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Yearly Archives: 2016 − News & Stories
Operafjellet – 13th April, 2016
Wed
13 Apr
2016
Hiking on Operafjellet east of Longyearbyen. A lot of light, a lot of very fresh air, a lot of great landscape.
Gallery Operafjellet – 13th April, 2016
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_876
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Longyearbyen mining history – 11th April 2016
Mon
11 Apr
2016
Longyearbyen has been a coal mining settlement since it was founded by the American John Munro Longyear in 1906. In 1916, Longyear sold the place to the Norwegian Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani which soon called their mining village Longyearbyen. The meaning is the same as the original name, just the language has changed.
Exactly 100 years later, Store Norske is just a shadow of itself. After some good years, it was a narrow escape from bankruptcy. Mining has a lot of history in Longyearbyen, but not much of a future.
We had a good look of some of this history. Taubanesentrale (cablecar main station) is occupying the highest part of Longyearbyen, towering above the village like the town’s landmark. Some years ago, Store Norske planned to move their headquarters in there. Nothing came out of this. Concerts are held there every now and then, maybe it will be a museum in the future.
Mine 3 is already a museum. Has not been one for long, it was closed to visitors in 2009. Last year it was opened for guided excursions again, currently the only chance for tourists to see a mine from the inside. Not below ground, the mine proper still needs to be secured properly. But they want to get this done soon.
Gallery – Longyearbyen mining history – 11th April 2016
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_874
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
The large crane, locally known as Titan crane after the manufacturer, was used for shipping coal. Now it is just a reminder of old and quite different times.
Trappers Trail – 09th April 2016
The Trappers Trail dog sled race is a good reason to be in Longyearbyen on a certain Saturday in mid April. It has been an annual tradition since 2009. On this weekend, 09th and 10th of April, 26 teams are joining the race in one out of three categories: ski and pulk with one, two or three dogs, while the musher is standing on skies. Dog sled with 3-5 DP (dog powers) and dog sled with 6-8 DP.
The teams are starting at 1200, following upon one another every two minutes, from the area next to Forskingsparken (Svalbardmuseum, UNIS) under cheerful shouting of the onlookers. One or the other team does, of course, make a stop on the left or right side to say hello to a particular friend, something that usually involves the dogs more than the mushers and is part of the fun, which is what it is all about. Then, they disappear in the great white nothing in Adventdalen (it is snowing today).
The race is taking the teams to Kapp Laila in Colesbukta and tomorrow back along another route, a distance of altogether 75 km, including some demanding ascents. A tough trip under a competition, but distance and terrain are well within what trained dog teams regularly do.
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_872
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Over the years, the Trappers Trail dog sled race has built up a good reputation beyond Longyearbyen and it is an established part of the annual series of events that attract both locals and visitors.
Good and safe trip to all participants!
Diabasodden – 06th-07th April 2016
Wed
6 Apr
2016
06th-07th April 2016 – One waterfall, four perspectives. New technology shows old beauty from new angles. We are looking at Hyperittfossen, a waterfall in De Geerdalen. There is, of course, not a single drop of water running there now, but this is not a bad thing, not at all. The ice is hanging on to steep, rugged walls of basalt. Hence the name. Hyperite is a kind of basalt.
Beautiful views, a beautiful sunset, little hikes in the neighbourhood, silence. Lots of it. A fire in the oven is warming from outside and a chocolate Easter bunny is warming from inside. What else could one ask for?
Gallery – Diabasodden – 06th-07th April 2016
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_870
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Diabasodden is a place of old memories. There I was told that aukets and gulls are two different things. And that there are aukets with colourful beaks that are called puffins. The first polar bear experience, which was an interesting one. It was standing just outside the tent, not much more than arm’s length away. A warning shot scared it away, quickly and for good. The night was over. The rest stayed forever. That is 20 years ago now.
Easter brainteaser: the answer
This year’s Easter brainteaser brought a surprising and interesting result – none of the answers was right. Maybe I have underestimated the difficulty of the question? It looks like it. Even several seasoned colleagues who should have been there 10 times or more have not recognized the place.
