Ny alesund svalbard

Adventure in Svalbard :From Ny lesund to the North PoleNy lesund is situated on the northwest coast of the Svalbard island Spitzberg, on the Arctic ocean.

The settlement is the northernmost permanently inhabitated place on Earth.

The Svalbard archipelago lies only 900 km south of the North Pole.

Due to the circulation of warm wet air from Western Europe and the Northern Atlantic, its winter temperatures are not much different from those encountered in the French Alps. This explains the relatively wet, mild climate.

Ny lesund is located almost at 79 N, inside a beautiful and sheltered fiord called Kongsfjord (King's fiord) .

The settlement stands on the south shore of the fjord, in a tundra plane between mountain and sea.

The bay is 26 km long and 14 km maximum wide. Two glaciers, Kronebreen and Kongsvegen, head the fjord.

The beautiful and sheltered Kongsfjord is fed by some major glaciers. .

Mountains, glaciers, fiord and tundra: the environment of Ny lesund.

Ny lesund stands on the tundra area on the right.

Ny lesund, Kongsfjord, NW SpitzbergPopulation 30-35 , up to 120 in summerCoordinates 78 56 N, 11 56 E

View from the pier.The front buildings: the red Museum and the orange London Houses

The shore where the setllement stands provides 50 km of tundra and alluvial plain.

The town started as a coal mining site and lasted until 1962, reaching some 400 residents.

After a tragic mining accident, coal mines where shut and some years later Ny lesund became a research station.

Old wooden buildings contrast with the distant radio telescope.

A young researcher reading in the sun, outside his dormitory.

Presently, 30 to 35 permanent residents live there, mostly research scientists from several countries and administrative / logistic stuff from Kings Bay enterprise.

Milk is best kept out in the cold !

Residential houses, the London Houses were relocated from across the fjord; their original place was the english mining settlement of New London (Ny London).

Down left, the dutch station.

When he weather allows, the flat soil provides good cycling conditions

The main street in a sunny spring day

The town center, with the clear blue Post Office, the Hotel and also the greenhouse; around, several research buldings.

The town center as seen from the pier

Ny-lesund is an important cultural heritage site, with 30 listed buildings (out of 60 in total) as of historic relevance.1 Mellageret caf3 London Houses4 Harland house (NERC)5 Museum9 Green harbour house10 Post office11 North Pole Hotel12 Amundsen statue16 Amundsen villa17 Kings Bay Center, Messa23 Blue House (AWI)43 Power station49 Artic Marine lab

The tundra areas surrounding the village are stricktely protected bird sanctuaries.

Again the town center with the main buidings Hotel, Post Office, the AWI blue house, and far back the Museum, the London Houses, the caf and the power unity.

The old telegraph station, during the mining period

Green Harbour house, the oldest house in Ny lesund

The bath house in the mining years

Old mining days school

Heritage Ny-lesund

Being so northern, some absolute records are expected, like having the most northern train, hotel and post office. There is also a souvenir store, a caf/pub and a museum, also records themselves, as well as the northernmost statue - of Roald Amundsen, the norwegian explorer .

The northernmost hotel, Nordpol Hotellet.Built in 1920, it was from 1936 used to house fishermen.

The northernmost statue: Roald Amundsen

A norwegian explorer of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, Amundsen was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles.

He is known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage. He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission.

Amundsen villa (1918)

This is where Roald Amundsen stayed when he was in Ny-lesund while the airship "Norge" was moored.

http://www.svalbardmuseum.no

http://www.kingsbay.no In the center of the village there is a museum and memorial for Roald Amundsen.

The museum Ny-lesund By- og Gruvemuseum shows the history of the settlement and its coal.

Space is also given to Roald Amundsen's use of Ny lesund as the starting point of his flying expeditions to the North Pole in 1925 and 1926.

The AWI Blue House, German research station Koldewey (1991), is part of the French - German Base. It provides research facilities for scientists such as biology, chemistry, geology and atmospheric physics labs. The Blue House has offices, bedrooms and living space for eight people.

Installed in the blue house are spectrometer photometer laser-radar balloon-borne ssensors

The main tourist attraction

Its the northernmost Post Office !

The cruise ship Fram, devoted to arctic and polar routes, is a frequent visitor in Kongsfjord

Also, Ny lesund has the most northerly greenhouse !

