The first day out in Spitsbergen’s nature. Ny Ålesund provides an easy transition from civilisation to the arctic wilderness. Geese and foxes are roaming through the village between scientists and tourists. Roald Amundsen started his successful North Pole flight here in 1928.
The first deep dive in real arctic wilderness was to come in the afternoon with a visit to a bird cliff deep in the fjord. The Blue whale was the icing on the cake of this first day.
Huts are places of longing, dreams and adventure in Spitsbergen’s beautiful landscape. Even if the modern visitor’s eye may mostly be directed towards nature, most will have an open ear every now and then for exciting survival stories about explorers and expeditions, adventurers and trappers.
These huts are silent witnesses and and every one of them tells a little part of the whole story. The little book “Svalbardhytter” and the poster that is part of the same project make these fascinating places accessible for everyone.
From remote ruins, just traces in a few cases, to “famous” trapper huts such as Fredheim in Tempelfjord and Bjørneborg on Halvmåneøya, the war weather station Haudegen, the former scientific base Würzburger Hütte on Barentsøya and Hammerfesthuset, Svalbard’s oldest building.