Photo galleries from the current arctic spring are now getting online on this website. A small collection of photos from late March makes the beginning – back then, it was still getting dark at nighttime! Unbelievable …
Over the next weeks and months, much more will follow, from the ongoing spring season with snow mobile and ski trips in the arctic winter to the summer sailing season in Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen. So it will be worth to come back and check the photo galleries and travel reports/triplogs regularly!
Easter is high season for the outdoors in Scandinavia, and the same is true for Search and Rescue (SAR) forces – depending on the weather. This year, the weather was not very stable during the Easter weekend, with lots of snowfall and some strong winds, which in some regions reached gale force.
In the end, the local SAR forces had to airlift 26 persons out from their Easter trips. This includes a group of 19 on Akademikarbreen (not 16 as mentioned earlier), who had got stuck in bad weather, with 2 tents already destroyed in gusts. They got their ride back to Longyearbyen on Saturday. The same day, a person was evacuated from Petuniabukta (near Pyramiden) after a snow mobile collision. Yes, such a thing can happen, even in the wide-open wilderness of a frozen fjord. Especially in strong winds with poor visibility.
Beyond this, one person had to be airlifted from Kapp Linné and another one from the research vessel Lance, both with injuries.
All persons are well, there were no serious injuries.
Happy Eastern …
The SAR helicopter in Spitsbergen during an exercise. 26 went back to Longyearbyen with it during the last weekend.