Helags skiing trip

 In April 2024 I went on a little skiing trip to the Jämtland area in Sweden with two friends.

The Jämtland area is maybe the closest real mountain are to Turku. The night ferry to Sweden doesn't really cost any time and after that it is around 620 km of driving to Ljungdalen, which is a good starting spot for the Helags-Sylarna area.

In the beginning of April there is enough light to start skiing the same day, but we chose to stay one night at Ljungdalen and start the following day.

There is a bit of climbing to get up above the tree limit.

One of the goals of the trip was to at least see tracks of polar foxes, which we did see quite a lot. Seeing one in real life would need quite a bit of luck, though, or sitting many hours looking through binoculars, which we didn't do. Thus no visual observation of the polar fox.

After passing the Helags cabin the valley we skied in offered very little protection against the wind. We decided fairly early to take the first reasonable tent spot we could find, but that took quite a while to find.

When we finally entered an area with some small hills providing shelter, we were close enough to the Miesehketjahke emergency shelter that we decided to continue there. Sleeping inside is strictly for emergencies, but it would provide a nice cozy shelter for dinner. The tents got some shelter from the wind behind the hill.

The wind was quite strong during the night and continued in the morning. This time we had a short distance to cover, though.

The lunch was a rather cold affair in the wind, but Sylarnas Fjällstation wasn't far away.

Sylarnas Fjällstation was pretty much what I expected, (relative) luxury facilities in the middle of nowhere. It was the first time I stayed on one of these, but it was a nice experience. 

The dinner was also excellent. Not the fresh stuff that is flown by helicopter to the Kebnekaise Fjällstation (really weird in my opinion), but still an an excellent three-course dinner with ingredients that store longer. A very interesting concept that was nice to experience.

We stayed two nights at Sylarnas Fjällstation, so the next day we took a daytrip without the pulks. The weather was excellent.

Entering Norway.

Lunch at a small shelter in Norway.

Rock ptarmigan.

Some impressive clounds got stuck over Sylarna.

Esko found a playground. A little childish, don't you think?

The evening again was an excellent three-course dinner. The next day was warmer and started out quite cloudy.

There were places with very little snow here and there. It should snow quite a bit in the area, but some places were likely cleared of the snow by hard wind.

Picture by Esko. The climbing skins remained in the pulk during the trip, and this short section was the only one where the fish scales of the skis weren't really enough.

By the time we arrived at the Gåsån shelter in the afternoon the weather had cleared up nicely.

We stayed there and took a shorter skiing trip without pulks in the evening.

Willow ptarmigan.

Dinner inside.

Sleeping inside was again strictly for emergencies, so we erected the tents.

The next morning was nice and sunny.

For most of the day we would ski in the Holkendurrie valley, which is supposed to be very interesting, but maybe mostly in the summer.

Picture by Esko.

Willow ptarmigan again.

The last night was at Ljungan. We had time for a short evening trip without pulks.

The evening was very beautiful.

The last morning was also nice and the weather forecasted to be quite warm. We had heard the ptarmigans before during the nights, mainly willow ptarmigan and the rock ptarmigan only in the distance, but this time we happened to exactly in the party spot. Really a lot of sounds and fights right outside the tents before sunrise.

Picture of yours truly by Esko.

Kristian felt a little unwell, so Esko and I took turns with his pulk.

In the afternoon we were back at the car and drove down from the Kläppen parking spot to Ljungdalen, where we stayed on night before driving back to the night ferry home.

That's it. A nice trip in good company and a new experience with the Fjällstation comfort level for me.