Boat trip to Pyramiden and Nordenskiöldbreen, August 1st, 1998

Pyramiden is a russian mining community on Svalbard / Spitsbergen. (The name was taken from the pyramid shaped mountain next to the settlement.) My Svalbard guide book claims that the large coal resources will ensure production for many years to come, but in reality the place will be a ghost town next year. They shut down coal mining in May 1998 and the (about 180) people left in Pyramiden are currently occupied with putting the useable equipment in crates and shipping it back to Russia. So this summer was the last chance to see this settlement (which has been continously inhabited for more than 50 years) as a lived in place. Soon it will be just another decaying group of houses, like Grumantbyen on the other side of the fjord.
(Note: In case you wonder about the picture of the cat - this is the most northern cat in the world.)

[The Frøyvakt] [Mountains in Billefjorden] [Pyramiden and the mountain that gave the town its name] [The Pyramiden tour guide] [Factory building] [Sort of a cathedral for drinkers] [Stained glass window for the drinking man] [Stained glass window for the drinking man] [Most northern tour bus of the world] [The social centre of Pyramiden: The club building] [Everything you need for a decent party] [Logo of Arktikugol, the company that 'owns' Pyramiden] [The most northern cat of the world] [Modern truck design, russian style] [Lenin got a nice view of Nordenskiöldbreen]

After Pyramiden we made a short detour to Nordenskiöldbreen and had the obligatory whiskey with (roughly) 3000 year old icecubes, fresh from the glacier.

[Nordenskiöldbreen] [Nordenskiöldbreen] [Nordenskiöldbreen] [Nordenskiöldbreen] [Nordenskiöldbreen] [Nordenskiöldbreen] [Preparing the obligatory whiskey on the rocks] [Enjoying the obligatory whiskey on the rocks] [On board with Nordenskiöldbreen behind me]

Back to dog car ride
On to glacier walk
Back to overview