This is even more surprising as the photo does not show an unknown bay, but one of Spitsbergen’s most famous places: Virgohamna on Danskøya. It was Virgohamna where the Swede Salomon August Andrée started his tragic North Pole voyage in 1897, followed by the American Walter Wellman, who started at the same place in 1906, 1907 and 1909, not getting anywhere near the pole either, but with an outcome less tragic.
Because of the history and the Harbour seals that can sometimes be seen there, Virgohamna is a popular place to visit still today. Already the above-mentioned expeditions attracted curious tourists, who came on ships that were anchoring in Virgohamna, just staying and waiting for the expeditions to take off. The old photo must have been taken on one of these occasions.
Still … no right answer. The answers sent in are suggesting Spitsbergen’s real coal harbours: Barentsburg, Colesbukta, Adventfjord, Pyramiden. This is certainly due to the misleading caption. Virgohamna does not have anything with a coal harbour to do, there is no coal anywhere in that area. The newspaper redaction which used the photo did probably not have a more appropriate one, so they used Virgohamna, guessing nobody would know the difference. They were obviously right! This is, of course, mean 🙁 but the landscape features are characteristic, and those who have been there should have had a fair chance 😉 or not? The view shown in the lower, recent image is seen every year by hundreds.
As there is no right answer, but an Easter brainteaser without a winner would be a rather sad affair, a winner was drawn by lot. The price goes to Tommy H. in the Netherlands – congratulations! Tommy will be contacted.
Where is that? The answer: Virgohamna!
A similar view of Virgohamna on a grey summer day in 2015 (looking east from the western end of the bay).
No direct flights from Helsinki to Longyearbyen
Finnair had announced last year to offer direct flights from Helsinki to Longyearbyen for 3 months in summer 2016. The tickets had been for sale for a while already, but as it turned out now, the Norwegian aviation authority is unable to grant permission for these flights due to a convention between Norway and Finnland from 1978 that regulates air traffic between these two countries. It has later been replaced by an agreement that regulates air traffic in the whole European Economic Area (EEA), but as Svalbard is not part of the EEA, the older convention is still in force here. One is left with the impression that the whole thing is a bureaucratic slip or a fools day joke if this post had been out a day earlier, but it is a fact for the time being.
Finnair has announced not make use of the opportunity to file an official complaint, which might still have led to a short-term change of the legal situation. The company has rather decided to cancel the flights and to re-imburse customers who have already bought a ticket.
The tourism industry in Longyearbyen had already been looking forward to about more 3000 guests during a locally otherwise rather calm season.
Welcome to Longyearbyen airport: currently not for Finnair.
Source: Highnorthnews
Sabine Land – 01 April 2016
Fri
1 Apr
2016
Looking out into the gently falling snow, you might think that yesterday’s weather was a pleasant April fools joke. An immaculately blue sky without the slightest hint of a cloud. Hardly a breeze, and temperatures between -10 (Longyearbyen) and -20 (east coast). Spitsbergen does not get more beautiful than this in April, and Spitsbergen does not get more beautiful than in April (but different, on a potentially equal level of beauty).
So, it was clearly a day for a good trip. The canyons that are cut into palaeozoic limestones in Sassendalen proved a great playground for my new toy, as the first pictures may show, but as it turned out it it did not really like the temperatures.
Little excursions in the mighty moraine of Rabotbreen followed. Nature has created a magnificent bit of landscape here. Grand.
And much, much bigger still were the ice deserts further east, Nordmannsfonna and its neighbours. Impressions of infinity. All shades of blue and white you can think of any many more. Barents- and Edgeøya on the far horizon. See you in summer.
Storfjord on the east coast seems to be frozen solid, but a closer look reveals open water in the distance. This winter is another one in the long row of negative records in terms of sea- and fjord ice, and Spitsbergen does not make a difference, unfortunately. Looking around near the coast, the world still seems to be alright. But it isn’t.
Gallery Sabine Land
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_868
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Could one just get the polar bears to lighten up for a second, it might be a little fireworks! They are somewhere, that is for sure. The tracks are not too old.
