Isfjord Radio

Isfjord Radio stands at Kapp Linné on the exposed outer coast at the mouth of Isfjorden, built in 1933 as the coastal radio station that handled all Svalbard's traffic with the mainland, burned during the Second World War and rebuilt, and automated in the 1990s when the work no longer needed people. The buildings now run as a small hotel, reached by boat in summer or snowmobile in spring across ninety kilometres of nothing.

Background

The station opened on 13 November 1933 with three employees, later four. Its radio and lighthouse equipment left Oslo on 24 June, and twelve men working eleven-hour shifts finished the construction on 13 September. The work produced three buildings, a forge, a boathouse and a slipway, and lights were set up at Festningen, Vestpynten and Kapp Linné. The main building measured 63 sq m and the two smaller ones 47 and 38 sq m, and the Telefunken transmitter had a 300-watt capacity. The station was rebuilt in 1946, gained satellite links in 1979, and was automated and left unstaffed in 1999. A fibre optic cable to the mainland, finished in 2004, then replaced the satellite connection.

Source: Wikipedia, "Isfjord Radio"

The main sights

• The station buildings - the 1933 radio complex, rebuilt after the war.
• The exposed coast - the outer shore at the mouth of Isfjorden.
• The remoteness - ninety kilometres from Longyearbyen with no road.
• The conversion - a working station turned into a small remote hotel.

When to go

March to May for snowmobile access, June to September for boats. There is no road at any season. The site is exposed to weather from the open sea.

Practical notes

There is no road and access depends entirely on weather; guests can be delayed in both directions. The hotel is expensive and small. The coast here is exposed and often fogbound.

Nearby

Alkhornet is northeast, and Longyearbyen is east.

Key facts