Igloo tour in the area of Kvikkjokk
Igloo tour in the mountains
Our tours to the Kvikkjokk Mountains starts in the middle of March. Spring has begun at this time of the year and March is a wonderful month in Swedish Lapland with clear warm days and cold nights. During this tour, we combine a number of nights in the igloos with a number of nights in comfortable cabins.
You will learn how to build a self-supporting ecological igloo from the packed snow and also how to build bivouacs in the snow drifts. These two constructions are not only fun to learn how to build, but are also excellent life savers if you should ever find yourself in an Arctic environment in need of shelter.
The first day of the tour begins on skis and we make our way to Tarrakaise, a beautiful mountain cabin located in the mountain region which shares the same name. After travelling to Tarrakaise, the following week’s day trips will be shorter to allow us time to build our igloos.
Each day of the tour is a new experience both in what we do and where we sleep. On the second day of the tour for example, we ski for a few kilometres, unpack our igloo equipment and start building the first igloo.
This is an exciting day as you see your first igloo take shape. In the evening we spend the night in our newly built igloo. It is a fantastic feeling to be out in the isolated mountain region, totally immersed in your new environment, your new home, built from the snow that was underfoot a few hours before and which now protects you from the elements.
Some of the following days will be spent skiing and sleeping in cabins, on the other days we will ski for a few kilometres and build more igloos or bivouacs along the way.
The valleys that you travel through are open and exposed to the elements. This can mean that on occasion, the weather conditions are tough with some hard winds. However, this is just the type of weather that creates the perfect conditions for making igloos – hard wind packed snow to cut snow blocks from. This tour is an incredible experience and a journey through the beautiful mountainous region of Kvikkjokk. This tour is rare opportunity to enjoy the Kvikkjokk mountain area from within your own hand built igloos and bivouacs.
Arrival at Kvikkjokk mountain lodge (by bus from Jokkmokk).
Day 1: We begin the day with breakfast and then we ski to the cabin in Tarrakaise (this is the longest single trip in the tour – approx 22 km – but we travel at an easy and comfortable pace as much as possible). We stop for lunch on the route and have an evening meal in the cabin.
Day 2: Breakfast and then a short ski trip to the Guravagge valley, which is known for its excellent igloo building conditions. We stop for lunch and in the afternoon igloo buildning, evening meal in the big tent.
Day 3: Breakfast and then we set off on a ski tour to the Vaimok cabin for tonight’s stay.
Day 4: Breakfast and then a few kilometres on skis followed by some igloo building, or if we find a good sized snow drift, some bivouacs.
Day 5: Breakfast in the big tent followed by a ski trip to our cabin in Såmmarlappa.
Day 6: After breakfast, we travel back to Tarrakaise where we choose between building a bivouac in a snow drift or spending the night in the cabin there.
Day 7: We travel back to Kvikkjokk and spend the night in the mountain lodge. In the evening we enjoy the last meal of the week and discuss the weeks’ events.
Day 8: Departure day (back to Jokkmokk and then Murjek train station for the journey back to Stockholm, or continuation of your holiday in Sweden).
Dates: On request.
Price: 14 750 SEK/person (seven days on tour + transfer days)
Difficulty level of the tour: Hard – but not extreme.
You need more than a good general level of physical fitness. The ski tour is not difficult and most people can undertake it. However, as the days and nights are generally cold and we have physical activities all day long, it is more enjoyable if you have a good level of physical fitness by training several times a week before arrival.