Riksgränsen

Back from a very nice trip to the north! I must admit this trip has somewhat changed my perception of the northern part of Sweden, I had to re-evaluate some of the prejudices I had about that part of the country and of the people living there, all for the better. I still have the same perception about winter though; I don’t mind snow and winter as long as I can go to it and it does not come to me! And this far north the snow is so very white and clean and the slopes have only natural snow. This part is really so exotic. For me it feels much more exotic to go here than to the Alps, although still in my native country. It is so far away, so open, so empty!


And still we had really bad luck with the weather. When we arrived it was raining. That night and next day it was snowing heavy and there was a very strong wind, which meant the whole mountain was closed off. Therefore I and Victoria went for some snow shoe walking, which was also very nice. In the afternoon we caught the train to Narvik mostly because the train ride is supposed to be very beautiful along one of the fjords, and it was! Of course the visibility could have been better, but it was still very nice.

All wrapped up for snow shoe walking in the hard wind.

The border between Sweden and Norway. We crossed the border several times that day.

It is really so far away from everything! Narvik.


We could actually only ski one day, because of the wind and the poor visibility, there was storm and even hurricane warning, so all slopes were closed. That day it was still rather cold and windy and the skiing was difficult because of all the snow that had fallen and the slopes were not well prepared, but it was still nice to ski again. The storm and snowing continued and for a while we were really snowed in as the road was closed and you could only leave in a convoy. As this is a small place with basically only one hotel, one restaurant and one bar being snowed in means you can not avoid getting to know some of the other guests and the staff; it makes a very friendly and familiar atmosphere. Very nice!

In the end it cleared up and they could open the road again (until 1984 train was the only way to get here at all, and if it hadn’t been for the transport of iron ore from the mines in Kiruna and Gällivare to the ice free port of Narvik, there would not have been a railroad either) and we could leave. By then the weather was sooo nice we did not really want to leave, but we had to. But who knows, maybe we will come back soon, they stay open till midsummer!

It is a paradise for off pist skiing!


Enjoying the sun when it finally showed. Someone called Riksgränsen "Heaven or Hell" and I can understand that, when the weather is nice up there it is unbelievable, but when not, it can get really nasty!


As we did not sleep too much during these days I was rather tired on my way back home. So tired fell asleep on the train from Stockholm! I slept so heavy I did not wake up when I should have got off. I did not wake up until my mother, waiting at the station, called me asking where I was. I was so gone! I hade to go with the train all the way to Göteborg, wait another hour for the last train back and did not get home until two o clock last night. Strange ending to a nice trip! Would be nice to calculate how many kilometres I travelled yesterday.