Cap of the North Ski Expedition

We fly from Oslo to Kiruna via Stockholm.

In Kiruna we spend the day packing food, fuel and all other equipment that will be brought on the trip, and get the pulks ready.

We are driven to Kvikkjokk before we strap on skis and pulks and set a course for Rapadalen. We are underway!

After a few days we move up into the heights, among Sarek's majestic 2000 m peaks. Surrounded by mountains on all sides we enjoy high mountain camps you will have to search long for. Sarek can be weather-beaten and it is a long way to civilization, but in the team and the pulk we have everything we need to manage. On our way to Ritsem we visit no less than three national parks: Sarek, Stora Sjöfallet and Padjelanta. Each one more fantastic than the last. This leg ends with a turn around the peerless Akkha massif and a 10 km walk over the ice on Akkajaure to Ritsem. In Ritsem we have our first depot. Here we fill up the pulks with new goodies before the trip we continue toward the north. First leg always starts easy. It is important for the body to get used to life in front of the pulk. With a calm pace and relatively short daily legs we lay the foundation for a successful trip. If we manage 10 days without blisters we will likely manage 30 as well.

After Ritsem we continue further into the high mountains. During the next leg we will enter both the Nordkalottleden and Kungsleden. Two of the most famous and most beautiful hiking routes in Sweden. If we manage it this leg starts with being towed behind a snowmobile. Almost 20 kilometers hanging behind a scooter, exhausting and incredibly fun! The terrain is hilly, but now the body is starting to get used to the pulk trailing behind. It has almost become a part of you and the thought of walking without appears strange. The end of this leg, from Abiskojaure to Abisko, goes steeply downward. Suddenly we gaze out over Torneträsk. A 50 km long lake that we will hike across a few days later. But before that we check into a cabin in Abisko. We are actually going to eat at a table, sitting on chairs. With knives and forks in metal! Some are even so bold as to take a shower. Believe it who will. Abisko is not a big place, but one thing exists here that we can like: GODISFABRIKEN! The pulks weigh a little more out of Abisko than they strictly speaking should. But that is how it is. In Abisko we have our second depot. Here the pulks are filled to the breaking point again before the next leg.

After an overnight stay in Abisko it is back to hard work and oats (plus a kilo of pick-and-mix candy from Godisfabrikken). The landscape changes character a bit from high mountains to flat lakes and gentle expanses. We start with 50 km across Torneträsk. Here the Greenland feeling comes out; trudging off on a compass march toward the next horizon. Is the weather nice and you look south you get a glimpse of Lapporten. A famous and cherished landmark in these regions. The next few days go rolling up and down. In and out of forest and over gentle expanses. Maybe we find a spot where we can get a fire going, tell tall tales and boast of our feats on the trip. The goal for this leg is the Three-Country Cairn. At this monument we are furthest north in Sweden and furthest east in Finland. Thirty seconds on skis and you are visiting Sweden, Finland and Norway. We of course pitch camp on the Norwegian side and prepare for the final leg.

Final leg goes into Tromsø. Exactly which valley we walk down we find out when we see how much time we have left. But now it is inexorably heading toward the end. The "last days blues" sets in. Meaning that time on the trip when you look forward to coming home, but would happily have lived the carefree life with the pulk in tow for all eternity. Now it is home to everyday life. But before that: A proper celebratory meal in Tromsø!