北緯78'北極 スピッツベルゲン島 世界の果てへ
taksizm
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- 06:58
- 距離
- 119km
- 登り
- 703m
- 下り
- 782m
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標高グラフを拡大| 天候 | 8/15 曇り 8/16 曇り時々晴れ 8/17 曇り時々晴れ 気温5℃。白夜で日中と夜の気温差はあまり感じませんでした。 場所 北緯78度の北極海に浮かぶスヴァールバル諸島で、北極点からはおよそ1500kmの距離にあります。本当に北にあって8/21まで4ヶ月太陽が沈まず、同緯度の他の地域というと氷雪地帯のグリーンランド北端やカナダの最北部にあたります。 気候 暖流の影響でツンドラ気候（ET）に属し、真夏の気温は5℃前後。陸地の6割は氷河ですが、残りは夏に雪が消える永久凍土です。場所によって夏のみコケと僅かな高山植物が生えますが、ほぼ茶色い不毛地帯に覆われてます。 |
|---|---|
| 過去天気図（気象庁） | 2018年08月の天気図 |
| アクセス |
利用交通機関：
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飛行機
そのため飛行機は国内線であるにも関わらず、オスロ空港からの出発・乗り継ぎでは国際線ゲートで出国スタンプを押されます。島内滞在中はパスポートの見かけ上は、どの国にもいない空白期間になります。 島内の人間居住地のうちロングイェールビーンという、人口1000人規模で世界最北の街に唯一、旅客定期便が離着陸する空港があります。スカンジナビア航空とノルウェイガンの2社がオスロから就航しており、所要3時間。空港〜市内の間は無料シャトルバスが、全便の発着時間に合わせて随時運行しています。予約は不要で休日も深夜も運休しません。空港行きはフライト出発時刻の2時間前に街外れを発車し、街中を回って人を集めて空港へ向かいます。 日本から通しの航空券はなく、別にSAS航空ウェブサイトで購入しました（オスロから往復4.5万円程）。他の手段だと団体クルーズしかなく○百万円かかります。地球上北緯78度に定期路線で行けるのはここしかなく、自由旅行の北限と言えます。 |
| コース状況／ 危険箇所等 |
市街地から離れる場合はホッキョクグマが人を襲うため、銃の所持が義務付けられています。そのため普通の人はガイドツアーに参加しないと街の外に出られません（日本の銃所持許可を英訳して当局に申請すると、現地でレンタル出来る可能性はあり）。なお高台の住宅街で良い展望が得られますが、この場合は居住区内なので銃不所持でも安心して外出できます。 ハイキング 上の理由から半日・1日〜遠征まで様々な現地ガイドツアーが催行されてます。山に関してはロングイェールビーン周辺は、氷河に削られた台形のテーブルマウンテンが特徴で、頂上台地の標高は400mほど。海抜0mからスタートして大体1時間かけて登ります。日帰りツアーで登るところは地元住民に慣れ親しまれている「里山」なので道はしっかりしていますが頂上台地の直下は急で、よく滑る砂礫や岩礫帯を直登降します。雰囲気はゆったりで、参加者は幅広い年齢の方がいました。 カヤック・リブボート 多くのツアーがあり、バレンツブルグに行く際はリブボートに参加しました。このジャンルのツアーは冒険的要素が強くてフローティングベストを支給されたり、荒天時はディスカッションで行き先を決めたりします。雰囲気はハイキングツアーとは違い、アメリカのリアリティ番組のような感じでタフなガイドが進行役となりサクサク進みました。 スキー 3〜5月頃はバックカントリーツアーが盛んとのことです。恐らく世界最北のエリアと思われ、白夜なので24時間、大海原や氷河を目の前にして滑走できます。 観光 色々ありますがおすすめは廃坑潜入ツアーです。誰でも参加でき、坑道を歩く際は作業服とヘッデン付ヘルメットが支給されます。スピッツベルゲン島の居住地は元々炭坑が起源で、規模と見応えもさながら歴史を知ることで味わい深い旅になります。 言葉 ロングイェールビーンの公用語はノルウェー語ですが、様々な国籍の住民・学生・旅行者がいるので英語が話されていて、ツアーも英語です。後述の通りロシア系の街もあります。 環境 "Svalbard ..." や"Polar ..."で始まる名称の、固有種だったり極地に特化した動植物が生息しています。ホッキョクグマ、ホッキョクギツネ、スヴァールバルトナカイ、セイウチ、クジラ、シャチ、花ではスヴァールバルポピーなど。それら目当てに来る観光客や研究者が多いです。また地球温暖化進行の最前線でもあり、環境保全と極地研究が盛んに行なわれています。 |
| その他周辺情報 | 前述の通り条約加盟国なら自由に進出できるため、隣国のロシア国営石炭会社が事実上運営する街「バレンツブルグ」やゴーストタウン「ピラミデン」が有名です。前者では今でも石炭の採掘が行われており、住民は旧ソ連圏でロシア語を話し、観光資源化のためか旧ソ連時代の建物やプロパガンダが色濃く残っています。 http://www.arcticugol.ru/ バレンツブルグへは先述のリブボートで行きましたが、大型船のツアーもあります。60kmほど離れているためいずれも海上で往復5〜6時間滞在することになり、岸辺のホッキョクグマに遭遇できる可能性や、人の手が入っていない海鳥繁殖地や氷河を間近に見ることができます。 |
写真
拍手
感想
---
15 August
3:00a
The ferry arrived at the harbor carrying a
small number of sleepless travelers from
Lofoten. I was dared to take advantage of
an overnight ferry only to catch the once-
a-day flight to Longyearbyen.
10:00a
When I travel alone I don't always find
social experience during a plane journey.
Likewise my seat mate on that flight to
Svalbard was Jane Doe til I got on board
and exchanged few words. To be honest,
from an ordinary point of view I consider
