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Magical fjords in the Arctic Circle

Freeriding in the Lyngen Alps

by Marius Schwager • 04/01/2012
Skiing in a unique fjord landscape up to sea level in the Lyngen Alps.

Skiing in a unique fjord landscape up to sea level in the Lyngen Alps

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Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Pati, Gex, Fabi

Skiing in a unique fjord landscape up to sea level in the Lyngen Alps

.

Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Pati, Gex, Fabi
The morning coffee isn't even ready yet and the freeride mood is already in the cellar once again. "High pressure prevails over the Alps" - the morning view of the weather and fresh snow forecast in winter 2011 was more monotonous than ever before. But on this morning at the end of March 2011, a message from Fabi flashed up in Skype: "Fancy Norway? I've got a few pictures from the Lyngen Alps that you should take a look at. There's snow there!"

Sun, sun, - nothing but sun. With a bit of bad luck, some light cloud cover, which didn't bring the longed-for precipitation either. There hasn't been such a dry winter in the Northern Alps for over 30 years. The powder mood reached its low point at the beginning of April 2011. It hadn't snowed significantly for weeks. And even if it did, it was only just enough to sugar the slopes, which had previously been mostly barren.

The news from Fabi came at just the right time on this gloomy late winter morning:

Of course, as a weather-dependent powder addict, the snowy winter in Scandinavia had not gone unnoticed by me. We quickly booked the flights and rental car, found two other companions in Patrick Gstrein and Gex Rathfelder and were already sitting in the rental car to cover the 1200 km from Trondheim to the north of Norway. Our noses were glued to the car windows during the entire long drive so that we wouldn't miss a single glimpse of the fantastic ski mountains far north of the Arctic Circle. Destination: the Lyngen Alps.

Pillows and Waiting Game

Our first impression on site was mixed: the mountains here grow directly out of the sea. A tangled network of picturesque fjords stretches far inland. Although there is still a full metre of snow down to the sea, the weather is typically Scandinavian: cloudy, gruelling sleet and a soggy blanket of snow in the lower, contrasting shrub layers

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Marius Schwager
Marius Schwager

The first few days in the tent with direct access to the sea, we have to play the waiting game and hope for better weather. On the way to Lyngseidet, the main town on the Lyngen Peninsula, we suddenly see our playground for our first sporting activity in the snow. We spot a small slope just a few meters off the road. It's not 100 meters high, but it's steep and full of cliffs and ledges. I position myself on a cliff and let the young guns test the snow cover with a few jumps. Although the snow is soaked and sticks to the skis, it is still soft and easy to ride.

Pillow time! We hike the slope a few times and shoot down the pillows. Pati finishes the session with an impressive straight line. High fives and quickly back in the car and try to dry our wet clothes somehow. The sun is supposed to come out tomorrow and of course we want to make the most of the beautiful weather for a ski tour in fresh snow.

Ski tour to Tafeltinden

Our base camp is at the small harbor in the five-house village of Koppangen. Fabi and I camp right by the sea, Gex and Pati prefer the luxurious trunk of our rental car to camping. Anyone camping or bivouacking in Norway must, according to the principles of "Everyman's Right", simply ensure that they camp at least 150 m away from the nearest house and do not cause any damage to nature or take their waste back with them.

We set off early in the morning towards Tafeltinden with heavy feet. The first steep slope is done, but the wind is getting stronger. It's a good thing that we chose such a popular classic tour as Tafeltinden on the first day, so we can confer with the other groups. We discuss the first steep key section internally and then ask two guides who are leading a group. They decide to end their tour. The wind has blown away the fresh snow of the past few days, but there are no signs of danger on our route.

Skiing in a unique fjord landscape up to sea level in the Lyngen Alps.

Skiing in a unique fjord landscape up to sea level in the Lyngen Alps

.

Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Pati, Gex, Fabi

Skiing in a unique fjord landscape up to sea level in the Lyngen Alps

.

Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Pati, Gex, Fabi

A group of French people join us and show us the way ahead on their map. We decide to continue, but keep a very safe distance in the narrow valley ahead of us. Later, we realize that the fresh snow has bonded better with the old snow than we first feared.

After the valley, we quickly reach the extensive, flat Koppangsbreen ("breen" = Norwegian: glacier). A few hours later, with great views of the glacier, steep mountains and the sea, we reach the summit. At least that's what we assume. However, our French friends, armed with a map and GPS, have headed for the wrong pre-summit. Never mind, Tafeltinden is almost within throwing distance. Instead of walking flat for another hour, we unanimously leave it at that. Fabi, Pati and Gex, who have hardly done any touring so far this season, are already complaining enough about blisters on their feet and chafed shins with their downhill-oriented equipment. The descent follows the ascent track and is correspondingly flat. The fresh new snow and the view of the Strup glacier and the sea or fjords make up for the effort of the ascent.

Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Fabian Lentsch
Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Fabian Lentsch

Exhausted after this mile-long ski tour, we found permanent accommodation for a few days at the Magic Mountain Lodge in Lyngseidet. Patrik and Henrika, two young ex-skibums and world travelers, run a hostel-style lodge here. In a relaxed international atmosphere, we have a good time in the cozy dining room or living room, sit together and tell stories with the other ski touring friends. No doubt a beer or two has also been drunk. Patrick, who has spent several winters in the well-known Alpine spots in his motorhome, is also happy to share his touring experience with us and has plenty of tips for relaxed ski touring and challenging steep faces.

