The video has been stabilized with Topaz Video AI, as it was shot. for the distance of around 2km from the boat.

It has been shot with a Sony A7R III and a Sony FE 600mm F4 + Teleconverter of 1.5x.

The post Polar Bear feasting and roaming on the ice pack appeared first on Enrico Pescantini Travel Photographer.

Pyramiden is an abandoned soviet mining town in the Arctic, located in Svalbard island, and it represented a communist utopia for few decades, before it has been shut down in the 90s and completely abandoned.

After few years of completely abandonment, except a guardian living there, since the 2010s it has re-opened as an open air museum, and it is possible to sleep in a renovated hotel, one of the 2 buildings in the whole town with electricity and heating.

In 2024 Pyramiden Coal Mine has been re-opened after 26 years of being completely sealed off in the permafrost of the mountain, and I had the luck and the privilege to be among the first travellers to enter the mountain and the mine.

This has been one of the most incredible thing I’ve seen on planet earth, it looked like exploring a frozen world lost in time.

The entrance of the mins is at the footstep of the hill. and first there was one of the many “dressing” rooms.

dressing room with some old portraits

The access to the mine on the top of the hill is through this long corridor, used with motorized carts, and now just a long walk uphill, around 1 hour of steps.

inside pyramiden coal mine

inside pyramiden coal mine

For understanding better where is the mine and where is the town, you can see this aerial panorama of the town, where the hill with the mine is visible.

Pyramiden Aerial View of town and surroundings

view of pyramiden town from one of the many stops along the walk

In August the temperature outside was around 8 degrees, and once opened the sealed entrance to the mine, we were ready for at least a -10 degrees drop.

The only way for entering the mountain was for the worker to open an entrance with a chainsaw… through 3 meters of ice wall… something that is out of Game of Thrones! You can see here the entrance of the tunnel carved in the ice.

entering pyramiden coal mine through a wall of ice

last dressing room for the miners

This huge machinery was used to pull the carts with the miners.

machine to pull up carts

cart used by miners in pyramiden

inside pyramiden coal mine – tunnel

This is the control room used to manage the cart with the miners.

inside pyramiden coal mine control room

The incredible part is how workers left everything in their workstation, like if the mine was abandoned in a hurry, or suddenly. You could find cigarettes, notepads, VHS… frozen in time and in ice.

pyramiden abandoned stuff in the mine

inside pyramiden coal mine shifts manifesto

All around the corridors, colorful poster were indicating safety procedures, in the typical “soviet” art style.

inside pyramiden – security posters

inside pyramiden – security posters

inside pyramiden – security posters

Even if they were in coal mine, in the north pole, the attention to detail and to the workmanship was amazing. In this iron gate, you can recognize the natural “pyramid” on the top of the mountain, that gives the name to the town.

gate to the mine in pyramiden

gate to the mine in pyramiden

Everything inside was just rust and ice and darkness, absolute darkness.

Most of the corridors inside the mine are completely covered by ice crystals, and even some rooms were blocked by ice…

Pyramiden Coal mine – ice crystals

Pyramiden Coal mine – room filled with ice

Pyramiden Coal mine – ice crystals

Pyramiden Coal mine – ice crystals

Pyramiden Coal mine – iced corridor

Currently the tourism organization of Svalbard has broken any relationship with Pyramiden – due to the russian war in Ukraine – so to visit the abandoned town you have to book directly via the russian agency Grumant: I strongly recommend you to spend more nights in the settlement to truly experience the place without any tourists around, the hotel Pyramiden is a very good value for money and recently renovated.

You can see my reportage of Svalbard Wildlife at this link.

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If you want to visit the North Pole, this is the closest you can get without embarking on a cruise or an expedition.

This is the reign of Nature, with only one small town, and the rest just beautiful landscapes.

Visit Svalbard and Polar Bears: what you need to know

In Svalbard there are more polar bears than human being living in the archipelago, and the attacks of Polar Bears outside the urban area are a tangible threat.

You can walk around by yourself only within the city limits, clearly shown by this signal.

Outside of it, you must be accompanied by a guide with a rifle, for protection.

Longyearbyen city at night by drone

It is very important to remember that polar bears are a protected by the law: NO TOURS can go on a polar bear safari or looking for them, you have to know this.

By law if a polar bear is spotted, they have to go in the opposite direction and avoid contact or disturbing them in any way possible.

What can happen is that during a boat trip a polar bear is spotted on the shores, but it is a matter of luck.

So if you are going to the Svalbard with the goal of spotting a Polar Bear you have to consider that this is not an african safari, you might see them, but it is quite difficult.

When to go and why end of October

Svalbard has mainly 2 seasons: summer (june-august), where you have light for almost 24 hours and most of the activities and tours are possible, and winter (jan-march), where is always dark and covered in snow.

The end of October – that’s when we went – is an off season period, so you will have few activities going on. There is no light anymore but it is still not always darkness.

You will find a “blue light” from around 11.00 am to around 13.30 am, that makes the landscape really unique.

Also, it is a very quiet time to visit, few tourists around and you can enjoy more the isolation of Svalbard, opposite to the super busy summer time.

What about the temperature? I believe that during this period the cold is still bearable, staying between -10° / -15° , so even if you are not a north pole explorer but more a city-type, you can do it. In winter it gets to -30°, which I believe is only for the hard-skinned adventurers.

Here you can view the calendar of all the activities so make sure to check what is available on the dates you are planning to go.

This is a view of some of the activities and landscape you can expect to see.

Svalbard rock ptarmigan

svalbard reindeer

Northern Lights

It is the beginning of northern lights season, so if you are lucky, like us, you will get few clouds and a nice solar activity to spot them.

I recommend you to walk yourself to the watertower, still within the town limits, but dark enough to have good chances to spot them.

Dog sledding with Huskies

Dog sledding is a must-do activities, but I suggest you to do them with a company that respects and love their dogs. No one can love them more than Tommy at Husky Travellers, an amazing guide – north pole explorer that will amaze you with its travel stories.

Northern light Cruise to Barentsburg

From the end of October, you can do day-cruises to the russian settlements of Barentsburg and Pyramiden (more on this on the next paragraph).

The company is called Henningsen Transport & Guiding AS and in the tour is included lunch and the tour guide in Barentsburg.

Barentsburg is the only russian settlement still inhabited in the islands, and even if not so fascinating like the abandoned Pyramiden, I believe it is very interesting to see how a small community of miners can survive in the North Pole, so if you have time I recommend you to do both of them

Northern light Cruise to Pyramiden

Pyramiden is an abandoned mine town north of Longyearbyen: once an example of the perfect communism city, it was abandoned at the end of the 90s, following the crash of a plane with most of its citizens.

Off season the population is 6 people, between maintenance guys and tour guides, and the occasional polar bears that walks among the abandoned streets of the town.

If you love abandoned town like myself, this is one of the best in the world (together with Kolmanskop in Namibia) and for sure the northernmost one!

Visit Coal Mine no. 3

Colonization of Svalbard started for exploring its natural resources: in 1600 for hunting whales and walrus, and at the beginning of 1900 for exploiting its rich deposit of coal, one of the best quality in the world.

Age of coal mining is ended nowadays, except coal mine no7, which is still active for extracting coal to be used to power and heat Lomgyearbyen’s houses.

Mine no 3 is the only one that can be visited, and entering the Earth like old miners is truly an experience: not only is interesting, but it makes you really understand the mindset of the first people living here in Svalbard.

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