I traveled to Huippuvuori in October to meet my girlfriend, who is studying to be an arctic field guide there, and to help with daily chores. Of course, behind the cooking and the endless washing up was the idea that the faster I wave the dish brush in the sink, the more time we have for adventures and spend time together.
Holding the title of the world's northernmost city, Longyearbyen, with a population of just over 2,000, is a surprisingly modern case. Student life is lively, there are plenty of restaurants and program service companies, as well as tourists. Coal mining is fading and tourism is the clearest way of life for the future, as in many other naturally special places. The contradiction is only particularly great in the Finnish Alps, because the glaciers are melting, and the growing tourism does not directly help the matter at least. The mere thought of how much food is needed when a mega cruise ship dumps 3500 tourists into the city at once is absurd. My own travel is not much cleaner than that, but at least I try to spend as long as possible in the destination.
Residential buildings in Nybyen. Nordenskiöldfjellet (1050m) in the background.
Icy Tuesday night at Nordenskiöldfjellet.
The world's northernmost greenhouse.
I have not been very interested in the arctic regions before, but now that the right opportunity came, my thirst for knowledge and enthusiasm grew quite a bit. The history of Finland is interesting, from the first discovery expeditions to whaling, from Pomors to mining and finally to Arctic tourism. Somehow, I had always thought that there would be nothing to climb in Huippuvuori, but the northern nature proved otherwise even after a quick google. You just had to think outside the box. There is no terribly rich climbing history in the area. Top tours have been done and a few challenging alpine routes have been opened around Atomfjella, but at least systematic reporting was missing, in the Norwegian way. I strongly believe that the main reason is that the particularly bad aggregate has driven away even the alpine cannons of the outdoor people. Of course, here and there you can find granite and limestone too, if you look really closely.
A cold September meant that the flowing water would freeze. It should just be found in vertical format. The people of Longyearbyen climb the ice in the meltwater pipes of the glaciers, next to the airport and on a few small waterfalls nearby in Enja and Eskardalen. But there had to be ice elsewhere as well.
Nice hills for skiing.
Fossilfossen
Ella spotted an icefall on a school trip to Barentsburg in September. The ice formation looked so good in the pictures that we started planning a trip to Fossildalen. At the beginning, it was not clear how to get into the gorge, because the companies had already pulled their small boats out of the water. In the end, the cheapest option was a tourist cruise to Barentsburg, from where we would walk over the next three days to Longyearbyen, climbing the waterfall. We would stick to cabins, so that we wouldn't have to drag a tent or a sleeping pad with us. Would we have time to do the day stages before dark? Kaamos was approaching fast, and a bear sauntering in the arctic night would not be very bright. Hiking between settlements is quite a popular summer trip, but now we could enjoy the solitude properly.
The cruise to that Russian mining town was spent sipping whiskey with glacier ice cubes and tasting whale meat. The meat dish in question came from a bay whale, which Norwegians still catch despite international pressure. It wasn't good, but I decided to try it when I got the chance.
The boat trip to Barentsburg started in a blustery weather.
Ella stares at the chunks of ice floating in the sea.
Brilliant colors like the Svalbard.
In Barentsburg, a local host named Vitaly dropped us off at the end of the road where the walk began. We followed the old roadbed for 12 kilometers almost to Kapp Laila's hermitage. White land, black coastline and blue sea - the mind rested. The terrain along the coast was easy to navigate and full of reindeer. There were quite a lot of short-legged and thick-furred reindeer throughout the trip. There are no natural enemies, as bears are too lazy to run after them.
This is where the walk began. Vitaly and the ship's guide dropped us off at the end of the road.
Short legs and thick fur make reindeer look like a sled.
In Kapp Laila's wilderness cabin, inside the four walls, there was no chance of sleep in the heat of the bear. In the middle of the night, rain water began to come through the roof, which further reduced the rest, with each shrill awakening. The nocturnal emptying trip also seemed to end in a heart attack, when the eyes flashed in the spotlight of the headlamp. Reindeer only…
On the second day, we reached the mouth of Fossildalen in the morning twilight, where we left everything but the climbing gear. We decided to try to reach the falls from the bottom, following the river bed. There was no certainty that the route would go through, but you don't give up trying.
The gorge narrowed in places to only a meter wide. Black stone material was scraped from the walls here and there, adding to the atmosphere. Only the oncoming dinosaur was missing.
