Sweden
A beginner-friendly week of winter fun in Northern Dalarna's silent, snow-clad landscape of forests, mires, crisp air and icy blue light. Cross country skiing over untouched snow is a magical winter experience! While based in a cosy, lake-side cabin with a sauna, we'll also have the opportunity for some adventurous wild camping!
After about an hour's drive from the train station, we arrive at a remote valley completely surrounded by tall wooded hills. Here we find the beautiful lake Navar. On the banks of the lake is the grand cabin and sauna that will be our base for the week.
The Navar valley is located northwest of Mora in the Dalarna region. We are in the land of boreal forests, mountains, lakes, mires and folklore. This is the part of Sweden we have in our mind's eye when thinking of a time long gone, where many of our traditions have their roots.
We spend the first evening enjoying dinner together and just getting to know each other.
Rännkölen is a stunning open landscape of snow-covered frozen mires and sparse trees, surrounded by deep boreal forests with tall ancient pines. It’s an ideal area for our first steps on touring skis, with small variations in altitude and actual tracks to follow.
We fil our thermoses with coffee and tea this morning, pack some firewood, and find somewhere along the tracks to grill sandwiches on the fire accompanied by a warming cup of soup.
Down in the valley after our skiing trip, we take a stroll around the Ribbåsen “Fäbodar”. They are small log houses, where farmers used to bring their cattle for grazing. Farmhands would stay in these little cottages all summer long, and most of them date back to the 1700s. A whole culture emerged from this way of life with cooking traditions, superstitions and folk music. This region is famous for these idyllic settings and their cultural heritage.
We drive further north to the Anjosvarden nature reserve, a true wilderness, that is sometimes called Sweden’s most southern alpine mountain peak. In truth, it’s not really classified as such, but rather a fell with a high enough altitude to lack trees. The highest point is 764 m.a.s.l. Our journey towards the peak offers some steeper inclines, but mostly quite flat terrain over frozen mires.
Mother nature offers up many types of snow. Maybe the crust is hard enough to tread on top, maybe the snow is powdery and deep. Perhaps the wind has created beautiful ripples across the snowy expanses. Either way, our touring skis are perfect for moving slowly through this amazing white landscape.
Along the way, we’ll pass low lonely trees completely covered in snow. They create fantasmic shapes and forms often depicted in photographs from this wild and unique nature reserve.
Once at the top, we enjoy soup pre-prepared by our wilderness chef at the log shelter. If the weather is clear, we get a beautiful view of the Transtrand and Fulufjället mountains to the west.
This is what we've been working our skills towards! A 2-night expedition up the Fulufjället mountain plateau, close to the Norwegian border.
The skis have built-in 'skins', which give them a good grip when going uphill. After the initial ascent, we'll spend a couple of hours skiing across the vast alpine plateau. These are true alpine conditions: white as far as the eye can see, with no trees, and an amazing vista of the lowlands spreading out below.
By late afternoon it’s time to set up camp, cook dinner and simply enjoy this amazing place. The solitude up here and the sounds of the wind sweeping across the plains are hard to describe in words.
You’ll spend the night either in a tent or, if you’re keen, a bivouac of your own making. Each group member will pull a small sled with all the gear needed to comfortably stay for two nights outdoors in subzero temperatures.
The next morning we'll leave our camp behind and head off on a day trip. We may ski to the “altar ring”, an ancient monument that’s considered Sweden’s highest altar of worship. It was likely built by the Sámi, who have inhabited this area for thousands of years.
Darkness falls early this time of year, and we’ll be back at camp by the afternoon. We’ll spend the evening together in a yurt, where we can all hang out, cook dinner, and do some wood carving, protected from the elements.
One of the many amazing properties of snow is that you can dig and form your own structures. By digging a canal for your legs, voilà, we got ourselves a couch and a table! Light up some lanterns and candles, put down some sheep skins and we have a cosy living room on the snowy wind-swept plateau.
We’ll take our time descending to the valley; downhill is indeed the trickier part of tour skiing. It's then a 2-hour drive back to the base cabin at Lake Navar. Exhausted but full of a feeling of accomplishment, we enjoy a final dinner and sauna together.
The last morning in this Swedish winter paradise. We head back to Mora train station by noon, so that you have time to catch a flight home in the evening.
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This trip is perfect for beginners. It's a great winter activity for beginners, like hiking but on skis! We start off at lower altitudes in the remote forested valley where we stay and cross frozen mires close by. We've specifically chosen these ideal locations for your first steps on cross-country skis. During the week, we practice our skiing skills and familiarity with subzero temps towards one or two nights of winter camping on a mountain plateau. We strap on sledges with everything we need to stay happy, warm, and fed, then head out for a true winter expedition!
