The hut of the Ymer expedition on Storøya

Panorama of a hut of the Swedish Ymer expedition

The Ymer hut on Storøya is on the west side of the island, at Knøttodden.

There was a large Swedish scientific expedition in 1980, known as the Ymer expedition after the icebreaker that was used by the expedition. The expedition worked in the eastern and northeastern parts of Spitsbergen and in the waters north of Franz Josef Land.

Two huts were built in Svalbard, now known as the Ymer huts. Both were built and used for a few weeks for field research in the late summer of 1980. One is on Glenhalvøya on the north side of Nordaustland and the other one is the one at Knøttodden on Storøya. The latter one was called “Station Valter” by the expedition members, after Valter Schytt, an important Swedish glaciologist during the 20th century and one of the leading figures of the 1980 Ymer expedition.

It was the end of the era when people would just build a hut whenever they needed a base in the field. This is now strictly regulated and mostly not possible anymore. On the other hand, the expedition had a strong icebreaker and helicopters at their disposal. Regarding research, the glacier was their main object on Storøya. There, the ice cap Storøyjøkulen is just behind the hut.

Ymer hut (“Station Valter”) – outside Panorama (1)

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When I was there and took these photos in August 2023, the visibility was too bad to see much of the ice cap. The hut was in ok condition, starting to deteriorate and without much interiour, but structurally so far reasonably stable.

Ymer hut (“Station Valter”) – outside Panorama (2)

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Ymer hut (“Station Valter”) – Panorama inside

A lot of the original interior of the hut had been removed, and it is not in as good and complete condition as the other hut of the Ymer-expedition on Glenhalvøya on the north coast of Nordaustland. But as of August 2023, it is at least structurally largely intact.