In the end of the day, the polar bear’s tracks are leading east, out onto the ice, and ours west, to Longyearbyen. Everybody is going home after another great day in the arctic.
Earthquake in Longyearbyen
There was an earthquake yesterday (Tuesday, 29th March) in Spitsbergen that was clearly felt in Longyearbyen. At 1231 hours, houses were shaken and a loud rumble was heard and felt. Some thought of an avalanche or a small avalanche from the roof of their house. In some cases, furniture moved up to 30 cm and plates were chattering in shelves and on tables.
Many people were initially afraid, which is understandable considering that Longyearbyen has felt the destructive powers of nature quite recently during the avalanche before Christmas. People in the administration building (Næringsbygget), opposite the post office, spontaneously decided to evacuate for some minutes. The earthquake was also clearly felt in Barentsburg. No damage occurred anywhere as far as known.
The epicentre is in Storfjord, west of Edgeøya. The hypocentre (epicentre with fixed vertical position) is assumed to be at 10 km depth. The earthquake reached 5.3 on Richter’s scale, making it strong enough to potentially cause damage, but far from the destructive force that turns cities into ashes or causes Tsunamis elsewhere in the world.
There are active faults (large cracks in the crust) in Storfjord which are frequently causing earthquakes. Recent ones were noticed in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014, the strongest one being the one from February 2008, which reached a remarkable 6.2 on Richter’s scale. In addition comes a large number of earthquakes that is recorded by seismic instruments, but not noticed in public.
This is what the earthquake on Tuesday looked like. (Seriously: this is of course a fake image, composed of several frames taken out of one photo.)
Source: Svalbardposten
Visit to the arctic opera – 29th March 2016
Tue
29 Mar
2016
There is a mountain on the north side of Adventdalen, 7 km east of Longyearbyen. It is called Operafjellet, because it has got a natural amphi theatre. The tenor is center stage, like Pavarotti. Behind him, there is Dirigenten (the conductor), and a bit more in the background, basso and soprano, as it should be.
- pano anchor link: #Tenoren_29Mar16
Tenoren
The tenor is 656 m high. The music that is being played here is arctic silence, twelve voices, sometimes in major, sometimes minor, as you please, on and off, with the rhythm of timelessness. The regular guests are reindeer and ptarmigan. Grass has taken some of the higher ranks, dressed with elegant, shiny coatings of ice. The spotlight is on as ordered from the absolutely highest level, cloud curtains are playing with the light only occasionally, casting playful shadows on the orchestra pit and painting colourful applause onto the ceiling.
Gallery – Visit to the arctic opera – 29th March 2016
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_866
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
The final crescendo up to the throne of the tenor is too much of a screaming glissando for the guests today. That is left for a da Capo.
Easter – 27 March 2016
Mon
28 Mar
2016
The Easter weekend is something special in Scandinavia. It is the time for tours par excellence. Nobody is staying at home. Either you are having a cosy, social time, or you get your skis or snow mobile out and take a trip into nature, whatever everybody feels like.
We combined both in the most pleasant way. Happy Easter! 🙂
Gallery – Easter – 27 March 2016
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_864
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
spitsbergen-svalbard.com Easter brainteaser
Amendment: Maybe it is more difficult than I had thought? A hint: the key is in the photo and not in the caption.
The second Easter brainteaser on spitsbergen-svalbard.com. Yes! The photo below was taken long time ago by an unknown photographer and used in a newspaper article, that does not exist anymore, other than this photo. Name and date of the publication are also unknown. But that does not matter!
The caption indicates that this photo was published at a time when sovereignty and land tenure were still uncertain, but the coal occurrences were well known. This sets the time frame into the early 20th century, about 100 years back. This is also what the article must have been about: coal and sovereignty. The caption is as follows (translation of the German original text)
“Picture of the harbour of Spitsbergen, which the Russians want to possess as a coal mine.
The Spitsbergen archipelago, stretching from 76° to 80° northern latitude, is very rich in coal. The desire of the Russians to establish a coal mine there is strongly opposed especially by the Scandinavian countries.”
