Up, Up, and Over...the 60th Degree Quiz

Answer: Alert

Although, in the early 21st century, Alert had only between one and ten residents, the population "soars" when governmental agencies are there for weather or military reasons. Although I don't think it warmed the area up much, the Olympic flame passed through Alert in 2009. The average high temperature is 5.5 F and there are over 103 days of snow in an average year.

Answer: Barrow

Barrow, the center of the North Slope, was incorporated in 1958. It has over 4,000 residents, over half of whom are Inupiat Eskimo who still follow the subsistence living of their ancestors. Even the inhabitants who work still hunt and fish for a great deal of their food. During the summer months, tour operators arrange for package tours of the area.

The etched baleen is lovely. Surprising enough, only a few work at Prudhoe Bay in the oil industry. Wiley Post's and Will Rogers' plane crashed just 15 miles south of Barrow.

The airport is named for them.

Answer: Norway

Longyearbyen is the largest town in the Svalbard Islands, with almost 2,000 residents. Although coal was important to the area in the past, there really is only one mine still operating in Longyearbyen. Tourists, on the other hand, abound in the summer months, most flying in from Tromso.

It has to be one of the few places where you can order whale stir-fry on the menu that offers Thai food. You can also take a tour to see an abandoned Russian settlement, Pyramiden, with its statue of Lenin, the most northern one in the world. For those so inclined, a tour to the North Pole can be arranged. Perhaps you'll get to meet Santa Claus?

Answer: Murmansk

The last town founded during the Russian Empire, Murmansk, located on the Kola Peninsula, has an ice-free port which was used for the Allied shipping of materiel to the USSR during the wars. The city was founded as a railway terminus and was given the rank of an urban area in 1916.

In 1985, due to its bravery in facing and defeating the German attacks against it, Murmansk was named a "Hero City". It is proposed to be the terminus of the Arctic Sea Bridge, a transportation corridor from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, which would be a major trade route between North America and Asia.

Answer: Helsinki

Helsinki, Finland, was chartered in 1550 but didn't do much growing until about the start of the 1800s after Russia had annexed it. Alexander I made it the capital, to lessen Swedish influence and also moved the university there. That spurred Helsinki to begin to grow.

The city has a lot of waterfront since a great deal of it is built on islands and peninsulas. It is warmer than its location would indicate due to the effects of the Gulf Stream and simply being on the Baltic Sea. The average low temperature is somewhat over 36 F.

The 1940 Olympic Games were to have been held in Helsinki but because of World War II they were cancelled. However, Helsinki got to use all the facilities that had been built for them prior to 1940 when the Games were held there in 1952.

Answer: Deadhorse

Deadhorse, Alaska, is the living area for the workers at the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay. Although the permanent population is small, it dramatically increases to the thousands because of the temporary workers at the fields. Due to the permafrost, the pre-fabricated module buildings are all built on gravel pads. Deadhorse has been on two seasons of "The Ice Road Truckers" a television show about the dangerous job of trucking materials to Prudhoe Bay. People interested in seeing Deadhorse and the Prudhoe Bay area can take busses from Fairbanks up the Dalton Highway, but beware. No alcoholic beverages are available in Deadhorse.

Answer: Kiruna

Kiruna is a planned city, with the architects taking consideration of both the climate and the geographical features of the area. In so doing, they assured that the town has much milder winter temperatures than do surrounding areas and is sited to limit the wind.

In the early days, the only way of mining was "mountain top removal", lowering the elevation of the nearby mountain. Kiruna had a lot of "down days" until the advent of World War II. Even though Sweden was neutral, the Germans used the ore, and the railroads from Kiruna transported materiel to Norwegian soldiers.

After the War, the mine began paying off and Kiruna began diversifying its industries. Tourism is a great help economically. In a village very near to Kiruna an annual "ice hotel" is built that is allegedly the largest in the world.

Answer: Yukon

We're, of course, in Whitehorse, on the Yukon River. The city was named after some rapids that, before the river was dammed, looked like a horse's mane. The Yukon is a major river in North America, flowing from British Columbia through the Yukon Territory and Alaska into the Bering Sea, a trip of almost 2,000 miles.

In two different native languages it means either "great river" or "big river" and in any event, they're both literally correct. North of Whitehorse the Yukon widens and becomes Lake Laberge about which Jack London wrote.

In addition to Whitehorse, the Yukon passes through other historically important places such as Carmacks, Dawson City, Eagle, and Tanana amongst others. At one time, it was a great salmon fishery and the various governments are attempting to return to those days.

Answer: Lillehammer

By August, 1827, Lillehammer could boast a population of 50, although the area had been settled since the Norwegian Iron Age. In 1838 the town, itself, became a municipality. There are some ancient rock carvings in the area, but the reason for the city's being is being the most northern point of Lake Mjosa and a gateway to the historical town of Trondheim and the area in which it is found.

There are virtually no industries left in Lillehammer. Its US sister city is Hayward, Wisconsin. It was chosen to host the 2016 Youth Olympics.

Answer: Reykjavik

Reykjavik, was probably the first settlement in Iceland somewhere around 870, but was only founded as a city in 1786. Its name translates to something like "smoke cove" because of the steam from the local hot springs. Its first industry was wool and was the main employer for decades. During the Second World War, Reykjavik was "occupied" by the British and US forces, even though Denmark was occupied by the Germans. (Iceland was a sovereign country under the Crown of Denmark.) The Allied occupation was of great benefit for Reykjavik which had been hard hit, too, by the Depression.

In 1944 the country became the Republic of Iceland with its own elected president who replaced the King. At the end of the Ice Age the sea level was as much as over 140 feet above where it is now, but when the glaciers melted the land rose making it look much as it does now. Iceland, as we know, has its share of volcanoes that are still active so the land may be changed from time to time.

The average daily low is about 35 F, but the average daily high isn't much different, at 44.5 F.