Polar Night

On the first of January we left Abisko for the King's Trail, loaded with 22 days of food and fuel, enough to reach Sulitjelma in a single push. On January 4 we were back in Abisko, defeated by a wall of snow, having had a storm over our heads yet again, disquieted by signs of…

The end

Coming to the end of a winter season feels very similar to coming to the end of a long hike: it's an intense period and it seems that it will never stop, then suddenly it's all over. People who were automatically around go their own ways. Life as it is stops right there. My last…

Spring

  Spring always represents a clean break in the season. Suddenly I wake up early in the morning because the sun is piercing my eyes. It's so warm outside that I only need a fleece jacket to go around. God forbid, I have to take sunglasses on tour, I need them for driving, I need…

The beginning of the end

For the past five days I have been so incredibly tired that all I felt I could do, was sleep. Outside endless snow kept falling from the sky. Around 50cm of fresh powder must have been dumped on us during the past three days. When I was driving back PJ's overnight guests yesterday, they asked me if the…

The delight of daylight

Ever-increasing daylight hours have brought leisure and ease to the forest. All the little things that have to be done can now be done in daylight. Seeing what you are doing makes the same tasks feel much easier and actually much faster, so we have more time on our hands. On guest-free afternoons we can…

Three Days of Howls in the Woods

After having been in the kennel and on short tours during November, December and January I had really itchy feet. The trails I was running only made me grasp at the vast wilderness out there, and I could only imagine how nice it must be to go out and get lost into those endless hills…

Winter Finally Arrived: Guiding in Extreme Temperatures

About one week ago temperatures started falling drastically, first from between -5°C and -10°C to -20°C, afterwards further down to -30°C and below. All activities are continuing just as before, so there is suddenly much more to think about and to care about on every trip. Once under -25°C and especially under -30°C the risk…

The Light Returns

While on snow mobile tour two days ago I noticed something extraordinarily amazing. When I drove up a hill, I suddenly saw the sun fully above the horizon and could feel its warmth. It was the first day in 3 weeks that the sky cleared up, and the first time in 5 that sun rays…

Ten Reasons to Visit the High North

For many people, visiting the high north is a very special experience. They come into a world completely different from what they know. Vast and empty, dark and covered in snow, this region has many things to offer that draw many thousands of tourists every year. And they have have many reasons to choose to…

Hiking Kungsleden – The King’s Trail

Kungsleden must be Sweden’s most famous hiking trail and is listed as one of the most beautiful trails in the world. Every summer, flocks of hikers occupy trains, airplanes and busses up north to walk part of this over 300 kilometer long track. The common route is a 120 km stretch from Abisko (the trail’s…