I listen carefully to his steeper suggestions. We go out onto the balcony and he shows me a mountain to our right. He asks if I would like Carvingtinden, Lyngseidet's local mountain. It could be a bit steeper, I reply, looking at the 35° pleasure slope. I should keep my eyes on the mountain range a little further behind. If the avalanche and snow conditions are unfavorable, there are also some flatter options here. The plan for the last two days in Lyngseidet is set!

Marius Schwager
Lyngen Alps
Fabien Lentsch
Marius Schwager
Lyngen Alps
Fabien Lentsch

Bivouac and sunrise ski tours

In the evening, climb to the bivouac, dig a snow cave, ski the north slope of Kvalvikfjellet the next day and, if conditions are good, ski again on the third day. That was our plan. The three-hour ascent from Lyngseidet goes without a hitch, and after another two hours of digging, our snow cave is ready. Gas stove and instant noodles out and off into the warm sleeping bags.

The weather the next day is a little cloudy at first, so we postpone the first tour until the afternoon. As we ascend and scramble our way through a tricky ridge climbing section, the sky clears and we have the best weather for the descent. With a good 45 degree gradient at an altitude of around 800 meters, it's not a low-risk affair without a real avalanche report in hand. We feel our way slowly. The snow cover makes a very stable impression. We even find some nice powder snow in the upper half. Unfortunately, the slope has been in the shade since midday. So tomorrow we definitely want to ski it in the morning sun.

However, due to the Easter holidays, we have a small food problem for the second night. We had to drive back down to the town to get some food and gas for the stove. Unfortunately, we didn't take the opening hours of the local supermarket into account and are faced with closed doors. So we have to scrape together the last bits of food and gas and tackle the three-hour climb again on an unsatisfied stomach. At least this little tour interlude allowed us to check the current weather forecast again: Still fine early in the morning and then cloudy. The briefing is done quickly. Get up at three o'clock, set off at half past three at sunrise, summit at seven o'clock, descent at eight o'clock, back at the bivouac at eight ten.

I've just fallen asleep when I wake up to a loud rustling noise: Fabi, still half wrapped up in his sleeping bag, is climbing over me towards the cave exit. He comes back, shakes me, unzips my sleeping bag and motivates me with his youthful vigor: "Get up, it's half past three. It's almost sunrise, we'll do the slope now."

But Fabi and I have made the plan without the two late risers. While we are struggling with our climbing skins over a hard-frozen layer of ice and only making slow progress, we see a single fighter far behind us. Pati has made it out of the snow cave after all and is shuffling lonely towards the summit in the early morning light. Only Gex is nowhere to be seen. Although he slept with Pati in a two-man bivouac sack, his urge for beauty sleep was probably stronger than the pull of summit happiness.

A little scrambling along the ridge and we reach our entry point after a good three hours. Fabi jumps around like a young deer and can hardly wait to get going. I'm struggling with the walking function of my freeride boots; five steps before the entry point into the slope, one of my walking mechanisms has broken. This certainly doesn't make the 50-degree slope any easier to ski on with a wobbly ski boot shaft. Before I sneak down the slope with safety short turns using the original Arlberg technique, Fabi makes a beautiful drop into the impressive steep slope.

Marius Schwager
Lyngen
Marius Schwager
Lyngen

The first turns still go smoothly, but it has already become noticeably warmer. The snow increasingly starts to stick to the skis and more and more wet snow sluff rushes down the slope next to us. Two or three more jumps over the deepening snow slides, a few more safety stops because of the sluff and we reach the bottom of the slope. Yeah, that was probably one of the best descents of the season. Exhausted, tired, but with a satisfied smile, we look back at the slope. Just under an hour later, Pati also skis down the slope. It took him a little longer as he had taken a nap in the sun at the summit.

We pack up our bivouac and set off on our journey home. 1200 kilometers by car and 800 kilometers by plane later, we arrive in Innsbruck. The thermometer shows over 20 degrees, sunshine galore. The good morning coffee is brewing and the pleasant aroma of coffee wafts from the kitchen to my nose. The weather forecast continues to speak of stable high-pressure weather with a summer feeling over the Alps.

Information

Literature

Toppturer i Troms, Espen Nordahl, Friflyt (ed.), 82 tours in Malangen, Kvalöya, Ringvassöya, Tromsö fastland, Balsfjord, Tamokdalen, Lyngsalpene, Käfjordalpene and Ulöya. ISBN: 978-8293090038, price: 399 NKR (approx. 50 euros)

Map

Lyngenhalvöya. Lyngen, Storjord,Tromsö & Balsfjord kommuner, Ugland IT (ed.), order no. 2625. 1:50,000 touring map with Lyngen peninsulas north and south without marked tours. Available at the sports store in Lyngseidet and at Magic Mountain Lodge. Price: 159 NKR (approx. 20 euros)

Accommodation

Magic Mountain Lodge in Lyngseidet

Group houses in Koppangen

Photo gallery

This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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