Trapped with his ship in Antarctic ice a century ago, explorer Frederick Cook dreaded the approaching "blackness of the long polar night", the grim winter that would darken "the inner world of our souls."

A nice soak in a hot tub was what the man needed.

That's the dread that haunts today's winter denizens at this Norwegian outpost. "It's my big fear: The tub won't work," laughs Asbjoern Djupdal.