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Svalbard

Pyramiden. And from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg.

By Northern Adventures

August 29^th, 2010

Introduction

(Fri Aug 20th - Mon Aug 30TH, 2010)

Svalbard, formerly known by its Dutch name Spitsbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Situated north of mainland Europe, it is about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole.

Administratively, the archipelago is not part of any Norwegian county but rather forms an unincorporated area administered by a state-appointed governor. Since 2002, Svalbard’s main settlement, Longyearbyen, has had an elected local government, somewhat similar to municipalities on the mainland.

Other settlements include the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research station of Ny-Ålesund, and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. Svalbard is home to the northernmost settlement in the world with a permanent civilian population.

We spent 10 days in this extraordinary place, staying two days in Pyramiden, an abandoned Russian mining settlement, and hiking from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg. It was a special adventure—really way up north—and we carried a rifle as protection against polar bears.

We mostly stayed overnight outside human settlements in the real Arctic wilderness. Svalbard is a vast land not for the faint-hearted. This is a place where "deep north" takes on its true meaning.

Longyearbyen Campsite

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Longyearbyen Camping is situated at 78º 15’ north. There is no other camping site further north with comparable facilities anywhere else on Earth. The North Pole is just another 1,300 km away, mostly across the drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean. The mass tourism at North Cape in Norway is as far south as some Mediterranean resorts are from London.

Overnight stay figures vary widely from year to year, ranging from 1,500 to 3,400 annually in recent years, with guests from 15 to 30 countries. In other words, it’s a small, cozy campsite with the atmosphere of a big international family on most days.

We spent a few days in the camp between our trips. At the beginning of August, sunset and sunrise merged into one beautiful natural phenomenon. We witnessed this stunning display with a bottle of Caol Ila Scotch—what more could one ask for?

Arctic Naked Bathing

In the middle of summer, surface temperatures of the water near the shore are typically between 4°C and 8°C. Since summer 2008, the Longyearbyen camping staff have been issuing Arctic Naked-Bathing Certificates. Obtaining this special certificate requires meeting certain conditions. Specifically, in front of a witness from the campsite staff, you must take a bold dash from the lovely pebble beach into the Advent Fjord, perform a full dive, and swim a few strokes in the sea—all, of course, while naked!

Around Longyearbyen

Coal mining history is evident throughout Longyearbyen.

The American industrialist John Munroe Longyear first visited Spitsbergen as a tourist in 1901, where he encountered an expedition prospecting for coal. He returned to Spitsbergen in 1903, meeting Henrik B. Næss in Adventfjorden, who provided him with samples and information about the coal fields. Together with his associate Frederick Ayer, Longyear purchased the Norwegian claims on the west side of Adventfjorden and significantly expanded these claims the following year. In 1906, the Boston-based Arctic Coal Company, with Ayer and Longyear as the main shareholders, began mining in Mine 1a after constructing docks and housing.

From 1907 to 1987, mining companies operated a network of aerial tramways to transport coal from the mines to the port.

Longyearbyen

Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative center of Svalbard.

As of 2008, the town had a population of 2,040 and is situated in the valley of Longyeardalen on the shore of Adventfjorden, a bay of Isfjorden located on the west coast of Spitsbergen.

Since 2002, the Longyearbyen Community Council has assumed many responsibilities typical of a municipality, including managing utilities, education, cultural facilities, the fire department, roads, and ports. Additionally, the town is the seat of the Governor of Svalbard. It is the world's northernmost settlement with a permanent population exceeding 1,000 residents.

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Shooting Range

According to Svalbard regulations, individuals must carry a weapon for protection against polar bears when outside human settlements.

Most rental guns are World War II-era Mauser brand 30.06/7.62 mm high-powered rifles, which, despite being in somewhat poor condition, are functional. Some shops and outfitters offer modern rifles of the same caliber, which are slightly less heavy and cumbersome, available for a higher fee. Anything less powerful is generally ineffective against a polar bear.

Not far from Longyearbyen, there is a shooting range for practicing before venturing outside the town. Testing the rifle and having it strapped to your backpack on the trail can be quite an unusual experience.

Sailing to Pyramiden

The boat journey from Longyearbyen to Pyramiden was extraordinary, though cold. Fresh fish were grilled and served onboard, followed by a digestif—a shot of whisky with natural ice!

We visited the Nordenskiöldbreen glacier in the Billefjorden fjord, which was a spectacular sight. We admired the patches of blue in the ice, which occur when snow falls on a glacier, gets compressed, and becomes part of the glacier as it moves toward a body of water. During this process, trapped air bubbles are squeezed out, and the size of the ice crystals increases, giving the ice its distinctive blue color.

