When you ask backcountry skiers and splitboarders to select their dream vacation spot for a ski journey, their solutions will invariably cluster round a couple of time-tested locations. Alaska, Japan, and British Columbia are certain to return up, as are the Alps and the Andes. However Sweden? No approach, dude.
Up till final spring, I might’ve thought alongside the identical strains. However then I sampled a couple of of the various drool-inducing strains in Swedish Lapland on a hut journey excessive within the Arctic Circle final March. And my perspective has shifted.
Not solely does this northern shred vacation spot provide backcountry goers gorgeous, uncrowded peaks, however there are lovely mountains and terrain that make it nicely well worth the trek … irrespective of what number of layovers are in your itinerary.
that feeling when you may’t shake the reminiscence of a really epic journey of a lifetime? That’s why I needed to share a couple of tales from the Swedish skintrack. I’ll discuss bootpacks, touring, terrain, in addition to insights on journey and logistics. For skiers and splitboarders trying to make a pilgrimage to the land of Northern Lights — or these merely open to doing so — take it from me, and go for it.
An Arctic Welcome
The night skies darkened over Sweden’s Kebnekaise Massif, so I pulled out my telephone to seize the second, with my information Matti Saapunki, skinning via the foreground. I managed to snap a photograph, however my fingers immediately froze up.
The fantastic thing about the vary grew to become secondary as I donned heavy gloves and liners, two face masks — and nonetheless the Scandinavian winds despatched icy daggers slashing via my GORE-TEX armor.
The going was laborious work, too; the relentless winds had compressed the highest of the snowpack right into a breakable, styrofoam-like crust. I don’t assume I’ve ever been that chilly on the skintrack.
I can’t lie: there was a little bit of second-guessing on that frigid slog. Again dwelling in Tahoe, we have been within the midst of a historic winter. Why wasn’t I sleeping within the consolation of my dwelling and shredding yard powder day by day? Why had I taken three flights, a bus, and a literal sleigh experience to get to this distant basecamp in Sweden?
However then we crested the ridge, and my dwelling for the week danced into view: the Tarfala Hut. Perched on a knoll within the Tarfala Valley, this outpost has a full kitchen, outhouse, no working water (you’ve obtained to haul it up), and, most critically after a full day of touring, an epic sauna. It sleeps as much as 25 folks and is a wonderfully positioned base camp for touring missions.
Its home windows glowed vibrant, as if in defiance of the winds hammering the valley and cloaking the encircling peaks in swaths of spindrift. This was why. We booked it to the hut, kicked off our gear, and hustled inside. A crew of splitboarders from Stranda, guided by IFMGA information Fred Buttard, have been ready. (I arrived a day late after having to direct a splitboard check within the States.)
Fortunately, they’d saved me a bowl of reindeer stew. After dinner, I crawled into my bunk, stoked for the morning to return. As I drifted off to sleep, the wind punctuated by my loud night breathing hut-mates, I smiled and questioned. What strains had these stressed winds been hiding?
What to Count on in Swedish Lapland
Zephyr didn’t let up that first morning, however graybird skies turned blue, and I obtained my first actual glimpse of the Tarfala Valley and the Kebnekaise Massif. Lovely is a woefully insufficient descriptor. The vary was a freerider’s dream playground. There have been dozens of rocky peaks with couloirs slicing down their flanks, with mellow, glacial pitches and spicy faces.
As soon as we began skinning, snaking from the expansive valley up a rolling glacier that appeared straight out of Alaska or the Alps, it grew to become abundantly clear that there have been months’ — if not seasons’ — value of strains a snowball’s throw from the hut.
And better of all? Other than the strains already laced by our crew, there weren’t any tracks or fellow skiers in sight. And we had barely scratched the floor of the valley’s potential.
The times that adopted have been a few of the better of my season, which is saying one thing. Final winter was simply the very best of my life, highlighted by historic Tahoe circumstances, a stellar heli-trip with Bella Coola Heli Sports activities in BC, and a journey of a lifetime to Hokkaido, Japan. Sweden was proper there on the high of my checklist, and a couple of days particularly stand out.
Memorable Terrain, Prime-Notch Strains
The primary was a brutally chilly, bluebird day that concerned tackling a pair of neighboring couloirs. We bootpacked up the intestine of the primary chute, turning round after a wind slab upped the hazard. After hop-turning via the choke, we loved quick, fluid powder turns within the apron.
One motive I actually appreciated driving with Fred Buttard is that he genuinely understands the mechanics of snowboarding within the backcountry. And, he’s good at ensuring he’s minimizing transitions, and customarily setting an environment friendly, splitboarder-oriented line whereas guiding snowboarders.
This isn’t at all times the case, particularly for old-school guides who aren’t used to driving with snowboarders. For sure, I’m a fan, and I’m stoked to get out and experience with him once more this winter.
We opted for a cruisier, surfy, windlip-laden lap subsequent on the opposite facet of the valley, after which skinned again up for a 3rd run, tagging the chute subsequent door. We completed off in a enjoyable surfy zone, because the solar set over the Kebnekaise Massif.
