nordpaul.de - Svalbard - Spitsbergen 2008

The archipelago Svalbard

The archipelago Svalbard: former home of polar explorers, adventurers and discoverers. Far away from Central Europe. Just a dream. In younger age I only read from Spitsbergen. In August 2008 I was there for twelve days and twelve bright nights.

Since many years expensive cruisers go already far to the north to the icy polar cap - and also to Spitsbergen. For such a tour it was necessary to save a lot of money. In summer 2007 I saw incidentally that flights to Spitsbergen and tenting at the campsite (next to the air field, 90 NOK in 2008) could be a surprising affordable combination for having a great time near the end of the world. A word (an idea) and a blow.

It was bright. It was cold. It was an adventure.

Longyearbyen

There are different names for the archipelago. Sometimes it is called "Spitsbergen". The Norwegians who have the sovereignty of the islands say "Svalbard". (Vest-)Spitsbergen is actually the largest and the only inhabited island.

The most important settlement is the Norwegian city Longyearbyen which is situated inside the Longyeardal and along the Adventfjord. And this fjord is the flooded end of the Adventdal. It flows into the large Isfjord. Apart from Longyearbyen you find two more Norwegian settlements and one of former two Russian cities.

Coal History

At the turn of the second last century many mining companies were in search of mineral resources on Spitsbergen. They built the first coal mines into the mountains.

The coal seam was 80 to 120 cm thick and in about 300 to 400 m above the sea level of the fjords. Therefore the mined coal only needed to be transported from the mountainside down to the harbour. That has been done by aerial cableways for centuries. Still today the wooden pillars characterize the view of this place.

Into the Mountains around Adventdalen

Due to the risk of polar bears outside Longyearbyen, a suitable rifle must always be carried during hikes. In guided hikes, the guide carries the necessary equipment and experience. There are now several tour operators in and around Longyearbyen offering hour-long, day-long, and longer excursions.

Weather and Public Supplies

The weather was somewhat colder and wetter in August 2008 than on average. The temperature was all the time below 10 degrees. In the mountains we had sometimes frost at night. Precipitation in a kind of drizzle or steady rain was not rare. One morning there was snow around and on the tents. And the word "night" means in summertime "sunshine somewhat over the horizon". Darkness you just find inside the coal mines.

On the one hand Spitsbergen in general is pure wilderness, on the other hand Longyearbyen is a small village like every other in Northern Europe: with a supermarket, a post office, restaurants, schools, some outdoor shops and a library.

Polar Bear and Barentsburg

Different ships offer day trips to fjords and glaciers in the surrounding. On the way to the Russian settlement Barentsburg for example the ship stops first at the glacier edge of the Esmarkbreen. Not expected and therefore very surprisingly I saw one polar bear at the shore near the glacier.

Wilderness Hiking from Barentsburg to Longyearbyen

Having seen the bear a moment ago we (five persons) started a four days hike across the wilderness from Barentsburg back to Longyearbyen. If everything goes right...

And at night we had the "relaxed" feeling that the signal wire around the tents and the rockets make this place safer from polar bears.

It was a nice tingling after having been crossing knee-deep the hardly more than 0 degree C cold river. And the blood circulation was activated again inside the naked feet.

When waking up after the second night in the wilderness everything seemed so bright. Opening the tent is showing the result: it had been snowing for hours. The deep rutted mountains with its endless pebble deserts are for themselves hardly describable or subsumable. But with a fresh white snow cap at the tops they appear in a totally different way. It is August.

During the four hiking days we did not see any more polar bears. Also at night nobody was apparent around the tents. On the last of the four days we saw new footprints of a bear on a snow field. Later I heard that a young polar bear had to be shot not far away from us while he had attacked a person.

Boat trip through the Isfjord to Pyramiden

The second boat trip led me into the east to one end of the Isfjord and the Russian settlement Pyramiden and the eponymous mountain beyond it. But this time without a following hiking tour for myself. For a long time Pyramiden was the second Soviet settlement on Spitsbergen. Some years ago it was abandoned. Today it is a ghost town.

After the guided tour through Pyramiden the boat trip continued to the large glacier Nordenskjøldbreen. During this trip I reached my (temporary) northernmost position in 78 degrees and 40 minutes North. Most of the discoverers and explorers just started in these latitudes in the last centuries. And this without the today's technical equipment.

On the way back to Longyearbyen I saw one of the most beautiful and formidable mountain landscapes in my life. From the ship I admired Bünsowland with its snow covered craggy rock faces. When will I come back to Spitsbergen?

When will I come back to Svalbard? For how long Spitsbergen will still look like today?