Bird watching

Due to the lack of a Scooter, i could put more effort in Birdwatching.

It is an amazing feeling to see more and more birds coming back from the south to fill the Arctic landscape with life.

Barnacle goose - hvikinngaas - Weißwangengans

King Eider - Praktaerfugl - Prachteiderente

 

Common Eider - Aerfugl - Eiderente

Snow bunting - Snoespurv - Schneeammer

Purple Sandpiper - Fjaereplytt - Meerstrandläufer

Northern Fulmar - Havhest - Eissturmvogel

Glaucous gull - Polarmaake - Eismöwe

Black-legged Kittiwake - Krykkje - Dreizehenmöwe

Barnacle goose - Hvitkinngaas - Weißwangengans

Pink-footed goose - Kortnebgaas - Kurzschnabelgans

Ivory Gull - Ismaake - Elfenbeinmöwe

Brünnich's Guillemont - Polarlomvi - Dickschnabellumme

Little Auk - Alkekonge - Krabbentaucher

Black Guillemont - Teist - Gryllteiste

Arctic Skua - Tyvio - Schmarotzerraubmöwe

Pomarine Skua - Polarjo - Spatelraubmöwe

Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan - Svalbardrype - Alpenschneehuhn

Atlantic Puffin - Lunde - Papageitaucher

red phalarope - thorshühnchen

Brant goose - Ringelgans

 

 

Eurasian Oystercatcher - Austernfischer

Dunlin - Alpenstrandläufer

 

winter life without a scooter

the Scooter is broken, what now?

 

the life around Longyearbyen became more important and Finally I could improve my skiing skills a bit.

 

Or, i just borrow a Scooter. here for a last trip to Tempelfjorden, were we watched the famous Polar bear mother with two cubs and some seals.

 

Or we skied just over Adventalen and watched the returning birds from the south.

 

Also, Dogsledging became more interesting

 

And some Local events like watching the last sunset/sunrise from sarkofagen

Skiing on Trollsteinen and the glaciers, worked better and better.

And even on Plateauberget next to longyearbyen, adventures are possible

one more Scooter trip to barentsburg was possible with an Excursion for the Arctic Ecology course.

and one more trip to Grumant with awesome weather on the Mountains.

Scooter rescue trip

Two weeks, after i left my Scooter nehind in Pyramiden.

i could find someone who is willing to help me, to bring my scooter back to longyearbyen.

 

So we drived one last time to Pyramiden

And found some Polar bear tracks at tempelfjorden

Back at Ebbahytta, my Scooter loocked a bit different.

a polar bear was probably pretty hungry and ripped the seat apart.

So, now the Scooter has a broken belt, burning fuses and an eaten seat.

 

 

the next Morning we tried to fix the Scooter on a sledge, without success, so we discussed about an hour what to do and collected the craziest ideas.

 

Finally we put one ski of the sledge underneath the belt and towed the Scooter back.

 

 

Scooter trial to the north coast (Verlegenhuken)

We prepared our trip for weeks.

we planned to cross 80°, go ice fishing on laksevagen and bring some friend up North for their amazinin skiing trip back.

We put a Depot on half way, tested the Scooter, got a cabin and asked for advice for the best route.

 

However, we didn't came further than Wijdefjorden (79°).

And the Scooter season ended for me.

 

We started in complete Whiteout, with minimum speed, incredibly high fuel consumption and a way without any scootertracks and three scooters. But the weather changed right after Sassendalen and everything seemed fine. So we arrived in pyramiden, were we left Tuomas.... thats the end for him due to Sysselmanns regulation that Non_locals are not allowed to drive a Scooter further north.

 

So we continued with two sledges and our german friends on the Back.

Austfjorden presented perfect smoth and thick sea ice.

But everything changed on wijdefjorden.

The sea ice became more and more ridged and it felt like driving on rocks.

Finally i got a crack in my belt - the end for the trip and my scooter.

So, we drived slowly on shore and put up a camp.

 

henrik drived a bit further north to check out the cabins and saw a smal Polar bear family.

So we crossed 79° and he saw his first polar bears... at least something :)

 

So, we spent the night in the tent and fired our firewood for the polar bear guards.



the next Morning, the germans skied further north and we headed back...slowly with a broken belt

with an average speed of 7km/h we could enjoy the landscape.

but it would have been better without the fear that my scooter might stop driving.

 

this happened close to pyramiden.

A fuse just burned down and all the spare fuses as well.

So we towed the Scooter back for the last meters to Ebbahytta.

 

There we met Tuomas again, who lost one of his scooterwheels.

Finally we came back with one and a half Scooter and three sledges.