Quickly after, quickly dropping temperatures despatched us scurrying for the coziness of the hut. Simply as we have been preparing for mattress somebody shouted, “The aurora!” All of us stumbled out into the evening, oblivious to the chilly. Our jaws dropped as ribbons glowed and whirled via the inkwell sky.
These northern latitudes are removed from gentle air pollution and, whereas the aurora borealis are by no means assured, there’s probability you’ll catch a glimpse of nature’s best gentle present on this zone. We have been blessed with a few nights of northern lights on my journey, and it was a spotlight of the journey.
And bear in mind as spring rolls on, your probabilities of seeing the aurora diminish barely, however the days get longer. As an example, Kiruna’s sundown on March 16, the primary day of my journey, was at 5:43 p.m. By the top of the week, sundown jumps to six:08 p.m. If you find yourself coming a month later, the solar doesn’t go down til after 9 p.m. (that means ripe potential for night ski periods). It was an ethereal cherry on high of an ideal day within the Arctic.
The second day that I’ll bear in mind most was our exit. We left at daybreak, embarking on a roundabout tour from the Tarfala Hut again to the Kebnekaise Mountain Station. Half of the group went to climb the Kebnekaise, the very best mountain in Sweden and a extra technical journey, whereas the remainder of us went looking for extra powder.
As we have been party-lapping out of the valley, I caught a glimpse of a steep, unridden, low-elevation face dotted with cliffs above us. Mats Drougge, perpetually stoked founding father of Stranda, and the orchestrator behind this journey smiled and mentioned, “When you guys wish to experience that, I’ll shoot it!”
Tapping right into a reserve of vitality I didn’t know we had, a few us rode the face. It was steep and deep, the snow steady and crystalline. I made a couple of turns via the chute, lined up a cliff drop, and skittered via the touchdown (I blame my hut-trip-hammered legs). Sketchy landings apart, it was the road of the journey for me.
Distant Touring Means Distant Journey
When you’re visiting the Kebnekaise Mountain Station or the Tarfala Hut, your journey probably kicks off in Kiruna. It’s attainable to take an in a single day prepare from Stockholm, a rad possibility should you’re not in a rush. If PTO is in brief provide — or there’s an overabundance of stoke — fly on to Kiruna. It’s one of many smallest airports I’ve been to, however there are 4 each day flights to Stockholm.
From Kiruna, you’ll wish to both drive, take a taxi, or take the bus from city to Nikkaluokta. When you’re at Nikkaluokta — a captivating outpost on the finish of the street — you’ll take a 19km snowmobile-pulled sleigh experience to reach at Kebnekaise or your vacation spot of selection.
All through my brief stint in Swedish Lapland, we should’ve run via half of the Inuit’s infamously massive lexicon for snow. We rode every part from blower pow and corn to bulletproof hardpack and styrofoam windboard; plan on packing skis or a board that’s versatile sufficient to deal with all of it.
Inside a snowball’s throw from the Tarfala Hut, you will be touring mellow glacial pitches, steep gnarly couloirs, and rowdy, huge mountain strains. And by way of climate, I skilled all of it — hammering snow, whipping winds, and brutal chilly. Alluring to each skier and photographer, this terrain is actually electrical.
This simply added to the expertise, should you ask me. The extra excessive parts made each our bluebird ski days and our stress-free time within the sauna all of the extra gratifying.
As an example, we didn’t get to ski this wild-looking line on Tolpargni — we circled attributable to an avalanche on an identical facet —however the Stranda crew had nabbed it the earlier yr.
Ideas for Planning Your Personal Journey to the Arctic Circle
It is dependent upon the snow forecast every season, however usually, March to mid-Might is the very best time to go to. March and April will provide essentially the most potential by way of preferrred snowboarding circumstances.
- Stranda Splitboards is internet hosting its Swedish Lapland Tarfala Hut journey once more this spring, March 16-23.
- Upguides, a guiding service based by French IFMGA information Fred Buttard, is partnering up with Stranda Snowboards to host the first-ever Arctic Cut up Fest, April 9-12 in Norway’s Finnmark area.
- Upguides presents a Splitboard Tour week from April 7 to 14 that features guided days earlier than and after the pageant.
The terrain alone you’ll get to discover in the course of the fest is value snowboarding in Northern Norway. The fjord-side peaks look past picturesque, and a few zones are solely accessed by sea kayak or boat.
“There’s a lot terrain, you wouldn’t consider it,” mentioned Buttard (like we weren’t already satisfied). Plus, there’ll be avalanche security talks, technical workshops on rope expertise and rescue, movie showings, demos, and live shows.
Whereas Tarfala and Finnmark are somewhat off the crushed path, should you’re on the lookout for a extra traditional Arctic goal, Lofoten, Norway, is one other good vacation spot. That’s particularly in order for you ski or splitboard touring. Well-known for its fjords and steep, simply accessible alpine terrain, Lofoten is on many backcountry bucket lists — mine included.
Although, now that I’ve found the backcountry terrain in Sweden, it’ll be laborious to beat.
