Freia
THE ALL-ACT ION HEROINE SINCE 1968
Wemeet FreiaHutschenreuteronherdailyvisit
toHuset, shooting thebreezewithold friend
Anne-LiseSandvik (
seeright
). Freiaarrived in 1968
andAnne-Lise in 1973; bothhavebeen trailblazers
forwomenonSvalbard.
“Since Iwas 12, I’dwantedmyownboat,”says
German-bornFreia. “Ialwayswanted two things:
toworkat seaand togoas farnorthaspossible.
But everyonesaid, ‘You’reagirl, youcan’tget
a jobonaship.’”Shewasfinallyacceptedbya
navigationschool insouthernNorway. “Theysaid,
‘ThisGermangirl isextreme, butnotdangerous,’”
shegiggles.Then, shesays, “Iboughtaboatand
justwentnorth. Idon’tknowwhy.”Sheworked,
mostlyonships, in theFaroe Islands, Icelandand
Greenland, spent summerholidays inSiberiaand
madeaudacioussolosails, likea journey from
Hammerfest toKirkenes. Svalbardwas“just the
next islandnorth”.
Aside frombeing thefirst femaleguideon the
island, Freia’salsoknown forher technique to
scareoffpolarbears–mostpeopleheregooutwith
a rifleorat leastflares, butFreia’sprotection isa
handkerchiefwithadabof salmiakammonium
chloride.Does itwork?“I’veno idea!”she laughs.
“I’veneveraskedapolarbearwhat they think
of it.”Still, if apolarbearwere toattackFreia
Hutschenreuter, theyshouldexpectafight.
Joachim
THE MINER
Anne-Lise
THE CULTURAL FORCE
Walking into thecanteenatMine7 isan
intimidatingexperience.Asweexplainwe’re
journalists, theblack-facedminers stopeating
and seem tobe sizingusup.But then theyall
laughandpointus toJoachimMyrhvang,who
seems tobe theposterboy forLongyearbyen’s
lastoperatingcoalmine. Joachim,25,has
beenatMine7 foralmost threeyears,now
working thecontinuousminermachine,
andhe’snotwhatweexpected. The former
traineecarpenter fromnearOslo iswell-
spoken, affableandobliging. “I loveworking
here,”he says. “It’snot likea small town in
Norway. It’s super social, andyoucan spend
weekendsona snowmobile.”Anydrawbacks?
“It’snot thebestplace tomeet girls.”
Only ahandful of
residents are above
retirement age
onSvalbard.
There arenoelderly
homes andno
welfarepayments.
It’s famously illegal
todiehere, though
that’s a stretch.
Noone’sbeen
buriedhere since
the 1930s,when
itwasdiscovered
that bodies in the
cemeterydon’t
decomposebecause
of thepermafrost.
Wry, witty Anne-Lise Sandvik is
a forceof nature. She arrived from
Bergen in 1973, working as awaitress
andcleaner. “I immediately joined a
choir and a folkdance group,” she
remembers. Today, she’s behind a lot of
Longyearbyen’s cultural life– she leads
a local choir, andwrites andorganises
the annual towncabaret revue, which
pokes fun atmost of Longyearbyen
(“Noone’s safe,” she sayswith a smile).
With twochildren in town, shewas one
of thefirstwomen to get a family house
after adivorce. “Youhave to support
yourself anddo things on your own
terms,” she says. “But I’vemade itmy
home. If they come tocarryme away,
they’dbettermake sure I’mdead.”
n
—Svalbard
⁄
People
How longmost
peopleplan to stay in
Svalbard (3months)
How long the
averageperson
ends up staying
(6.3 years)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ageist?
“I’ll only
stay three
months”
054\
n