The bottom of Fossildalen was narrow in places.
We reached the waterfall at an altitude of about 300 meters. And it looked climbable! Maybe a little easier than in the pictures taken a month earlier, but still cool. We climbed it as a four of about 35 meters, which suited Ella's second ice climbing very well. It was easy to climb the sorbet ice, although there was a small note due to the lack of a technical school. Few people learn to ice climb on a possible ascent in Huippuvuori. Movement on the ice was fluid - I couldn't help but burst with pride.
We named the waterfall "Fossilfossen" after the valley. It is not yet completely certain whether the rope has been climbed before or whether the waterfall has been named in the summer weather, but it is very likely that we made the first ascent, which I think is secondary. The best thing is that the place is now known to the local climbing community. I hear that several teams are now planning a visit to "Fossilfossen".
Juho “Fossilfossenilla”. Noin 35 metriä WI4:n jäätä.
Ella hits the waterfall ice for the first time.
We descended from the abaca with a rope, because you must not leave any traces of your journey on the terrain. On wet ice, the rope had to be kept moving so it wouldn't freeze. This accomplished, we returned back to the seaside and walked through the Colesdalen delta to witness only a very heartbreaking spectacle. Two reindeer had been caught by their antlers in a man-made garbage collection net. Skulls against each other, they tried to break free - unsuccessfully. We tried to approach with the intention of release, but the frightened animals did not let us near.
Discouraged by the reindeer encounter, we walked through the abandoned desert village of Colesbukta to Rusanov's hermitage. The human handprint could be seen in the arctic nature with abandoned buildings and sunken ships. After the trip, it turned out that Sysselmannen, i.e. the local authority, had spotted the reindeer in an overflight and released them from their trap.
After an exciting night, the third day dawned cloudy and windy. Crossing the highlands in a blizzard became the most demanding day of the trip. The wind blew mercilessly. I opened the path and Ella followed close behind, holding onto my backpack. Gusts shook and ice crystals whipped faces. Fortunately, there was enough visibility that we easily found the small valley leading to Bjørndalen. The icy streambed turned to stone and the snow to rain. The mountains offered "the best".
After a steep quarry descent, we got to the bottom of Bjørndalen with our skins intact. We followed the river for a long way before moving onto the muddy tundra. With all the equipment soaking wet, our toddlers headed towards the end of the road with smiles on their faces. The whole idea of walking 50 kilometers for a short icefall was unbelievable. In the final games, climbing was just the icing on the cake, as the rest of the trip took the pot. What an adventure!
Estuary.
Ice climbing near Longyearbyen
The most popular place for ice climbing in the vicinity of the city is to go down to the glacier's melt water ponds, which have been carved into incredible shapes by the water. When you descend into a 15-meter-deep cavity and pull the rope down, the feeling is quite tense for a while. You can only get out by climbing. Climbing on rock-hard glacier ice is tough and wild – backsteps, stemming and even foot jams between pinnacles are offered. Fortunately, the belayer found a hole of suitable size to protect against the fragmenting ice.
Meltwater lake at Larsbreen.
Ella fills the melting water pipe.
There are plenty of glaciers on the summits, but Larsbreen and Longyearbreen in the backyard offer something to do for a long time with an hour's approach. Another hobby that is almost as exciting as climbing is to enter the tunnels at the bottom of the glacier. The longest ones found this fall were over a hundred meters long. Imagine a hole 50 centimeters wide at its narrowest point, from which you slip deeper and deeper into the glacier. The ice crystals are huge and the silence is palpable. You can almost feel the weight of ice on your head!
In the nearby Endalen valley, you can find a 30-meter icefall, which consists of a steep initial pillar and a second length of rope that is gentle but, for example, perfectly suitable for ice climbing. The waterfall is located a couple of hours away from the road. In the winter, you can cross-country ski along decent slopes.
Other ice places are the small Eskarfossen and the airport roadside falls. Both are more than worth a late season visit.
Loup likes Larsbreen's wild rook.
Peak mountains
October with its arctic sunsets lasting several hours enchanted you. All activities require a different approach than in other parts of the world, just because of the bear danger. For the past few weeks, I've been wading through maps and satellite images of Svalbard to find possible icefalls or other points of interest. Although Arctic tourism is on the rise, climbing in the region has remained relatively low. There is endless new stuff on offer, if only you have the enthusiasm and the desire for adventure.
In October, the colors are vibrant!