is to reach Ny-Ålesund, the northernmost scientific station in the world, located on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Over the 400 kilometers route, the adventurers will pass through an abandoned ghost town dating back to the Soviet era, and then an isolated cabin marked by the tragic disappearance of seventeen people in 1873. Between these stages, glaciers, ice sheets, and vast silent expanses will punctuate the journey. And the polar bears, other white ghosts of the present, whose presence requires constant vigilance.
The quartet will depart with approximately 350 kg of equipment and supplies, distributed in pulks, specialized sledges pulled on skis. The route will pass through Narvik and Tromsø, in Norway, before reaching Svalbard. Faced with mountainous weather depressions, storms, and extreme cold, there is no question of letting oneself be physically defeated.
The preparation phase ended in Lapland in recent days. Equipment tests, bivouacs, and encounters with local wildlife (owls, ptarmigans, hares, and Northern Lights) have marked the past few weeks. The group’s flagship training: pulling tires to simulate the sensations of pulking on ice. The entire adventure will be filmed, and a documentary will be released once it is completed.