Pyramiden

Pyramiden (meaning "the pyramid" in most Scandinavian languages; called Пирамида, Piramida, in Russian) is a former Russian settlement and coal mining community on the Svalbard archipelago.

Founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, Pyramiden was closed in 1998 and has since remained largely abandoned, with most of its infrastructure and buildings still intact. Until 2007, it was practically a ghost town, with the interiors of buildings largely unchanged since the settlement was hastily abandoned.

Since 2007, Trust Arktikugol has been renovating the former hotel and upgrading infrastructure, including constructing a new power station with diesel generators, to accommodate tourists in the old settlement. Up to 30 workers have been living there year-round to maintain the facilities and guide tourists visiting from Longyearbyen.

As of 2013, the Tulip Hotel has reopened, allowing guests to stay overnight in Pyramiden, and also houses a small museum. Additionally, there is a small hotel made from old shipping containers near the harbor.

Fortunately, there are no plans to renovate and reopen the entire settlement.

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It's hard to describe the emotions we felt as Pyramiden gradually emerged into view while our boat approached the port.

The ghost town evokes a strong emotional response, reminiscent of Bradbury's books, Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," or any of those B-movies depicting post-apocalyptic scenarios.

We were extremely fortunate—after a few hours of visiting, when all the other tourists were returning to the boat, leaving us alone in Pyramiden, the guide mentioned that the two most beautiful days of the Spitsbergen summer had been forecasted. He was right, and our two-night stay there left us with unforgettable memories.

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There are no restrictions on visiting Pyramiden, which is still owned by Trust Arktikugol, but visitors are not allowed to enter any buildings without permission, even if they are open.

While most buildings are now locked, breaking into them, vandalism, and the theft of "souvenirs" pose serious threats to Pyramiden, contributing to the accelerated deterioration of the structures.

Despite this, we couldn't resist the temptation to explore some of the open buildings. We found a swimming schedule still posted at the pool, old Russian newspapers, a former gym, a skiing storeroom, and cooking pots in the kitchen.

It was like stepping back in time into the past.

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We camped right in the middle of the grassy town "square."

During the night, we maintained a watch, as it's not uncommon for polar bears to wander through the ghost town in winter. In our case, however, only a few arctic foxes visited us, and otherwise, the town was as silent as only a ghost city can be.

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Climbing Pyramiden Mountain

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The next day, we decided to climb Pyramiden Mountain (Reuterskiöldfjellet) overlooking the town.

Once a day, a tourist boat from Longyearbyen approaches the glacier before reaching Pyramiden. Aside from this regular tourist interlude, the Arctic landscape remains awe-inspiring, majestic, and silent.

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Climbing Pyramiden Mountain was a spectacular endeavor.

The panoramic views of the majestic Arctic landscape were incomparable. We were there alone—completely free, with no civilization nearby, just the ghost town below where we had pitched our tents to form our base camp.

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We left Pyramiden the next day aboard another tourist boat that arrived from Longyearbyen with a crowd of day-trippers. It was time to prepare for another northern adventure...

From Longyearbyen to Barentsburg

The distance from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg is about 55 km, but no roads connect the two settlements. Most travel between them is by boat, snowmobile, or helicopter. We chose to hike.

There are a few scattered houses west of Longyearbyen. For a while, we hiked along a gravel road that ends at the edge of the Bjørndalen Valley. Here, we turned south and began a gentle ascent into the Arctic wilderness.

It was a long hike. It took us several hours to reach the top of the pass, where we encountered foggy weather and crossed the last patches of snow, even though it was late August.

We then continued on a rough track for another two to three hours, gradually descending to a bay called Colesbukta.

The footprint of a polar bear. Have you ever seen one?

In the true Arctic wilderness, with no help nearby, it can be quite unsettling...

After an exhausting 14-hour hike, we reached Colesbukta Bay.

The weather had cleared somewhat, and the views across the nearby peaks and the Arctic Ocean were undoubtedly magical. The low light of the setting (or rising?) sun breaking through thick clouds illuminated the unspoiled wilderness.

From there, we still had to walk for another hour to reach the Rusanovodden hut, where we planned to stay overnight.

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Rusanovodden

We spent the night in the Rusanovodden hut, an open cabin and "museum" built by the Russians from Barentsburg in memory of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov (1875-1913), a Russian geologist who visited Novaya Zemlya every year from 1907 to 1911 and claimed property at Grumantbyen in 1912.

