We examine SAR L1b data from the commissioning phase, currently available for the calibration and validation teams. We use CryoSat-2 data to detect leads in the sea-ice in an area north of Svalbard. Furthermore, we classify the sea-ice from computed freeboard values, and evaluate the coherence between the SAR backscatter and the CryoSat-2 data. The surface elevation is extracted from an 80% threshold retracker and a five parameter - retracker, and this is given with respect to the DTU10 Mean Sea Surface model (MSS). The results are compared with an Envisat ASAR image, and we show that there is a strong correspondence between the freeboard heights and the leads visible in the ASAR image.