Kvedfjordbukta ist an open bay on the west coast of Spitsbergen, between Krossfjord and Magdalenefjord. This rather hostile coastal stretch is very exposed. It consists of either steep rock slopes and some boulder beaches and glaciers. There are seven major glaciers in this area, and they all used to reach the sea, so the whalers named this coast “The seven icebergs”, today “Dei Sju Isfjella” in Norwegian. All these glaciers have retreated in recent decades, so not all of them reach the sea anymore.
This coast could be a challenge on the way north as there was no shelter in case of sudden storms. Hamburgbukta further north is the first place where smaller vessels may anchor, but then you have already almost reached Magdalenefjord with the historically well-known and mostly well-sheltered anchorage at Trinityhamna, east of Gravneset.
The vegetation looks rich and pristine. It is obvious that there is not a lot of trampling here, and there is a lot of fertilization from the little auks that are breeding on the steep scree slopes in large numbers.
Trappers have built a hut in Kvedfjordbukta in the 1920s to have a link between Krossfjord and Kongsfjord to the south, where Ny-Ålesund provides Spitsbergen’s northernmost outlier of zivilisation, and the hunting grounds further north, in Magdalenefjord and Smeerenburgfjord. There was another hut at Ræderfjellet (Tredjebreen). Both have disappeared and there is nothing left but a very few scattered remains so you can barely see where they might once have been.
my new book is in print and it can now be ordered 🙂 it is a photo book with the title “Norwegens arktischer Norden (3): Die Bäreninsel und Jan Mayen”, with German text Click here for further details!
BOOKS, CALENDAR, POSTCARDS AND MORE
This and other publishing products of the Spitsbergen publishing house in the Spitsbergen-Shop.
Norwegens arktischer Norden (1): Spitzbergen
Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German. [shop url="https://shop.spitzbergen.de/en/polar-books/70-norwegens-arktischer-norden-1-aerial-arctic-9783937903262.html"] ← Back
Lofoten, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen from the air - Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German, but there is very little text, so I am sure that you will enjoy it regardless which languages you read (or not).
The companion book for the Svalbardhytter poster. The poster visualises the diversity of Spitsbergen‘s huts and their stories in a range of Arctic landscapes. The book tells the stories of the huts in three languages.
Comprehensive guidebook about Spitsbergen. Background (wildlife, plants, geology, history etc.), practical information including travelling seasons, how to travel, description of settlements, routes and regions.
Join an exciting journey with dog, skis and tent through the wintery wastes of East Greenland! We were five guys and a dog when we started in Ittoqqortoormiit, the northernmost one of two settlements on Greenland’s east coast.
12 postcards which come in a beautifully designed tray. Beautiful images from South Georgia across Antarctica from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Sea and up to Macquarie Island and Campbell Island.
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.