Dear Heinz Strathmann, you come from Grevenbroich, a tranquil town on the Lower Rhine. How did your enthusiasm for the expedition in general – and for Spitsbergen in particular – come about?
Heinz Strathmann: Even as a child, I felt “at home” in the books by Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. From the age of 19 I lived and worked in Norway, on the largest high mountain plateau in Europe, the Hardanger Vidda. This is where Nansen and Amundsen trained for their expeditions. Spitsbergen was seen as the next step. If you “dominate” Svalbard, you will also complete the other Arctic and Antarctic expedition destinations. That’s why I’ve been training here for my expeditions, such as the North Pole ski expedition from Siberia or a Greenland ski crossing with my 16-year-old son. He is still the youngest person to have achieved this.
Countless islands, covered by ice even in summer, hardly any roads – what is the advantage of travelling around Spitsbergen by boat?
The boat is the only and most pleasant way to discover the coastal areas of the archipelago. With our small expedition ships, we get to areas and regions where most other ships are not allowed and cannot come. On Svalbard – the Norwegian name for the Spitsbergen archipelago – there are only 40 kilometres of roads in total. In winter, you can discover parts of the inland by snowmobile or on skis. In summer, only the ship remains.
Which Spitsbergen moment are you particularly looking forward to in the coming season?
It’s not just nature. But to see how impressed the guests are when we drive along a mighty glacier with the Zodiac or observe animals. When we find fossils or admire a single blooming flower in a stony desert.
Spitsbergen in three adjectives – what would they be?
Wild. Untouched. Dramatic.
What is special about your work as an expedition leader?
It’s always exciting. You are constantly faced with new challenges. We flexibly discover new and old – which is always an adventure. Through the team of experts on board and, in the case of Svalbard, the polar bear guards, even I learn a lot of exciting background information and gain rare insights.
The archipelago is home to around 2,600 people and about 3,000 polar bears. What is special about this community?
The polar bears are the kings of the archipelago. The people of Spitsbergen have to and want to adapt their behaviour to the animals – not the other way around. The Ursus maritimus, as it was called in Latin, was here first. And we have to make sure that he will continue to have his home on Spitsbergen in the future.
How should we imagine people’s lives?
Most people in Longyearbyen, Barentsburg or Ny Ålesund have and are looking for a very close relationship with nature. The concept of “time” and “clock” is not always the most important thing. Otherwise, there are many sports offers from ice bathing to kayaking “rugby”, as well as cultural offers, so that a TV is either not available at all or is only needed for the news. In addition, people visit each other here. You are also welcome to do so unannounced. You take a coffee cup, walk over to the neighbor’s house and sit down in the living room. The front doors are rarely locked. And the neighbor is happy. If not, you move on to the next one. Everyone talks to each other.
To be surrounded only by vastness and silence in the wilderness – how does that feel?
Very good.
How would you describe a polar bear observation to our guests?
Mostly unexpected. With a lot of respect for the animal and its living conditions. Exciting. Pure nature. Force. Elegance. The feelings can hardly be described – you have to experience them yourself.
The perfect day on Spitsbergen – what does it look like?
There is always a surprise that makes the day special. The landscape glistening in the sun. The natural spectacle of the glaciers. Sea ice on its way to the North Pole. An animal observation. By the way: The perfect day can also be the night. In the time of the midnight sun, it is daylight – and very quiet.
With what feelings do our guests disembark at the end of our Spitsbergen expedition?
It will certainly be very individual. But I think many guests have satisfied much of their curiosity about this archipelago afterwards. You will have experienced adventure and incredible nature and understand the world, the Arctic and the climate a little better. You feel, I think, that you are incredibly privileged to have been one of the few to have visited and experienced these islands.
You travel to Spitsbergen because…
… you are interested in polar history and the nature of the Arctic. Because adventures can be experienced here – determined by wind and weather. To discover new and great things like walruses every day. So that you can get an idea of what the state of the glaciers of the Arctic really is. Because you can find out what rest is. And because all this can be experienced in a small circle with like-minded people on board.