We provide: - Åsnes Combat NATO Touring skis - Alpina Alaska BC Ski boots - Segebaden sled - Snowshoes - Day pack (Klättermusen) - Hestra mittens (Army Leather Patrol Gauntlet Mitt) - Hestra shell mittens and wool liners gloves - Hilleberg Staika tent, two persons share a tent - Exped Dura 8R LW insulated inflatable mattress, -40 degrees - Fjällräven Polar down sleeping bag, -30 degrees - Shared Hilleberg yurt for gathering, sheep skins, candles, lanterns - Food thermoses - Thermoses for water - Drinking bottle - Headlamp (Silva) - Goggles - Cooking gear - Shovels
It can be quite strenuous to go uphill, but we take our time and always make sure everyone feels confident. If you can go hiking for a few hours with some uphill, you are fit enough to do this trip. During the day trips, we ski for appr. 2-4 hours with breaks. During the expedition, we pull sleds that weigh appr. 20-30 kilos and ski for 4-5 hours with breaks. Setting up camp includes some digging of paths in the snow and if it's windy, making small barriers of snow.
Shell jacket and trousers for wintertime if you have it (available to rent) Mid-layer top #1, warm sweater, wool or fleece (available for rent) Mid-layer top #2, reinforcement garment, synthetic down or down jacket (available for rent) Mid-layer bottom, fleece-lined sweatpants Base layers for skiing, 2 sets of thermals is recommended Thinner wool socks x 3 or more Thicker wool socks x 2 Beanie Gloves for normal winter use, nothing fancy needed (liners and thicker mittens for winter activities provided) Buff or scarf Cozy clothing for cabin chill time Sandals/crocs made of plastic, for sauna etc Swimwear for sauna Sunglasses with UV protection & toiletries Goggles (if you have) Camera/phone, battery packs (the cabin is off-grid, so no electricity, but it is possible to recharge in minivans)
It’s all about equipment and knowledge. You’ll use Hilleberg Staika free-standing tents, Exped’s inflatable Downmats and Fjällräven Polar down sleeping bags. All made for way colder temperatures than you will experience on this trip. One trick you’ll use for warming up right as you go to sleep is a water bottle with hot water wrapped a sock in your sleeping bag. When it’s cold out, you want to minimise time spent without warm gloves on. We’ll keep cooking to a minimum for this reason. But that certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t eat delicious food! Our wilderness chef has prepared an array of hearty soups and stews for us to reheat. You may have heard of a yurt, a circular tent traditionally used by nomadic people on the steppes in Central Asia. We’ll use a modern style Hilleberg yurt you can all hang out and cook dinner in the evenings, protected from the elements.
Easiest is to fly into Stockholm Arlanda and then take a 3.5 hour train straight from the airport. The pickup and dropoff times are adapted so that you can fly in on the first day and fly out on the last.
We'll stay in an off-grid rustic wilderness lodge an hour northwest of Mora. In a remote valley completely surrounded by tall wooded hills, you find lake Navar. On the banks of the lake is a charming grand cabin, a small cottage and a sauna. We have the area all to ourselves, 2 guests sharing each room or the little cottage. It's a lovely rustic and cosy atmosphere. Wood-fired heaters will keep us warm. Lanterns and candles give us light. A sauna and melted snow is our “bath”. And a wild magical winter landscape right on your doorstep.
Shared 2-person Hilleberg Staika tents with insulated Expeds and Fjällräven Polar Down Sleeping bags.
At the cabin we cook meals together. There is a fully equipped kitchen that runs on gas. During the expedition and day trips, we mostly reheat meals made by our wilderness chef, often hearty stews or soups served with bread or similar. We can cater to most dietary requirements, please let us know in advance.
On this trip we team up as duos, sharing twin rooms at the cabin and 2-person tents during the expedition. We pair up women with women and men with men. Unfortunately, single rooms are not possible.
Houdini winter kit available for rent, 1,800 SEK (paid by credit card upon arrival): PowerHoudi Polartec® fleece hoodie. RollerCoaster Trousers Waterproof and breathable 3-layer shell pants. Mr./Mrs. Dunfri Primaloft® lightweight synthetic down (mid-layer or lighter reinforcement layer). RollerCoaster Jacket Mountaineering shell jacket. Extra reinforcement layer, 800 SEK Bouncer Jacket Primaloft® synthetic down. Provides incredible warmth.
All trips on Skyhook are run by small, hand-picked local guiding companies. For this trip your guides run Do The North, based in Vasteras.
By booking through Skyhook you'll be joining a small-group trip. This can make it nice and sociable (you'll be added to a group chat after booking), and guarantees great value for money!