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Spitsbergen Report No. 8

March 23rd 2002



The Sun is back !



An irritating blue around noon was the first sign
Two weeks passed by until further colours were added. In the end of February it was finally time for it.

The first light
The sun with her friendly face afforded the first audience to the high north after four dark month of absence. Lividly winterlike and slightly drowsy she gave her first beams to the highest mountain tops.

Sunny Summitluck
Stunned by the paradox encounter of horrible coldness and the first sunbeams we are posing on Nordenskildtoppen (l.t.r.: Joakim, Lena, Imke, Niels). But according to an old trappers' rule it's apparently always like that.


In new light
Even the mrketids freak Matteo can accept the sun seen in this new variety of colours. But he damps his amazement order not to be suspeceted of the ordinary supermoon euphoria.


cave tour
If you got to much of the sun yoo can still find shelter in th glacier cave. Some fifty metres under the ice of Longyearbreen no sunbeam will reach you soon. Instead this offers a unique sleeping adventure. Karoline, Lisa, Sveinung and me dare it. It's a bit tough to get used to the steadily purling pebbles that set free from the ice.


pan cake ice
Menawhile in the fjord new ice is forming lie hell. The dramatic phase of pan cake ice formation depicted here is over now. But this is more than compensated for by the nice trips I could go for on the fjord ice with Regine.

wind-sea-ice interaction
The interface from sea to land is the most critical part when you drive on the ice. Tides and wind waves make the ice moving and constantly grating. Here I sit on a ridge out of sea ice that the wind had piled up on the land.

Tempelfjorden
But at a certain time the ice is that thick that it covers the sea like a solid layer of concrete. Here "Origo" in Tempelfjorden is frozen into the ice for touristic purposes. She most likely won't be able to move until May. When you along on the snow it seems as a bit of a surprise when you suddenly meet a ship.


Polar bear tracks
With the ice the seals arrived in Adventfjorden, and a little later Mister Polar bear. Without any natural enemies you can barely hinder him once caught by curiosity. But Sysselmannens servant don't leave out any opportunities to scare him away with tha aid of Superpuma. So far I have only seen tracks in the snow warning signs in town, dramatic pictures in Svalbardposten and several stories by other students. The mitt in the picture is about 35 cm long.

Glacier front
The front of von-Postbreen reveals an surprising size. In winter it is only calved little so that you can approach the edge carefully. The ice can moreover serve as beverage from the time when the world was still pure and genuine.


Regines sister
The return of the sun led to a couple of wild and peculiar activities. The sledge competition "Ta sjansen" is part of that movement e.g.. Stefan, Carolin and me could persuade Dagmar to participate. Dagmar is Regine's sister. Furnished in the style of contemporary students' environment we were allowed to go down the mountainside. Note the source of light in the very center of the picture resting like a rock in the breakers. We closely missed the prize for the fastest downhill ride, but Dagmar was considered to be the most creative sledge, meaning a dog sledge tour for us.
Unfortunately that should be Dagmar's last journey. Regine inherited the standard lamp.


After the dark time is finally endured it seems a proper moment for a Mrketida break .


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Updated September 8th 2002