Sea-ice thickness and snow depth are key parameters for assessing the sea-ice mass budget in the Arctic. Knowledge of those variables contributes to the better understanding of freezing and melting processes and is also relevant for satellite remote-sensing validation. The amount of snow deposited on sea ice affects both ice growth through its insulating function and processes at the snow–ice interface, and it contributes to the formation of melt ponds during summer. Scientific expeditions to the high Arctic Ocean are rare and for large parts of a year no data are collected in most regions of the Arctic. Therefore any additional data on in situ observations of snow and ice thickness are of interest for the scientific community. Arctic adventurers and tourists are among the most frequent visitors to the Arctic Ocean and North Pole. If properly trained and carefully adhering to standard protocols, they could possibly collect valuable data from large regions. In this study, such scientific layman observations of sea-ice thickness and snow depth from several Arctic Basin ski traverses have been collated, processed and analysed. Results from some expeditions show characteristic regional differences of snow thickness, which provide invaluable information for the validation of models and satellite data. The observations were made applying a continuously upgraded observation guideline scheme. Earlier observations were based on a relatively broad view on easily observable ice and snow parameters. Improvement of the first schemes included more detailed snow-thickness surveys in order to catch the spatial variability over varying sea-ice surfaces in a better way. Based on data from four Arctic transects performed between 1994 and 2007, the potential and limitations of such additional data acquisition is discussed and assessed.