The Plan
Six months ago, me and some friends decided we wanted to go north, far north. We wanted the real Lapland experience: seven days hiking on skis through the Swedish mountains, kilometers away from civilization and without any mobile connection. What could go wrong, we thought? This is the story of our adventure and the unforgettable memories we made during that week.
Day 0: Stockholm to Abisko
We started our journey in Stockholm, where we took the night train to Abisko. Comparing the weight of our backpacks and the amount of food we brought, we realized we had very different strategies. While some of us tried to bring as little as possible, even arriving in flip flops, others packed all their food and some additional vodka.
After a one hour delay, we entered the train heading north and woke up the next day in a winter wonderland. We had one more day to relax before starting the hike, so we used the time to explore the area around Abisko turiststation and walked on the frozen lake Torneträsk. We finished the day with a last real meal from the restaurant and the first of many saunas to come.
Day 1: Abisko to Abiskojaure (14 km)
It was time to start the big hike. Now we realized what we were about to begin, and there was no way back. The weather forecast wasn't great, but we were pleased to see some sun shining through the clouds, which made the temperature much warmer.
Just 20 minutes after starting, I noticed animal tracks right in front of me and we stopped to look around. What we saw was a perfect beginning for this trip: two moose hiding in the forest just 30 meters away from us. Seeing them from so close was majestic, and I was glad they didn't care too much about us.
Continuing on the trail, we faced many snowmobiles coming from Abiskojaure. It was a pretty landscape, but we didn't yet feel like we were in remote nature, which would change in the coming days. After the last 4km that led right over a frozen lake, we arrived in Abiskojaure and were welcomed by two friendly Swedish hosts with tasty lingonberry tea.
The host showed us around the cabins and explained the two obligations you have in Swedish mountain cabins: bring water from the ice hole to the sauna and kitchen, and chop wood and refill the wood in the sauna and kitchen. Without having anything else to do, this becomes a nice activity for the afternoons. In the evening, it's sauna time, which is perfect to relax the sore muscles from the day and shower off the sweat afterwards. After eating a daily meal of instant ramen for dinner, everyone is tired and ready to sleep quite early.
Day 2: Abiskojaure to Alesjaure (23 km)
Day 2 was the longest of all days with 23 km including one big climb. We woke up early to give ourselves enough time for this hike and split up into two groups to move faster.
Soon we arrived at the beginning of the first big ascent, where we had to put the skins under our skis. Passing by some tents covered by snow, we wondered why someone would want to sleep outside in those conditions. The weather was cloudy and cold. Our only points of orientation were the red crosses that guided us through the valley. The landscape must have looked incredible, but we could only imagine how the mountain peaks would look behind the fog.
Thankfully, we could seek shelter in a stopover cabin for lunch. After lunch, the weather didn't change. Not knowing exactly where we were, we made one step after another. The other group was far out of sight, and we looked for the Alesjaure cabins to appear on the horizon, which looked like rocks at first.
Again, an old Swedish man welcomed us with lingon tea, which became an appreciated highlight of the days. After having snored the first night, I was assigned a small separate room together with other snorers and poor non snorers.
After dinner, we had to make a plan for the next day. The weather forecast looked even worse for tomorrow, with strong winds starting already during the night. After a long discussion about when we should start, a host of the cabins told us that she wouldn't start at all. Thinking about our options, we still decided to face the storm.
Day 3: Alesjaure to Tjäktja (13 km)
Already during the night, I could hear the winds becoming stronger through the chimney. Stepping out of the cabin in the morning, we realized that the predictions were no joke, but we weren't the only ones leaving Alesjaure. There was also a French guy who solo hiked the Kungsleden and who we met the day before.
Along the hike, there were still tents behind rocks seeking shelter from the wind. We had only 13 km this day, but those felt almost twice as hard with the wind coming from the front. To reach Tjäktja, we needed to pass one last ascent for the day, where the wind turned to the side and got even stronger.
Being in the second group, we didn't even see any steps from the first group in the snow, who must have been around 10 minutes ahead. Going through deep snow didn't make it easier, and strong wind gusts almost blew us off our feet.
Finally, we saw the cabin through the fog and were welcomed into a cabin packed with a big group of Dutch people. They were part of a guided trip and decided to remain in Tjäktja that day. Luckily, the cabin had some spare mattresses so that some of us could sleep on the ground.
The Dutch guides organized a kind of pub quiz in the evening. Somehow, probably because the other drunk group miscalculated our points, we managed to win. But this was just the beginning of a chaotic night, in which we almost lost a pair of skis, a pair of boots, the friendship of the Dutch guides, and our minds.
Day 4: Tjäktja to Sälka (12 km)
Being woken up by the Dutch group who left early, we started the search for the missing pair of skis, which we expected to be buried in snow from the storm. After almost an hour of digging in snow, it turned out that we didn't miss any skis and only got confused by the numbers on the skis since the Dutch group had the same rental skis.
Time to start and leave the chaos behind. Today the weather totally changed: blue skies and wind coming from behind. We were on the ascent to the highest point of the whole Kungsleden, the Tjäktja pass. With a light lunch on top at the stopover cabin, we got ready for the fun part of the day: the downhill.
With our experience from a preparation trip, we knew that going downhill on Nordic skis was a bit scary, because there's only one proper way to slow down: diving into the snow, preferably not face first. For some it worked better and for some of us worse, but at least the snow conditions were very powdery to make the crashes soft. I still managed to damage both of my ski bindings, which would become a problem two days later.
In the valley, we were met by strong backwind gusts that carried us easily to Sälka, where we shared a cabin with a group of French hikers.
Day 5: Sälka to Singi (11 km)
Day 6: Singi to Kebnekaise (13 km)
Day 7: Kebnekaise to Nikkaluokta (19 km)
