Ghost towns and mines

Last weekend was spent skiing to Colesbukta-- an abandoned Russian mining village in a nearby valley. It was 45-ish km of skiing over 3 days and involved traversing the length of 1 glacier, going up and over one mountain (twice), and following a river valley. We saw the ocean, spectacular northern lights, -20C, a broken stove and a broken sled, 2 cold nights, one bear-scare, zero blisters, and many many kilometers of seemingly untouched Svalbard beauty. Winter camping in the arctic makes summer camping in Oregon seem SO cushy. I'd never before had to worry about keeping a water bottle inside my coat so it didn't freeze, or sleeping with someone else inside a 1-man bivy-sack so I didn't freeze!

Me and my trusty Pulk (sled) named Fred. He's such a drag.

Sad attempts at aurora photography. -15 degrees C + no tripod + a frozen camera battery = a LOT of blurry shots like this. You get the idea though.

Sleepin' with guns under our pillows... Everyting we do is with bears in mind.

Such peace. We saw a lot of reindeer in this river valley.

The whole crew on top of the mountain (the second time), nearly home, bodies sore.

A few days later I explored an abandoned mine near my dorm. There is a long and complicated history of mining in Longyearbyen, and remnants of this history are found both in the culture of the town and surrounding it on the hillsides. Exploring a condemned mine on a day when school was cancelled seemed like a good idea. I've been watching too many vampire movies though, and was creeped out the whole time.

My Finnish friend Jussi and I trying to look scary.

The walk back into town from the mine. After a while we gave up on walking and slid on our bums instead.

Classes are going very well. I spend surprisingly little time in lectures and even less time studying. They don't seem to believe in homework in the arctic. I was feeling the need for a little more... academic rigor... so I went and talked to a professor about becoming involved in a research project. I'm going to start a project with him looking into how to sense the meltwater within polythermal glaciers. We'll be skiing to nearby glaciers to do fieldwork once the light returns. I could get used to this...

p.s. It wasn't really a bear. It was a sign that reflected like eyes did. Who would be silly enough to out a sign like that out in the middle of polar bear country???