myself to be an eccentric kind of guy. Who
does an oversea hike in remote wilderness
without having anyone around. But I came
to know she was surprisingly like-minded.
1:00p
The plane crossed above the Lofoten while
I shared my hiking experience with her. It
took us another 1.5 hours chatting before
the aircraft started to descend. A glaciated
terrain surrounded by white snow-capped
mountains finally made its appearance,
causing every single passengers on board
instantly glued to the window. It was then
followed by huge applaud as the aircraft's
wheels touched the runway. The seat belt
sign was turned off. Now I am in Svalbard.
As for my flying companion she, in fact an
AI scientist from Serbia, left to join the
glacier research expedition while I hacked
my way to the holiday apartment. People
come and go, maybe mean something.
6:00p
A van carrying a group of hikers arrived
while I was awaiting outside for only a few
minute. Quite punctual indeed. The guide
introduced herself as Katja. She drove the
van to the outskirt of Longyearbyen where
we parked and started hiking, and in doing
so she loaded four rounds of ammo into a
seemingly heavy rifle she was carrying for
protection against the polar bear. I knew
few weeks ago there had been an incident
that polar bear was shot dead in self
defense, sparking international outrage.
I was disturbed upon hearing that too but
I also came to realize that 99% of those
folks would never travel to Svalbard for
true nature experience, and once you visit
there, you will find that local residents
manage an eco-tourism better than most
of other developed world like Japan, given
the fact the arctic environment is fragile.
Everyone joining the hike tour was paying
respect for the nature, as we were all
fascinated by Katja's storytelling about the
fauna and flora.
10:00p
We reached just beneath the top plateau
to rest and enjoy the view of Adventfjord,
some 4km wide fjord bay lying in front of
Longyearbyen. Despite the amount of low
clouds roaming above the bay, the scenery
was truly breathtaking. It reminded me of
the Tibetan plateau where I visited a few
years ago since I noticed it has a similar
tundra climate, but the difference was also
clear, the effect of altitude. After getting
back to the van Katja drove me to my
apartment. I cooked dinner and went to
sleep after midnight. Outside the window
sky was still bright like it was around 5pm
though. What a long day ...
---
16 August
7:00a
I woke up and surprised to see an email
sent by manager of the tour company I
did hike with last night. Apparently today's
trekking & kayaking tour I was supposed
to join was cancelled since I was the only
participant, as the minimum requirement
was at least two. So I exchanged some
e-mails asking for alternatives and they
proposed me to visit a coal mine no.3.
