Arctic Ocean 2023 – prelude May 31 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-06: Arctic Ocean cruise KPH”.

When it looks like this on my table …

… then I’m going to travel. I love packing lists and I need them so that I do not forget too much.

At 9 o’clock everything is packed (ca. 50 kilos!). At 10 o’clock the taxi fetches me and takes me to the airport in Tromsø. Two and a half hours we are in the air heading north.

It’s very cloudy but shortly before landing I finally can see something different than sky and clouds: Svalbard’s main island Spitsbergen.

Soon we will land in Longyearbyen, where I landed three month before. But there are some differences.

Last time I travelled with Annika and we went on vacation before I worked in Longyearbyen for a week. Now I’m travelling with some colleagues from the Norwegian Polar Institute. Shortly before we land on the airport I take a snapshot:

Kronprins Haakon in Longyearbyen from above

There it is: the vessel Kronprins Haakon which is more or less the reason why some colleagues of mine and I travelled north: Tomorrow we will go on board on this ice breaker and start an expedition way up north into the sea ice. For three weeks we will live and work on Kronprins Haakon and I’m so excited that I may be part of this.

Today I had some hours in Longyearbyen. I was quite curious how it would look like in late spring. According to a researcher there is a lot of snow for the season this year. But on sea level the snow has melted away and everything looks soaking wet and muddy. While Svalbard reindeer are probably happy I definitely prefer winter.

If everything goes according plan we will leave Longyearbyen tomorrow at lunch time. I guess it won’t be long until we do not have any regular internet. So probably I will not blog anything about this scientific cruise before I’m back in civilisation.

Bye bye – ha det bra!

P.S.: On Facebook a friend wrote to me: “You must have the best job in the world!”. My answer – short but genuine: “Yes!”

12 more photos of Longyearbyen Mar 23 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

3 March

It is the first evening of Annika’s and my stay in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. We already strolled through the settlement after arrival. Now it is dark but the full moon illuminates the end of the road of Nybyen, one of Longyearbyen’s districts. What a special feeling to be in one of the world northernmost settlements on Earth. And a slightly tense one. It’s the edge of town, are there any polar bears around?

8 March

When you are in Svalbard you have to keep distance to animals to protect them. The animals do not follow this rule. This is a Svalbard reindeer, an own species of reindeer living here. It is looking for food in the middle of the city.

9 March

I didn’t expect to see ptarmigans on Svalbard but on our guided minibus tour we get to see a whole flock, again in Longyearbyen. Magnus is so kind to stop so that I could take a photo from the road.

10 March

This day is quite warm for Longyearbyen: Only -8 °C. When I took this photo however it was windy. Average wind wind 16 m/s, gusts 21 m/s and snow is blowing in the streets.

12 March

Annika is on her way home, I’ll stay for another week and today I enjoy the beautiful weather by the coast. The mountains on the other side of the fjord Isfjorden look quite near today – especially through the big telephoto lens.

15 March

I take an after work stroll along the coast and through town. It is cold and even with the modest wind of 6 m/s windchill is below -30 °C. It looks arctic, it smells arctic (the nose hairs freeze together immediately) and it feels arctic. No wonder – I am in the Arctic. Even the petrol prices show, that you are not in mainland Norway any longer. Petrol is cheap because Svalbard has reduced taxes.

Polarsyssel – the ship of the Governor of Svalbard

18 March

Another walk in town. Up the hill to Taubanesentrale (the central of coal mining cableway), down to the center and up again to the elevated way in the east, part of the avalanche protection.

19 March

Sunday. Tomorrow I’ll fly back to Tromsø, today I’m quite lazy but finally I walk to the coast again because of the wonderful weather. Even with my hood on I can hear something above me. I look up and see the first two seagulls since I have arrived here. It is two glaucous gulls that draw large circles above the coastal line.

I try even to take pictures of the incredibly coloured mountains on the other side of the Isfjorden but the turbulences in the air make clear pictures impossible. I’ll keep it in my memory as I’ll do with my whole stay in Longyearbyen.

Farewell, Longyearbyen Mar 20 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

I am sitting in the waiting hall of Longyear Airport, waiting for my plane to Tromsø.

More than two weeks I’ve been here, first on vacation with Annika, then working for the Norwegian Polar Institute at UNIS, the University Centre in Svalbard.

I worked with Luke, data manager for the Nansen Legacy and had a guest office on the other side of his office in the biology section.

While my office may look totally normal, the view definitely wasn’t.

Some days at 9 o’clock I went to other side of the building to the Longyearbyen section of the Norwegian Polar Institute to have coffee break with my colleagues there.

