Ny-Ålesund: Airship mast

The famous airship mast, just a few hundred metres east of Ny-Ålesund, is the historical main attraction of the area.

The airship mast was built in 1926 during Roald Amundsen’s north pole expedition with the airship Norge. The Italian builder and Captain of the airship, Umberto Nobile, was also part of the expedition, together with the American sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth and many others who were in the airship and ground crew. The latter included many workers who had helped building the mast and the hangar, which does not exist anymore.

In 1928, the airship mast was used again when Umberto Nobile returned with a new airship, the Italia, for another north pole expedition. It is well-known polar history that the Italia reached the north pole but crashed on the ice north of Nordaustland on the return journey (click here to read more about the north pole expeditions by Amundsen and Nobile in 1926 and 1928).

Visitors who want to go to the airship mast need a rifle or a guide equipped with a rifle as the mast it outside the settlement. Polar bears are quite common in Kongsfjord in recent years, also during the summer.

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