I wasn't so sure after having replied Yes
I made a right choice or not.
1:00p
Now it's time to go underground. Another
female tour guide came to my apartment
with a van and we drove uphill toward the
entrance of the mine no.3. Among
participants were a Chinese solo tourist,
and a German family so it was a quite
small group, which allowed us to explore
and understand more about the mining
history of Svalbard. Actually the coal
mining was the sole reason Longyearbyen
was founded for. An American named
Mr. Longyear found a coal deposit on the
mountain, bought the land and opened
mine no.1 after having built docks and
housing, where the current city center is
located. The mine no.3 was still operating
in 1996 when the city council decided to
close the mine, leaving everything behind.
2:00p
We were all given the coal mining suit,
helmet, head touch and a pair of glove so
that we really looked like working miners.
The guide then took us 250m deep down
the mountain to experience true darkness,
as well as to find the layer of coal exposed
on the sidewall of the mine tunnel. That
was very intriguing. Then we stood at the
entrance of the Longyearbyen's first seed
vault in 1984, now being used as a
storage for the digital recording archive.
The current global seed vaults sit on the
mountain side with its inside temperature
carefully controlled by the electricity, but
where that very idea originated from was
again appearently, a coal mine no.3. The
temperature inside the mine tunnel was
-2℃ , stable all around the year because
of the permafrost.
4:00p
After the mine tour finished I took a stroll
around the town with cameras. There was
a short period of sunny spell that I was
awaiting for so long. I found out that the
residential district extends sufficiently
higher ground that allows me to see the
landscape just like I've seen during the
hike yesterday, so I went on my own only
to sit for an hour enjoying the panorama.
On my way back to the apartment I was
fortunate enough to come across a wild
Svalbard reindeer. It wasn't frightened by
seeing me and kept on walking towards
where I was observing, to the point I had
to step backward.
---
17 August
8:30a
Finally, for my last day in Svalbard I have
booked an open RIB boat ride to the
Pyramiden, a former Soviet mining town
now left to decay. However we were soon
informed that the wind was too strong to
navigate. At first they offered us full refund
but we further discussed available options,
and came to an agreement. Barentsburg,
an another Russian town currently inhibited
was selected as our new destination. We
then put on floating suit, life vest, shoes,
gloves, googles and balaclava.
9:00a
This tour was weird from the beginning.
We had one guide, me and two German as
real guests, accompanied by five trainee
students studying to become tour guides.
We laughed the group had more students
than real guests, and it was a fun ride for
all of us because they had just arrived in
Longyearbyen like the real guests. After
sailing for some time it turned out that we
made a right choice, because the wind
direction was westbound and Barentsburg
is on the west coast behind mountains,
effectively preventing the wind gust from
hitting us while sailing along the coast.
11:00a
After two hours on the water we reached
Russian town, the Barentsburg. Upon
climbing the stairs we were greeted by a
billboard featuring Willem Barentsz, a 16th
century's Dutch explorer speaking in
Russian, which is strange. In town there
were two huge residential complex
standing behind the statue of Lenin.
Another sign boards were in place in front
of complex, word-for-word saying
"Our Goal - COMMUNISM!" which our guide
translated as Peace - to The World. Okay.
I think there is something going on, and I
could guess to co-exist in Svalbard they
need to maintain a good relationship with
Russians. In town there was a hotel,
restaurant and souvenir shop, but the
latter two closed. At least Russians were
trying boost the tourism like Longyearbyen
does, but it looked like they still have a
long way ahead.
1:30p
After some free time in Barentsburg our
guide prepared a lunch before the real
adventure begun. We hop on the open
boat trying to cross the 50km wide
channel into Esmark glaciers. To make
things worse, the wind changed its
source of direction to the north, driving
waves higher and higher. Far out in the
Arctic ocean our boat was slowed down,
surrounded by an army of big, violent
waves that sometimes hailed down on
us from above, leaving everyone in
soaking wet. Although our floating suit
protested us from getting cold it was
too dangerous to continue, so we turned
back. I probably don't need to say this
but I totally enjoyed this adventure.
---
18 August
2:00a
Ugh. Time to get on the plane to Oslo.
Wish I could travel back in time to repeat
this whole vacation experience again.
こっそり拍手
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