The Swedish Haute Route – Kebnekaise, Sweden

Join us on a ski touring week in the great wilderness of Swedish Lapland. 

Many of the mountains in this area do not even have a name on the maps of today. If you look at older maps the peaks have names, beautiful, old Sami names, but we doubt that they are known to man. With or without names, the mountains stand there in their strength and beauty offering us fantastic skiing opportunities.

Season
For ski touring this far north, the later part of the season is to prefer due to longer days and milder temperatures. From the end of March until the beginning of May is the best time for this tour.

Program for a week
This is a standard program. Please note that there may be changes, due to weather and snow conditions.

Day 1, Sunday
We meet in Kiruna at the airport or train station depending on how you travel. After checking your equipment, organizing our packing and dividing the food supply for the first days between us we go to Nikkaloukta, where the road ends. We continue by snowmobile to the Sälka hut. The hut is mainly visited by cross country skiers and randonée skiers are rare. From here we reach amazing skiing.

Day 2, Monday
We get ready for our first ski tour on Sälka, a beautiful mountain with a breath taking view over large parts of both the Swedish and Norwegian mountains. If this is your first visit to this area you will find the untouched wilderness and endless land alone worth the trip. We can offer you stillness that is hard to find in the hectic world around us, no tight schedules or deadlines as far as one can see. It is as if time stands still and there is no tomorrow. After a beautiful day on Sälka we return to the hut. In the evening we cook on a gas heated stove and enjoy the wood-fired sauna after a long day in the mountains.   

Day 3, Tuesday
We get ready to leave the Sälka hut to move on to the Nallo hut. We have quite a few routes to choose between. We can climb the hills and get some great skiing down to the hut at Nallo. Around the hut there are several peaks that offer excellent skiing. Most of them are nameless and on maps, referred to as 1782 m, 1738 m and so on. We will stay at the Nallo hut for at least two nights and we do day tours and "travel light".

Day 4, Wednesday
Top tour on for example 1782 m, with beautiful skiing in an exceptional environment. We can show you pictures and try to explain the love for our country in words but to be honest – you have to come here to grasp the magnitude of its beauty.

Day 5, Thursday
We go south towards the massif of Kebnekaise. We use the classical Jojo path to get there. We cross the pass of the Pyramid and go downhill on the south side. We pass the impressive northern wall of Kaskaspakte (2043 meters) and climb Kaskasatjåkka (2076 meters). From here we have, what many guides would call, the most astonishing view (look at the pictures!) and a great run down to the Tarfala valley. We stay at the Tarfala hut.

Day 6 Friday
We head for the Kebnekaise mountain lodge. We have different routes to choose from and if the weather is on our side we will climb the southern peak of Kebenekaise, 2117 meters and the highest mountain in Sweden. At Kebnekaise mountain lodge we are back in civilization and can enjoy a well-deserved shower, sauna and a nice dinner in the restaurant.

Day 7, Saturday
Our last day of touring and we can get a second chance to summit Kebnekaise, if the weather stopped us the previous day. 

Day 8, Sunday
Travel day to get back home. After a long breakfast the snowmobiles takes us back to the road in Nikkaloukta, and from there Kiruna.

Equipment:

The following will be provided by your mountain guide, so make sure there is room in your back pack.

• Harness.

• 2 locking carabineers and a sling.

• Lunch for 1-2 days.

Personal equipment:
This is an equipment list for the Haute Route ski tour:
• Skies with ski touring bindings
• Climbing skins
• Ski crampons
• Poles, adjustable with big baskets
• Ski touring boots
• Back pack about 40-45 litres
• Travel sheets to sleep in at the huts
• Clothes for skiing
• Extra underwear
• Down jacket, lightweight
• Extra gloves
• Sunglasses
• Ski goggles
• Sun block (minimum 20)

Included:
• Professional mountain guide authorised by UIAGM/IFMGA
• All safety equipment for backcountry off-piste skiing (transceiver, shovel, probe, rope and harness)
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner the first 4 days (when we stay in overnight huts)
• Accommodation at the mountain lodge including breakfast, lunch and dinner the last two days
• Amazing views in untouched wilderness, worth both experiencing and taking good care of

Not included:
• Travel to/from Kiruna - Nikkaloukta 
• Drinks (apart from water)
• Personal equipment for ski touring (please see equipment list)

A group of a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 people.