The ‘Vindelfjällen’ is a nature reserve in Västerbotten County, located in the north of Sweden. It’s the largest natural reserve in Sweden and welcomes more than 500 000 tourists every year with activities such as hiking, cross-country-skiing, dog-sledding and a lot more!
Day 1&2 Stockholm -> Umeå
It all started on a breezy Friday night ‘round 23 o’clock where we took a Vy-train up to Umeå. Happy about our seats, we were cozying up for sleep when we noticed the train slowing down and eventually completely stopping right before Sundsvall. That ‘little break’ later turned into six hours of delay and was unfortunately caused by a suicidal incident.
Around 15 o’clock on the next day we finally made it to Umeå, but due to the big delay, we missed all of our connection busses and also the chance to start skiing on the Saturday. We were a bit bumped, however didn’t mind too much when instead the Vy-train-company offered us a free night at a local hotel. Our moods lifted again, and we began looking forward to a good night of rest, some sauna and fresh food before a week full of action. It also allowed us to have some exploring time in Umeå, so we went out for a little walk along the ‘Strandpromenad’.
Day 3 Umeå -> Ammarnäs / Ammarnäs -> Serve, 13km, 6.5h
We had an early start today and finally made it to Ammarnäs after 7h of bus ride. There we got a lift to up to the lake Tjulträsk and started skiing around 16 o’clock. Anyone who skiis, knows, that this is waaaaay too late to start a full day of skiing. We had 14km to do, the sun was setting in 3 hours and we had a good incline part to do in the end. We were skiing against time! The crossing of Tjulträsk was quite harsh with the icy wind blowing directly in our faces but we just ignored it and kept on skiing with the warm STF cabin in our minds. We only took short breaks to snack on some Müsli-bars and have a cup of warm water. The (weather) situation escalated on the last 3km when the sun has already set and suddenly a snowstorm hit us right on the incline. I couldn’t see anything with my skiing googles and had to take them off, which resulted in a thick layer of ice/snow-mix on my glasses that I had to somehow wipe away while climbing up the hill and blinking twice every second to keep my eyelashes unstuck. I was sooo grateful that my partner skied in front of me and led the way with GPS-tracking. A lot of the signs for the path were buried underneath the snow and my headlamp wasn’t powerful enough for such conditions. It felt like an eternity, but we eventually made it to the STF cabin called ‘Servestuga’ at 22:30! We later discovered that the rescue team was about to search for us if we didn’t arrive in 30min!
Day 4 Serve -> Tärnasjö, 14km, 7h
After that stormy night, we needed good rest and slept in until 9 o’clock. We then had a gigantic breakfast and a lot of coffee to fuel us throughout the day. It was a beautiful sunny day with only mild wind, and we smoothly skied the app. 14km to the next STF cabin ‘Tärnasjöstuga’. On our way we met a very inspiring girl who was skiing the ‘Vita bandet’, a total of 1300km! It was her 50th day on tail!
The cabin is located right next to the lake Tärnasjö and offers a spectacular view (and a very cool grandpa with his two sled dogs as our host). We arrived around 19 o’clock and cooked a feast before we went for a cozy night of sleep.
Day 5 Tärnasjö -> Skidsbäcken 12km, 6.5h
Today was not a good day. I had a troublesome night with 5h of abdominal pain & cramps and woke up with a big headache. I needed another nap and more coffee before we finally left the cabin around 12. I felt dizzy and tired and each km of the total amount of 12km felt like an eternity. We moved slowly and had to take a lot of breaks for me to regain my strength. However, at the end of the day, I was rewarded with the most stunning cabin I’ve seen so far! It’s been recently renovated and offered a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains – my favourite is definitely ‘Mieskiede’ – it looked so cheeky!
Day 6 Skidsbäcken -> Dalavardo 16km, 5h
What a difference compared to yesterday! Today I regained all of my energy and we skied the fastest of all days! This first part was quite hilly, but we managed well and just enjoyed the sunshine and the chirping birds on the way. Dalavardo is an interesting spot on this trail since it’s the starting point for a lot of guided tours. It also offers possibilities to go further north to a (free) cabin called ‘Vindelkroken’, from which you can go on daily adventures to the Swedish-Norwegian-border.
Day 7 Dalavardo -> Vitnjul 20km, 4h + x
Today my motivation dipped a bit, so I started skiing while listening to some audiobooks. We opted for skiing on the frozen river (even safe for snowmobile on our distance!). I was however more than happy when a snowmobile from ‘Ammarnäs Livs’, the local supermarket AND rescue crew/cabin maintenance team, drove past us and offered a free ride to the next cabin. This way, we saved half of the distance and obviously a lot of time that we used for cooking a big meal and just sitting with hot beverages in the sun.
Day 8 Vitnjul -> Rävfall 8km, 3h
Today was a chill day with only 8km, that just flew by. We arrived before 15 and spend the rest of the day in the wooden sauna, right next to the river. It felt truly amazing to just relax in the hot sauna, run out in the snow, get warm again and so on. We spent a whopping 4.5h just doing that! On the way, we also met a German dude, who has been coming back to the Vindelfjällen every year since 10 years!
Day 9 Rävfall -> Ammarnäs 18km, 4h + x / Ammarnäs -> Uppsala
We decided to only ski half the distance and then get picked up by snowmobile, since we didn’t want to risk missing the bus. We enjoyed our final day of skiing, the blue sky and the incredible mountains around us.
The Swedish Fjällen are mesmerizing, and I was already dreaming of going back on the bus ride back.
The way back to Uppsala went without any problems and our trip was officially over on a cold Sunday morning.
Vindelfjällen, thanks for having me!
My thoughts/tips:
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It’s good two have two pairs of skins for the skis: one partial one for less steep inclines/flat areas, and a whole-length one for extra grip while walking up/down a mountain. This way you can still enjoy kicking, without having to worry about sliding down a hill.
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It was my first proper ski tour and only the third time for me on cross-country skis in general. And for that – the tour was a bit challenging. We encountered various snow conditions, all from icy to being completely stuck in snow, as well as icy wind gusts that blocked our vision. Our distances varied between 8km and 16km and as a general gist I’d say that around 10km every day is a good distance for beginners, but not necessarily more. Physically I would’ve definitely been able to do 20km on good weather conditions, but my mindset got a bit in the way and I sometimes lost motivation after around 12km. I still believe, it was a good choice for me, since I like a bit of challenge and contained just the right amount – ‘lagom’, as my Swedish friends would say.
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Have a decent sized breakfast before skiing. I felt such a difference and it only resulted in many snack breaks later on, that still didn’t give me the desired energy.
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I loooove to go hut by hut. It’s such a luxurious way of winter-touring and the idea of a warm and cozy hut during nighttime kept me going throughout the day. Tip: Bring some sort of slippers – could be Crocs, down-booties, whatever you already have. I personally just brought my warm-up booties for my dance practice and found them highly suitable.
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It’s kind of trivial, BUT: Renew your sunscreen every few hours! I don’t easily get sunburned, but I resembled a Rudolph on this trip (only applied sunscreen with SPF 50+ in the morning).
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I highly recommend the cabins from the ‘Länsstyrelse’, the municipality. The cabins are usually cheaper (100kr/p/night compared to 250kr/p/night), less crowded but nevertheless fully equipped. The only advantage to STF cabins is a local host.
Until next time!
Love, Karin
