Sweden – Arctic Circle aka the Northern Skull-Cap.
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Welcome to a bone-numbing -10 degrees with the sun shining bright, in Polcirkeln, Sweden. Welcome to the Arctic Circle aka the Northern Skull-Cap. Polcirkeln is also the name of a new organisation formed by the northern Swedish towns of Arjeplog, Arvisjaur and Jokkmokk, to aggressively promote this part of Lapland.
It used to take two days to get to this area by coach from Stockholm, along never-ending roads. Today, thanks to low-cost carriers like flynordic, it only takes slightly more than an hour to immerse yourself in the Deep Freeze experience.
This was the area a group of nine journalists landed themselves in mid-March, in one of Europe’s worst winters. We first flew to the Baltic town of Lulea (pronounced Luleo), and took a two-hour coach ride west to Arvidsjaur, where the high point was spotting wild reindeer frolicking in the snow and listening to the driver’s road stories.
After the first 15 minutes, you’ve more or less seen the whole landscape for the journey — an unchanging panorama of snow and coniferous forest. And once in a while, a house painted in fun colours like yellow or maroon. Very Ikea.
In the northern region, roads are extremely long. Some lead all the way to the Russian border if you drive non-stop for 24 hours.
It’s also monotonously white. More like bluish white, really, because it is juxtaposed against the cloudless ultramarine sky.
If it’s nature you want, you’ve got it here. There are 15,000 lakes of varying sizes in this region alone! But in winter, they are, of course, all frozen and what you get is one huge white desert. Otherwise, in summer, the landscape comes alive with shimmering lakes and watercourses, populated with fish like char, trout, grayling and salmon.
The primeval forests here are the home of the reindeer, elk, hares, grouse, bears, wolverines, and wolves. You see them, with some luck, darting across the snow.
Much of northern and central Sweden is, in fact, blanketed by deep coniferous forests, interspersed with blue lake systems and rushing rivers that flow from the snow-clad peaks of the west down toward the Baltic Sea coast on the east.
Because the country is so large, about 450,000sq km, and the population so small, at nine million, there is more than enough wild nature for everyone to enjoy, free of charge. In fact, there are more reindeer in the north than human beings.
Winter adventure
We arrived at Hotel Laponia in Arvidsjaur, just after 2pm, for our first taste of winter adventure — a four-hour snowmobile safari. Great … except it was -13C in the open!
Confidence was, however, boosted by the sight of heavily-padded overalls, rubber boots lined with fleece and a helmet with full-face visor. Wearing them kept you pretty warm, but we had to walk like ducks.
Ah, the snowmobiles — black metallic beasts with two skis for front legs and wheels-on-tracks for the rear. It kicked in with a guttural roar and we were off, riding in a line 10m apart to prevent accidents.
Snowmobiles are extremely popular in these parts. And although the maximum speed is 70kph, speed runs in the Swedish blood too. The seats are extremely comfortable and the handles heated, so your gloved hands do not freeze at high speeds when the temperature plunges.
I was told that your face can be hit by temperatures of -50 degrees when you are cutting through the snow. That’s true, because I could not feel my face at one stage.
After half an hour of driving around, we stopped by a tepee-like tent where a fire was blazing invitingly inside. Here we tried out a dog-sled with its lead dog which looked a lot like Devil in the movie Snow Dogs.
Going on a mush may not seem half as macho as riding on a snowmobile, but if you want to bond with nature, this is the way to go. The women folk will love this.
The sled glided smoothly over the white terrain and the only sounds you hear are 36 paws efficiently ploughing through the snow and the occasional barks of command from the huskies’ owner, the fair-haired Karulina.
On the way back to the hotel in our snowmobile, the temperature plunges dramatically as evening takes over. For those wearing spectacles, it can be quite dangerous with the full-face visor down. Your warm breath fogs your glasses, reducing visibility.
Once I veered off the track set by the riders in front of me, hit soft snow and almost toppled. And when I got off the snowmobile, I found myself in snow right up to my knee!
The other snowmobile safari we got roped in took place at the Brando Resort in Lulea, which faces the frozen Baltic Sea. The terrain was different — snow-covered ice — and wherever you looked, it was just an unending stark landscape.
We rode about 20km out into the sea, passing about 10 islands. What’s interesting is that there are official roads here, except that they only appear when the sea is frozen!
Along the way, we stopped for refreshments — salmon sandwiches and hot lingonberry juice — and drilled a few holes in the thick ice to try fishing with tiny rods that looked more like child’s toys.
Lulea’s coast and offshore archipelago is home to hundreds of islands, big and small; so one can literally spend days here exploring.
This is a land of changing landscapes. When summer comes, the frozen expanse springs to life with water bodies teem with wildlife. And the land blossoms with wonderful colours and lots of possibilities.
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