Coffee corner, Norwegian Polar Institute, Longyearbyen

In Longyearbyen you put out your outdoor shoes before you enter a building (with some exceptions as the local COOP grocery shop). And so it is at UNIS. You can clearly see by the shelfs whether people are at home or at UNIS.

Soon I will travel back to Tromsø and I’m looking forward being back. It was a fantastic experience to spend much time in Longyearbyen. Anyhow as a visitor you also realise the limitations as for example not being able to leave the town without valid rifle permit because of the polar bears.

Continental Europe – here I come.

Colder days in Longyearbyen Mar 16 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

Two days ago on 14 March 2023 it started getting colder in Longyearbyen. Yesterday temperatures were around -19 °C, today around -21 °C.

Yesterday I took a walk after work and took some photos with my tiny Sony camera that worked surprisingly good in the cold when being kept warm.

While light was beautiful yesterday, today it was magic. After work I went to my apartment. Round about 15 minutes later I left it with all my camera gear and went to the shore. Due to the interface between the open water and the cold air ice fog covered large parts of the Adventfjorden. While I looked for good places to take photos the setting sun and the altering fog changed the mood every minute. Extraordinary beautiful!

Like the days before the sunset colours on the snow covered mountains became warmer and warmer until they reached a delicate but intense purple shade while the sunlit parts rose higher and higher until only the tops stayed in the sun.

Remember, these photos were not taken in the wilderness, I’m in the settlement Longyearbyen and my apartment lies just 500 metre from the nearest photo spot.

As already mentioned today’s temperatures were round -21 °C. With a moderate breeze of 6 m/s that felt like -32 °C. Pretty cold and the ice fog didn’t make it warmer.

After work snowmobile tour Mar 14 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

This week I’m working at UNIS, the university centre in Svalbard together with friend and colleague Luke Mardsen. He is data manager for The Nansen Legacy. This week we collaborate on some of the software he wrote for this research project. Interesting stuff, but maybe not for this blog.

Today Luke invited me to an after work snowmobile trip up the glacier Longyearbreen. I borrowed a helmet, ski goggles and warm mittens from the Norwegian Polar Institute whose colleagues I had coffee break with today. Then I dressed like being in the high Arctic, but hey, I am in the high Arctic. Luke picked me up from the UNIS Guesthouse and then we started the tour. Luke was driving the snowmobile, I was sitting behind him. First through town, under the water pipes – duck! – and past Huset, where Annika and I had food ten days ago. Then we ascended the valley and then the glacier. Today we have had the finest whether thinkable: crisp, clear, blue sky and so we got to see the beauty of the sunset colours on the snowy mountains around as well as on the other side of the Adventdalen.

But beside of marvelling the beauty of nature there were other attractions waiting. Another ice cave, probably larger than that Annika and I visited a week ago and a bit more need of climbing. We got a tip of a colleague of Luke to visit a side room and it was astonishing. A large and high, beautiful room with a roof covered with large feather-like ice plates. I never saw something like this before. Without torches it was pitch black in the cave and so photographing took more time and efforts. I managed to take some snapshots anyhow.

After some exploring we returned and climbed up the ladders to the cave entrance. Now the blue hour had started and the light was less colourful but equally beautiful.

On the Longyearbreen in the blue hour of the evening

Back we went on Luke’s snowmobile. He in the front, I in the back. It was only two hours later when we arrived at the guesthouse again, but I had completely fallen out of time, especially in the ice cave.

I lack the words to thank you for this wonderful after work trip, Luke. See you tomorrow in the office.

Guided minibus tour with Magnus Mar 12 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

Thursday morning Annika and I joined a guided tour by minibus. Magnus, our guide and driver has moved to Svalbard in 1964 and has spent most of his life here. I’ll show you some pictures of the tour, but the real experience were the incredible stories Magnus told us. About the times, when there was no shop in Longyearbyen, when the island could be cut off from the mainland the whole winter, when it was a mining town hardly visited by any tourists. What makes the stories special is that they seem to tell from ancient times but some took place just one generation ago. I could listen to Magnus for ages.

And now some photos. From the road up to Gruve 7, the last active coal mine that will be closed in 2025. From the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, where more than one million seed samples are stored. From the cable car facility that was used to transport coal from the mines to the quay until the 80th and from a special guest, the ice breaker Kronprins Haakon, that I travelled with last year. And of course from the famous polar bear warning sign on the road to Gruve 7.

“Taubanesentralen” – the cable car central

This tour is strongly recommended if you want to get first hand information about Longyearbyen’s history. Longyearbyen Guiding AS. The web site is only in Norwegian, but the guiding is in English.

Ta sjansen Mar 11 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

Funny clad people and strange vehicles on the town’s ski slope in Longyearbyen, what happens?

