Like a modern day cowboy a gun-toting (polar bears oblige!) mountain guide prepares to ride off into the sunset on a snowmobile in guise of trusty horse. The snow-covered glacial valleys of the Svalbard archipelago in the High Arctic are not without visual resemblance to the arid deserts of the American West. And the sense of solitude is equally strong in both lands. Visible in the distance, silhouetted against the sky is Mount Vesuv whose name’s inspiration is not difficult to guess!