Jul i Norge

For Christmas my Dad and brother came to visit me in Norway.  After some difficulties with flights everybody had arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard by December 23rd.  We were still able to go on several excursions in despite the 24-hour polar night.  On Svalbard the polar night lasts from October to March, and in December 24 hours of darkness means complete and utter darkness.  There is no twilight here, only light from the aurora borealis, moon, and stars.  On the positive side there are spectacular displays of the northern lights during the day and night.  There are a wide variety of colors: green, red, blue, violet, yellow, and white.  The form of the lights also varies forming curtains and crowns that dance across the sky.  I don’t have any pictures that truly capture this phenomenon.  It is something that you must experience and pictures don’t do it justice.            

Our first excursion was to an old abandoned mine.  A fun, short hike this trip also involves sledding down a mountain side; it really is safer then walking down the steep and ice slope.  As Olav, my brother, and I were talking about how my Dad dislikes this activity, he yelled from behind “take a picture of me, quick,” with a big smile on his face.  The next day we took an excursion to the ice caves on Longyear glacier.  This trip involves skiing for 3 hours to the entrance, digging through the snow bridge, setting up climbing ropes and climbing with ice axes and crampons, then skiing back down.  It is also pitch black, besides the northern lights, and we must always keep the rifle ready in case we encounter a polar bear on the ice.  The ice cave is an amazing site.  In reality it is not a cave, but a series of meltwater channel that have been covered by snow bridges.  As we descended into the glacier it got warmer, approaching freezing, and I could feel the difference that I have seen on radar-echo sounding data of glaciers.  Some areas are large, like hallways, and others are more like crawl spaces.  I have included several pictures below.  We also tried to climb Sarkofargen, a nearby mountain, a few days later but were turned back by a storm.  The next morning, the day we were scheduled to leave Svalbard, “en skikkelig snowstorm”, a full blizzard, had begun.  Winds were sustained at 70 mph and conditions were a constant white out.  After my Dad almost got hit by flying debris he decided that we shouldn’t be outside.  Needless to say the flight was canceled and we had one more day on Svalbard.             

From Svalbard we traveled to Tromsø and saw several museums.  The best here was Polaria, with an excellent seal show.  New Years Eve was really impressive with fireworks being fired in every direction by everyone.  Really, it was a fantastic show. 

After Tromsø, we continued to Trondheim and Trondelag.  We visited the historic site in the area including St. Olav’s cathedral and Stiklestad, the site where he died on 29 July 1030.  Olav Haraldsson, later St. Olav den Hellige, was a Viking king of Norway who was exiled and later martyred by forces loyal to King Knut den Mektige, then ruler of Denmark, England, Norway and Sweden.  Sometimes I wonder why our parents choose to name us Knut and Olav.  Olav was the king who played the most important role in uniting a newly Christianized Norway and started a monarchy that lasted for another 400 years.  He is the patron saint of Norway and his life and death are celebrated at Stiklestad every July 29.  In addition to visiting this site we also went skiing in Trondelag.  One of the best ski resorts in Norway, Oppdal lived up to its reputation.  Conditions were perfect and the skiing was excellent.  Soon after this my family left, but it was after a good trip through some areas of Norway that we hadn’t previous seen.   Click on the photo for a larger version.

 

My brother, Olav, and I at the julenisse’s (Santa Claus) mailbox. 

My dad and I at the entrance of the abandoned mine.Equipment for the ice cave.

Getting ready to ski up to the ice cave.

Setting up a climbing anchor in the ice cave.

Climbing up an ice wall.

 Pondering the best way to proceed.

My brother, Olav, ascending up the wall.

Who said a polar bear can’t be tamed.

New Year’s Eve.

 My brother, Olav, and I in front of Nidarosdomen.