Today it’s the last day of the sun festival week and one of the items on the agenda is “Ta sjansen” (take the chance) an annual race down the ski hill with self-made vehicles where creativity is as as important than speed.

1 – 2 – 3 – here we go!

And – what do you think? Who won the race?

Sol, sol, kom igjen, sola er min beste venn! Mar 10 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

It is 8 March 2023, a special day in Longyearbyen. While polar night ended already three weeks ago today is the first opportunity to see the sun in Longyearbyen above the mountains in the south. A special day after the sun disappeared in October last year. And as you can see it is a big celebration!

After some singing the moment has come. All people are shouting: “Sol, sol, kom igjen, sola er min beste venn!” – Sun, sun, come back, the sun is my best friend!

But the chanting was in vain: the sun didn’t appear. Some children are in doubt – was it the clouds or didn’t they shout loud enough.

But now it’s only a matter of waiting. Already in six weeks the time of polar day and midnight sun will begin.

Kudos for the musicians. Must be hard to play guitar or piano when windchill is round -23 °C. Brrr!

Two-day dogsledding tour in Svalbard – ice cave Mar 10 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

There is a hole in the snow. You can crawl in and then you are in another world. Down the rabbit hole …

It is the second day of Annika and my dogsledding tour and we are on our way back to the dog yard. Our tour guide Adelheid however makes a detour to the Scott Turner glacier. Here is the entrance to an impressive cave formed by meltwater in the summer. Now it is winter and we can walk through ice, that at the bottom is roughly 1000 years old.

We have time and can follow the main cave passage through the glacier’s art exhibition.

adaAdelheid and Annika in the ice cave IIelheid-and-annika-in-the-ice-cave-2

I try to take many photos, but it’s not easy. Parts of the cave are quite dark and the cave is so humid that my Nikon telephoto lens fogs up. It’s not the first time, that my iPhone rescues me in such situations.

Thanks for the guiding, Adelheid.

Two-day dogsledding tour in Svalbard – day 2 Mar 9 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

Last night I dreamt that a heavy polar bear was lying on top of me. It had sneaked into our sleeping room. In reality a polar bear could never have approached the cabin unnoticed. We have seventeen polar bear guards outside: the sled dogs.

It is half past seven. I just started a fire because the inside temperature of the cabin in Tverrdalen has dropped to 5.7 °C, while it is -20 °C outside. It is the second day of Annika’s and my dogsledding tour in Svalbard and despite some stormy gusts of wind the weather looks quite promising.

Snow is blown around the dog sleds. Most dogs are still sleeping, some of them half snowed in. Snow will keep them warm, it is a good isolator. Not all dogs have slept outside, some have slept in wooden boxes to be protected against the wind.

I hurry to go in again, the glove livers were much too cold in the cold wind and my fingertips hurt. The next hours we are busy with taking breakfast, packing things, tidying the cabin, putting our clothes on and taking care of the dogs. While we are outside the wind is calming down and the sun shines on the snowy mountains round Tverrdalen.

Preparations for the second dogsledding day

We say goodbye to this wonderful place and start our journey back to the dog kennel in wonderful winter weather. Annika and I have put the bulky isolated anoraks into the sledge, they were too warm the day before and use our own windproof jackets. The fur-rimmed hoods are a good protection against wind and coldness.

We take a lunch break at the Scott Turner glacier, but before that we visit an impressive ice cave. I’ll write an own blog article about that later.

After a warm lunch break – Real Turmat outdoor food only needs hot water – we walk the dogs to the sledge and start our last stage of our dogsledding adventure.

It is not only the great weather, the beauty of the valley Bolterdalen and the mountains around, it’s the dogsledding itself that is great fun. After only a day Annika and I know how to work together, help the dogs, shift weight, brake and release the brakes again. Now we hardly have to help the dogs by pedalling or pushing the sledge. It goes downhills and the dogs know that they are on their way home where they will be rewarded with treats. So we glide effortlessly through the snowy landscape enjoying this extraordinary experience. And then we are back at the dog yard, were our sled dogs are eager to get loose and run around a bit, greet friends and wait for their goodies.

Annika and I get to know Foxi as well, the famous dog that led Tommy’s sledge on the Iditarod race and has also been at the North Pole. While Tommy and Adelheid are taking care of both dogs and other tourists Annika and I are sitting in the living room of the dog yard’s cabin and are chilling. Adelheid’s jeep needs a jump start – it does not like the cold – then she brings us back to town.

@ my colleague Y.: Thanks for the tip. Great tour. We enjoyed every minute!
@ Janne and Tommy: Thanks for the organisation of this extra tour!
@ Adelheid: Thanks for the guiding and cooking! It was a pleasure meeting you!
@ the dogs: Thanks for your hard work and your relaxed attitude 🐾!

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