More snowmobiles than people

Facts last verified 2026-10-03

In most towns, the driveway is for the car. In Longyearbyen, it’s for the snowmobile. In winter there are snowmobiles parked outside houses and offices, and on a sunny spring weekend it can seem as if half the town is heading out into Adventdalen.

The numbers

• About 3,000 snowmobiles were registered in Svalbard in 2025: 2,013 belonging to private people and 980 to companies and organisations.
• About 2,500 people were registered as living in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund at the start of 2026.

That’s more than one snowmobile for every resident, babies included. The register covers all of Svalbard, while the population figure covers only the Norwegian settlements, so treat the ratio as a rough one.

How it got there

When the count began in 1973, Svalbard had about 200 snowmobiles. The number has grown more than tenfold since then, with the fastest growth in the late 2000s: from 2006 to 2007 alone, the fleet grew by 38%. More and more of the snowmobiles now belong to private people rather than companies.

A few of them are quiet: in 2025, organisations in Longyearbyen had 17 electric snowmobiles, and some tour operators offer electric snowmobile trips.

Why so many?

There are no roads between the settlements, and only about 50 km of road around Longyearbyen. In winter, the snowmobile is how you get out of town, to the cabins and to the other settlements. Residents can travel relatively freely on most of Spitsbergen, and most snowmobile traffic follows natural routes along the bottom of the big valleys.

What it means for you

• You can drive one too, on a guided tour, with an ordinary car driving licence (category B). Bring the licence with you. Passengers don’t need one.
• Visitors have good access to central Spitsbergen by snowmobile, but tighter limits than residents. Going on a guided trip is the easy way.
• Watch out in town. In winter, snowmobiles share the roads and paths, so look both ways.
• Some areas are off limits. From 1 March, motorised traffic is banned on the sea ice in some fjords. See Seasons: when to go.