And the northernmost train Ny lesunds heritage old mine railway.

The railway (steam engine of 1909) is a monument to the mining history of Ny lesund .

The steamtrain worked from 1917 to 1959 to transport coal from the mines to the harbour .

The northermost restaurant in the world:Messa, the restaurant in Ny lesund, at Kings Bay Sevice Center,78 56 N.

Lounge with a view

Servicebygget

The main service building of Kings Bay Service Center with the reception, restaurant, shop, lounge and offices.Built in 1958.

Warm cosy lights in the arctic night

Ny lesund has its own caf:

The much red Mellageret Kaf

A coffee under the arctic moon, overlooking the fiord

This is the airship mooring mast from where the Norge airship set out to the North Pole.

Its the main historic heritage of Ny lesund , and the story of that adventure will be told further on.

The surrounding area of glaciers and fjords

Ny lesund, the fiord and the mountains - air view in the winter sun.

Kronebreen glacier

Kronebreen glacier, in the Kongsfjord, is one of Svalbard's fastest glaciers.

Kronebreen and the Three Crowns mountains

Kongsvegen Glacier

Seabirds scatter as Kongsvegen calves sending massive ice blocks into Arctic Ocean. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) grazes tundra

Tourist ship visiting glaciers in the Kongsfjord

A former Russian research ship now used for expedition cruising.

Ny-lesund Hamnerabben airport.

Clearly visible here are the runway and the telescope antenna.

Flights are offered two to three days a week to Svalbard Airport, Longyearbyen, by Lufttransport with Dornier 228 aircrafts.

FaunaPolar bears, wild reindeer, arctic foxes, walrus, whales, seals and many species of migratory birds - plenty of wildlife lives in or around the settlement.

The popular name for the Atlantic puffin is rightfully sea parrot.

Arctic foxArctic foxes live literally in the village and are a delight to watch.

Some 5 000 polar bears live in Svalbard , and largely outnumber the less than 3 000 habitants. They are a danger for careless visitors, so rules must be strictly obeyed.

Bear footpath

Real danger no adventure in wild nature without guns.

Svalbard reindeer

Arctic tern

Reindeer grazing tundra

The tundra areas surrounding Ny-lesund are bird reserves, in order to protect bird nesting.

Black-legged kittiwakes flock on iceberg beside glacier in Kongsfjorden.

flock on iceberg beside glacier in Kongsfjorden flock on iceberg beside glacier in Kongsfjorden

The elegant arctic terns perform the longest regular migration by any known animal:40 000 km in one year.The arctic tern

Ivory gulls

FloraSvalbard Poppy, in yellow and white, considered the 'national' flower.

These flowers are perched high enough to grab every bit of sunlight available in their short seasons.

Ny lesund is becoming increasingly popular as a base for polar research.

The relatively mild climate, easy accessibility by plane and boat, along with the well-developed infrastructure, and highly specialised research facilities - those are the arguments of Ny-lesund as a central European platform for arctic research.

Presently there are 11 participating countries in several projects.Science and Research in Ny lesund

The Geophysics and Astronomy station

The 20 m radio telescope of the space-geodetic observatory at Ny-lesund, close to the runway and control tower.

Tethered ballon - a captive balloon system - for atmospheric measurements.

Studies on the low atmosphere's physics.

The National Research Council of Italy (CNR) Dirigible Italia house

The (UK) Natural Environment Research Council's Arctic Research Station (NERC) Harland House- Laboratory, workshop and storage space plus bedrooms

A global warming experiment on the tundra.

Netherlands Arctic Center of the University of Groningen

Decoration detail on the dutch station.

ChinasThe Yellow River research station.

Kings Bay Marine Laboratory

Opened in June 1st 2005, it is the northernmost laboratory of its kind.Itis dedicated to research in marine ecology, physiology, biochemistry, as well as some physical sciences like oceanography, marine geology and ice physics. The lab is largely financed by a consorium including Norway, Italy, France and Japan, USA and the UK.

A wooden sculpture outside the marine lab, overlooking the sea.