The question is: where exactly was the photo taken?
Click here for a larger version of the image.
The prices will be drawn amongst all senders of correct answers. The winner will have one free choice from the books (or calendar or postcards) here on spitsbergen-svalbard.com – see right side or click here to see the choice. Senders of right answers no. 2 and 3 will have one free choice each amongst the postcards or the calendar. Click here for contact details to send your answer.
Closing date is Sunday, 03 April 2016, 2400 hours.
Good luck and have fun – happy Easter!
Where is this?
Small print: colleagues such as expedition leaders, guides and crew members are excluded from the drawing for prices. You can, of course, send your answers, but the prices will go to people who are not (semi)professionally involved with traveling Spitsbergen.
The answer has to be correct and concrete. Everything that is not wrong is correct, unless it is wrong. I (Rolf Stange) decide if it is correct and concrete (someone has to do it). It is not enough to write that it is in Spitsbergen. This would be correct, but not concrete.
Railway locomotive from Ny Ålesund under restoration
The famous railway locomotive from Ny Ålesund is one of Spitsbergen’s most frequently photographed attractions. No surprise, as the this interesting bit of local history is picturesquely placed with mountains and glaciers in the background and next to a road where thousands of cruise ship tourists are walking each summer.
Time and weather have, however, been nagging constantly, threatening to destroy this famous bit of machinery forever. To prevent this, it is now in Norway for restoration. In January, it went from Ny Ålesund to Tromsø on a ship and then from there on the road through Sweden to Sørumsand near Oslo. There, it will be taken care of by railway enthusiasts who have built up experience and reputation with other historical railway projects. It is estimated that the Ny Ålesund locomotive will need 300 work hours and 500.000 NOK (near 40.000 Euro) to get back to shape. After restoration is completed, it will be be transferred back home to Ny Ålesund. It is uncertain when this can be expected. Maybe tourists will see the famous coal train in Ny Ålesund without the locomotive this summer.
The locomotive is 107 years old and 8 tons heavy. It came to Ny Ålesund in 1917 and was used for coal transportation from the mine to the harbour into the 1950s. It was restored once on location in 1982. Planning for the current restoration project started 3 years ago.
The famous locomotive in Ny Ålesund, as it has been from the 1950s to 2015. It is currently in Norway for restoration.
-sizrce: NRK
Temperature in February 10 degrees above average
The winter is taking a break this year in the Arctic. It is well known by now that the global average temperature in February was well above the long-term (1950-1980) average, as much as 1.35 degrees according to NASA scientists. The temperature increase was especially pronounced in northern high latitudes: north America, Siberia, northern Scandinavia. In these regions, the mercury climbed 5-10 degrees higher than it does in average.
Recent data from Spitsbergen confirm very strong warming also from this area: in February 2016, the temperature was no less than 14.5 degrees above the long-term average, a drastic value! Still, February 2016 is not the race leader. February 2014 has got this doubtful honour, with a dramatic 14.5 degree temperature rise above average.
In Svalbard, the recent mild weather threatens to influence the ongoing winter season strongly: the fjords do not want to freeze, which is causing difficulties for arctic wildlife. For example, Ringed seals, who are giving birth on fjord ice in April and May. Without fjord ice, pregnant females are not able to deliver, meaning that this year’s reproductive season may fail for significant parts of the population. This will again influence polar bears, who are usually having a good and important time hunting on frozen fjords in spring. This is an important feeding season for many polar bears, including mother bears with youngsters born a few months before. Especially these families are strongly dependent on good hunting conditions in spring, after a fasting period of several months around birth for the mother.
Also local and other tourists are not happy about the mild weather. Last weekend, an incursion of warm air again brought temperatures above zero, making the snow thaw and melt in inland valleys that are part of popular snow mobile excursions. Locals have warned to take the popular trip to Barentsburg these days, as there was very little snow left in Colesdalen and Grøndalen. The melted snow is now turned into slippery ice, as temperatures are falling below -10°C again.