The hut officially accommodates six people in one of the bunk rooms; however, the museum offers ample floor space and foldable camping beds. It features a stove, tables, seating, six mattresses on bunk beds, and some basic informative displays about the area (in Russian).

Colesbukta and Grumantbyen

We decided to stay in the hut for two nights, planning a short trip from Colesbukta to another former settlement called Grumantbyen.

Colesbukta was originally a whaling station, and in the 19th century, there were attempts at coal mining in the bay. After World War II, the settlement of Colesbukta was established as a more suitable port for the nearby Russian mine in Grumant. A narrow-gauge railway of about 6 km connected the two settlements, which was clearly Spitsbergen's longest surface railway, much of it sheltered in a wooden structure to protect against winter snowdrifts. Both Grumantbyen and Colesbukta closed when coal mining ended, but Colesbukta continued to serve as a Russian base for exploratory coal drilling until 1988.

In Grumantbyen itself, only a few buildings remain, most of them crumbling, making it difficult to determine where the others once stood. Ruins of the wooden-covered railway enhance the sense of desolation and silent emptiness of the barren Arctic landscape. The view of the former settlement of Grumant is impressive and quite moving—it resembles a colorful painting.

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Hiking to Barentsburg

The next day, we continued hiking along the coast in the western direction toward the Russian settlement of Barentsburg.

It was cloudy, but fortunately, it didn’t rain. In Colesbukta, we explored more ruins of the former port, and not far from there, we had to cross several ice-cold rivers barefoot.

Along the way, we encountered several cabins that appeared to be occasionally used, most likely by visitors from Longyearbyen.

The need and desire for a "summer cottage" seem unstoppable, even in the remotest areas of the deep north! 😊

We pitched our tents by the seaside above a small gorge. As evening fell, it became quite cold.

Luckily, we found some driftwood along the coast, and even discovered a broken wooden cart with some black coal! Around the campfire, everything felt more optimistic as we enjoyed our evening meals, cups of tea, and a few shots of whiskey that we still had.

Barentsburg

It took us just a few hours to reach the Russian settlement of Barentsburg the next day.

Barentsburg (Russian: Баренцбург) is the second-largest settlement on Svalbard, with about 500 inhabitants (as of 2007), nearly all of whom are Russians and Ukrainians. Barentsburg began as a Dutch mining town in the 1920s.

In 1932, the Dutch sold their concession to the Soviet Union, and since then, the Russian state-owned Arktikugol Trust has operated the town and managed the coal mining industry.

Orientation in Barentsburg is fairly straightforward. It's about 220 steps up from the dock to the settlement, where most things are located along the main street, ulitsa Ivana Starostina.

The town has everything one might expect from an old Russian town in a state of slow decline: a statue of Lenin, a museum featuring stuffed polar bears, a dinosaur footprint, and various rocks, a sports center with a pool, as well as a few propaganda posters and slogans.

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We spent the night in the Barentsburg Hotel.

Reasonably new (built in 1988) and newly renovated in 2012, the hotel is in good shape, though it has a bit of a student dormitory style and is usually eerily empty. It features some interesting decorations as well.

Apparently, our unannounced visit surprised the hotel staff, and they had a bit of a hard time gathering enough food for the hungry hikers.

The surroundings of Barentsburg present an unusual combination of beautiful Arctic landscapes and an industrial apocalypse.

It's quite strange to see, and hiking around the town is definitely worthwhile. If one manages to venture off the main street (where a few drunk locals are a constant presence), the sublime beauty of the landscape can help to overcome the mixed feelings associated with this Russian outpost.

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The following afternoon, we took a boat ride back to Longyearbyen on another tourist boat.

Along the way, we once again saw the ruins of Grumantbyen and admired the magnificent cliffs along the coastline.

Afterword

It was a week in the harsh Arctic region, where humanity continues to exist and endure brutal conditions.

The vast majority of visitors spent their nights in comfortable accommodations in Longyearbyen (there's even a Radisson SAS hotel) and explored the area on suitable day trips.

We chose a different approach. While "unforgettable memories" may be a cliché, in this case, it is truly the best description of what we experienced in Svalbard.

Practicalities

Surprisingly, Svalbard is quite accessible—there are regular (and reasonably priced) SAS and Norwegian flights from Oslo and Tromsø, Norway.
Polar bears pose a real threat, even in or near settlements, so the risks of encountering a bear should not be underestimated.
The Bradt Guide to Svalbard is a fantastic read, filled with practical advice and captivating history about the Arctic archipelago. Highly recommended!

Footnotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.

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FootNotes

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without permission of the author.

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