Wooden sculpture overlooks sea

Dirigibile Italia in the polar night

The following institutions/countries are based in Ny-lesund:

Norwegian Polar Institute and Zeppelin Station for Atmospheric Monitoring and Research in cooperation with the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, The Norwegian Mapping Authority station for satellite geodesy and geo-dynamic studies. University of Troms climate facility for experimental plant biology. University of Oslo station for research and education. Norwegian Space Centre launching facility for scientific rockets, SVALRAK, China Yellow River Station. Research in the fields of atmosphere, northern lights, biology, glaciology, geology and marine biology. France - Rabot-station in Kongsfjorden. Germany Koldewey Station, biological and atmospheric research, run by the Alfred Wegener Institute. Great Britain station for biological research, run by the National Environmental Research Council. India Himadri research station, managed by The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research. Italy Dirigibile Italia Station, run by the Italian Research Council CNR and Institute for Atmospheric Investigations. Japan station for glaciology and climate research, run by the National Institute for Polar Research. Kings Bay Marine Laboratory. South Korea Dasan Station. Research in the fields of marine biology, geology and physics of the atmosphere.

The Flight to the Pole

The main historic event connected with Ny lesund is the flight of theairship "Norge", the first expedition to reach the North Pole.

Here was the starting point of Roald Amundsens expeditions to reach the North Pole in 1925 onboard an airship.

The Norge was specially designed by Umberto Nobile for Arctic conditions: reinforced by metal frames at the nose and tail, connected by a flexible tubular metal keel connecting the two, driven by three engine gondolas, these were the main characteristics:

- Lifting gas: hydrogen- Length: 106 m- Gas capacity: 19,000 m- Performance: 115 km/h- Payload: 9,500 kg- Engines: 3 Maybach total power of 780 Hp/582 kW

The flight started off from Rome on 29 March 1926, then went via Oslo and Leningrad to Vads in northern Norway, where the airship mast is still standing today. The expedition then crossed the Barents Sea to reach the Svalbard islands. On the 7th of May the dirigible moored in King's Bay, Ny lesund, to make its final preparations.

The Norge over King's Bay.

Norge at Ny Alesund garage

The Norge enters the hangar at Kings Bay. This massive structure was built in 1926. The top was left open intentionally since the hangar was intended to provide protection from side winds only.

Departure from Kings Bay of dirigible "Norge.11th May 1926

The airship left Ny-lesund for the final stretch across the polar ice on May 11 at 9:55. The 16 man expedition included Amundsen, the airship's designer and pilot Umberto Nobile, and polar explorer and expedition sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth.

On May 12 they reached the North Pole, at which point the Norwegian, American and Italian flags were dropped from the airship onto the ice. Amundsen wrote in his notebook that, at 02:20 in the morning, they were at the North Pole, 200 metres high with a temperature of -11 Celsius.

In the end, the crew made it as far as a frozen lake at Teller, 56 miles north of Nome, Alaska, when Amundsen insisted on a landing. They managed a smooth touchdown, and pulled the gas-release cords to deflate the airship.

A monument to the successful crossing over the North Pole in 1926 by the airship Norge.

The airship mooring mast in Ny-lesund.

Now there is a free camping ground located nearby.

Italian Umberto Nobile returned to Ny lesund in 1928 for another north polar flight. However, his redesigned airship Italia crashed on the ice some 60 miles north of Svalbard on the return from a claimed attainment of the North Pole, killing half the crew. Nobile and several others were in the gondola when it hit the ice pack and they were thrown out onto the ice.

A Swedish pilot, Lundborg, eventually reached the crash site by air and removed Nobile to Kings Bay. However, Lundborg damaged his plane on the return trip to save more survivors and had to be rescued himself. Eventually a Russian icebreaker reached the crash site and rescued the remaining survivors.

As a further tragedy, Roald Amundsen lost his life after take-off from Troms in a crash with his seaplane Latham searching for Italia survivors, The Italia crash sparked the first massive, international air-sea rescue in the far north.

The crash of the Italia was a dramatic event followed anxiously by strong press coverage.

The End

http://www.kingsbay.no/

http://dev.cruise-handbook.npolar.no/en/kongsfjorden/ny-alesund.html

http://dev.cruise-handbook.npolar.no/en/kongsfjorden/ny-alesund.html

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Aircraft/Norge-Airship.html

http://members.tripod.com/90north/italiacrash1.htm

Sources:Slideshow by Mrio Ricca, 2013