Location Report - Kebnekaise, Swedish Lapland
One week, from March 19, 2022 - Kebnekaise & Tarfala huts
A backcountry Splitboard week run by Stranda Snowboards and Upguides.
Snow Conditions & Weather
Pretty extreme. We arrived during a big storm, lots of snow was forecast but very high temps, rain up to about 1000m and winds of hurricane strength had blown away, evaporated, crustified or just plain melted most of it - and so far the wind and high temps are continuing.
Low down, lakes of melt made it difficult to get to the huts via the snowmobiles in the first place - felt like jet skiing rather than skidoo'ing.
On the other hand, avalanche wise it's pretty safe - we have seen evidence of just a couple of big natural wind slabs on the lee, west, face of Kebnekaise north peak (the 2nd tallest in Sweden at 2096m), but they were on big 45 degree slopes below cliffs, the likes of which we won't go anywhere near in these conditions. Given the high temps (1 degree today) it feels like the biggest risk might be a slush avi at lower altitudes…. Locals say this is the sort of weather that's normally seen in late April or May.
However, we have found some stashes of wind-blown snow that have been nice to ride. Our search continues!
What’s going down
Riding with a really fun and friendly bunch, having a wide range of splitting experience, from Sweden, the UK, the US and Italy. We have two really good French guides, Fred and Pierre from Upguides, as well as Mats, the founder of Stranda.
Experiencing the Swedish hut system, which is really set up to encourage public access - they range from ones so big that feel like simple and homely hotels (Kebnekaise Mountain Station) to much smaller and basic ones like Tarfala - where you still have to fetch your own water from a hole dug down to a lake, and no hot showers. Both of these have saunas though!
So far, 4 days in, we haven't actually been able to do much in the way of quality riding, but trying to tour in hurricane strength winds and even just being in the huts and trying to do basic stuff like getting to the outdoors loos, has been an amazing experience I wouldn't swap for anything. We've also been lucky enough to see the aurora in one break of the weather.
Still 2 days to go, with temps dropping, and maybe even the wind. Fingers crossed!
