Meet Jens Abild – the man behind Arctic Adventures

In 1993 Jens Abild (born 1970) put his feet on Svalbard for the first time after half a year on an outdoor pursuit school in Lofoten, Norway. The purpose was a 12-day skiing trip, but he ended up getting a job as handler/guide for a company specialized in expeditions with dogs summer and winter. During his studies in environmental management in Copenhagen he kept coming back to Svalbard as often as the studies would permit and after finishing his bachelor’s degree, he finally moved to Svalbard permanently in 1998. The first years he worked as expedition leader on various winter and summer expeditions with skis, dogs, kayaks, snowmobile and on expedition cruise ships.

In 2002 he started his own company, Arctic Adventures AS, who has specialized in small exclusive groups doing all kinds of trips. 

With his broad experience and skills, he has been able to deliver unique experiences to his guests requesting custom made expeditions and also being responsible for the logistics and safety for various film productions, scientific and photo expeditions.

In 2004 he got employed by the Norwegian Polar institute where he worked until 2017 as an expedition leader and responsible for the safety and logistics on operations in The Antarctic and Arctic. He has also played a key role in developing and instructing field safety courses for scientist and technicians doing fieldwork in the Arctic and Antarctic. He is a NF (Norwegian mountain association) certified glacier- and avalanche instructor and also sea ice-, polar bear safety and shooting instructor. Jens also has a 50% position on the «Arctic Nature Guide» study where he is one of the responsible for field leadership and safety training in the education of new expedition leaders at the University in Longyearbyen. Jens is a member of the local avalanche forecasting group and he has been a member of the local mountain rescue team since it was established in 2001.

During his work on Svalbard, The Arctic and Antarctic since 1993, Jens Abild has gained a unique knowledge of the environment and wildlife which very much benefits his guests.

Jens live in Longyearbyen, Svalbard with his wife and two girls (13 and 15).