WHY ARE WE HERE?

 

So what are we doing here in Norway in the middle of April? For the record, Oslo is at 59.9139° North latitude. Few cities in the world are this far north. Helsinki, Finland is the only world capital above this latitude. Iceland and Greenland are above 60°N. Most of Scandanavia and Alaska are above 60°N. Only Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Baffin Island in Canada are above 60°N. St. Petersburg is the only major Russian city above 60°N.

We have made our first trip to Norway to join with our Lindblad/National Geographic expedition group for an adventure to the far north. We are headed to Svalbard and an adventure with polar bears, arctic light and promises of epic ice. Can ice be more epic than 2019’s adventure to the other end of the globe, Antarctica? Tomorrow, we fly to Longyearbyen, a small coal-mining town on Spitsbergen Island, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. This Arctic town is known for its views of the Northern Lights. Were you impressed by the latitude of Oslo?  Longyearbyen is located at 78.2232° N. We will be north of Alaska, all but a few arctic islands of Canada, Russia, and all but the northernmost part of Greenland. We are well above the Arctic Circle at 66° 34′ 0″ N.

The goal is to get above the 80^th parallel.