At least, the forecast promises temperatures to remain low for the near future, but it is not expected that fjords (Tempelfjord, Billefjord) still get a wide, strong fjord ice cover this season.
Open water in Tempelfjord at Fredheim. The last time this area was frozen solid was in spring 2013.
Source: NRK, local observations and communication.
Sun celebration – 08 March 2016
Tue
8 Mar
2016
Astronomers will tell you that the sun is coming back to Longyearbyen on 16 February, and this is indeed the first day it is coming back above the horizon again. But as the settlement is surrounded by mountains, the sun will not come back to Longyearbyen before 08 March. No doubt this is good reason to celebrate, as people didn’t get any sunlight for 4 months – well, most will have been somewhere south on holiday, but locally, at least. Everybody is looking forward to the return of the sun, and this is celebrated with a week of events, the solfestuke (sun celebration week).
Part of it is the solfestrevue, a stage event traditionally held in Huset and not in the more recent, modern and centrally located Kulturhuset (culture house). Many events of the last 12 months are passing by again, although quite detailed knowledge of local events and gossip (and Norwegian language) is certainly helpful to get the message in many cases. From Store Norske, which is faced with the phaseout of large parts of its activities in the 100th year of its existence, so maybe the future will see this very traditional company coming back as Store Torske, venturing on new paths in the fishing business? To local politics and politicians, some of whom are amazingly flexible in their opinions over time as anywhere else in the world, to local Svalbardians who occasionally come up with amazing ideas, such as testing important snow mobile routes in town by car (no, it does not work).
Following a nice tradition, Svalbard Kirke invited to an open air church survice on Hiorthfjellet, confidently as always held by Sokneprest Leif Magne Helgesen. No surprise he was elected as Svalbardian of the year. Add the magnificent surroundings and glorious weather to the service (a true Leif show!), and you have got something not to be missed.
The highlight was of course the actual solfest (sun celebration) on 08 March. Not the least due to the great weather. This date has often been cloudy in recent history, and so were the last couple of weeks. A sun celebration without sun is a bit like a wedding without a bride.
Gallery Sun celebration – 08 March 2016
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_862
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Today, it was to be different. Not the slightest cloud on the sky! Several hundred people, including many children decorated with yellow scarves with the shape of sun rays, had gathered around the stairs of the former hospital (pre WWII, nothing but the stairs are left) near the church, as this is the first part of town to which the sun returns. The children are cheering to the sun: sol, sol, kom igjen! Sola er min beste venn! (Sun, sun, come back! The sun is my best friend! Admittedly, rhyme and rhythm do work much better in Norwegian). There are songs, there is some talking, there is good vibes in the air, lots of it. And then, there is the sun. A moving moment when the light is turned on above Larsbreen and the sun rays are falling on the crowd, warming faces and hearts, cheerfully welcomed by everybody. Some more songs, then people are going there way. The dark time is over for this winter.
Barentsburg – 04/05 March 2015
Fri
4 Mar
2016
04/05 March 2015 – Overnight visit to Barentsburg. The freshly renovated hotel now offers a neat standard, from remarkable rooms (some of them do have a bath tub!), nice food (à la carte) to fast WLAN. At the same time, this means that it has lost some of its original charme.
Of course this is probably not what you mainly come for when you visit the arctic, but it may be good to know that it is absolutely save to plan a trip to Barentsburg as an overnight 🙂 it has not always been like that. And from Barentsburg there is a good choice of interesting places to see in reach, especially if you are travelling by snow mobile, next to the Russian settlement itself. They even offer courses in Russian handicrafts there these days! I have to admit that I have not done that.
Gallery Barentsburg – 04/05 March 2015
- gallery anchor link: #gallery_860
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
The way back went in dense snowfall. It was neither cold nor windy, but the snow was falling densely enough to make driving a bit unpleasant and certainly quite slow. We enjoyed the full programme, from snow mobiles falling on the side on slopes covered with deep, snoft fresh snow to snow mobiles digging themselves in within seconds in such places. Great fun … :-/
News-Listing live generated at 2024/April/23 at 16:33:21 Uhr (GMT+1)
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