Lyngen Alps
Ski
7 April 2023
The Lyngen Alps is a mountainous area of northern Norway, situated on a 1500 square kilometer peninsula. Located at 69 degrees north, inside the Arctic Circle and in amongst the fjords, it’s Northern Europe’s most pronounced big mountain area. The peninsula is narrow at around 30km wide and stretches almost 90km north into the Arctic Sea, but it has 124 sharp peaks that rise about 1000 meters straight out of the sea, the highest summit being Jiekkevarre at 1,833 meters.
There are a few roads that skirt either side of the peninsula, circulating the alps, providing skiers and climbers access. The mountainous inner is untouched wilderness, with no track systems, signs or painted rocks to show the way, just Arctic fauna, alpine meadows and wildlife. Houses are dotted around the peninsula and Lyngen has around 3000 permanent inhabitants.
Spring ski touring on the peninsula is characterised by a well-settled snowpack, long days with 18 hours of daylight and reliable ski conditions well into May, whilst offering a ski environment with stark contrast between snow and sea. The jagged mountains also make the area famed for endless rows of couloirs, alpine ridges and steep faces, although gentler terrain for bad weather days in gentle bowls and low elevation tree skiing can also be found. The terrain is often compared to a blend of the Scottish Highlands but with more snow, combined with the bigger scale and steeper mountains of the French Alps. The harsh Norwegian winter creates drier, lighter and cleaner snow, but the colder Arctic climate can bring unpredictable conditions, with high winds and rapid weather changes, halting play and making forecasting tricky.
I have become familiar with the mountains up here through Nikolai Schirmer’s documentary-style ski films. He’s a professional skier from Tromsø, and I’ve gained a glimpse into the city and local skiing from his extensive footage. I’m excited to be venturing to the far north, flying to Oslo and onto Tromsø from London. I’ve been keen to spend more time in Scandinavia since a trip to Copenhagen back in 2016, my only Scandinavian experience to date.
I spent an extra two days in Tromsø so I could check out the town and have allowances for any lost luggage or last minute delays. Due to the remoteness of the peninsula, there’s no access to a ski shop once we’re out of the city, so we stocked up with food and got a few last-minute bits of kit, and headed out of town.
Tromsø, a city of around 75,000, sits 300km inside the arctic circle but the climate is moderated by the Gulf Stream, which sweeps up the Norwegian coast and keeps the waterways ice free. So sailing is big here! Tromsø bridge is one kilometre long and links the city centre island of Tromsøya to the mainland. I walked over the bridge and up to a viewing platform, the photo below shows the main city on the island over the bridge from the lookout where I’m standing.
We drove 40 kilometers west from the city and jumped on a small ferry crossing over to the peninsula. A short drive north up the coast took us to our base for the week. We’d head off in the van each morning to the starting point of each day’s tour, returning each evening.
Our home was a Norwegian style lodge, one of the various wooden houses dotted around the peninsula, with multiple outhouses for boats, fire wood and fishing kit. Living out here stripped back and basic, we’re cooking for each other each night. The unique wood-fired hot tub was a highlight and after filling with fresh sea water it would help to soothe our aching muscles and blisters each evening.
Whilst I’ve spent a lot of time on snow, I’ve only ever skied in France and Switzerland, and whilst I enjoy the European Alps, the traditional chalets, lively après ski and connected lift systems, I am excited to discover a new type of alpine culture and mountain landscape. Growing up skiing in Verbier and across the Alps has always been a lot of fun, but its always been in big, busy resorts. This trip couldn’t be further from that, as there won’t be a single ski lift, bar or mountain restaurant, and barely another group of people in sight.
My skiing will be 100% human powered, we’ll head out from the lodge and tackle a different peak or range each day, depending on the conditions and our preferences. We’ll spend three or four hours ascending, then enjoy the ski back down. This requires a slightly different approach and mentality when skiing, as we’re out here on our own, with very few people around and no specific mountain rescue available to call and fly in on a helicopter to pull us out of a bad situation.
What’s also unique about this ski trip and touring here is that you start from sea level each day. So you ski from sea to summit, meaning good fitness is required, but you’re not at such high altitude like when in the Alps, so there’s more oxygen in the air. Most peaks in Lyngen summit around 1100-1400 metres above sea level, so several thousand lower than most in the Alps, meaning physically the workload is less demanding and you have more energy for the ski down!
Our guide for the week is a Swede, Morgan Salén. For anyone familiar with Cody Townsend and The 50 Project, that is filmed by Bjarné Salén, Morgan’s brother. Morgan, who predominantly lives in Chamonix, has been spending his spring’s in Lyngen for 10+ years, and will also be staying in the lodge and guiding us around his adopted backyard. This opportunity to ski with him here was too good an opportunity to pass up.
I was last on skis back in January in Verbier, so I’m looking forward to getting my ski legs back after a solid month of fitness through March. There was very little snow in early January in Verbier, although other, lower altitude, less snow sure resorts had it worse, so people were being bussed into Verbier each morning. This meant the town, slopes and lifts were busy, that made for the least skiing I’ve ever done in a week. Time to make up for that.
Day 1: Steinfjellet. 11 km | 1250 m+ | 3/5.5 hours
Assessing the weather and snow conditions on the first evening, it was immediately apparent we were in for quite a week. Arriving in Norway there had been a day or two of light snow, so it was cloudy in the mountains, but after our first day skiing this was set to clear up to make way for sunshine and blue skies all week. In an area known for changeable weather, for Morgan in particular, this was quite hard to believe.
To kick our week off, we kept the first day easy and local. A casual morning saw us leave the lodge at 09.00 for a short 15 minute drive to the base of Steinfjellet. This is a popular mountain due to its short approach and moderate inclines, plus a descent with open sea views. Thankfully not too many others planned to start their week here too, and we started skinning from the van across the lower field and woodland area to access the mountain, with just one group we could see ahead and one behind of us.
The pace was steady and we chatted amongst ourselves to get to know each other. The three other guys in the group were friends from the UK and had skied together on various trips and had good experience. We hit the south shoulder of the mountain at 447m at around 12.30 and then followed the arête to the summit which was engulfed in cloud. We hoped to punch through the cloud and have blue skies above on the summit, but no such luck. We hung around on the summit plateau for a few minutes to see if there would be any change but decided to move on and head down to get our first few turns in Norway under our belts.
Visibility was pretty poor at first and we all felt a little sketchy on our skis, but losing altitude helped and vis cleared up. We put a second small skin in to gain a better run down to the road, and enjoyed some turns in softer snow once back in downhill mode. On my way down it started to sink in what we were in for this week, and the whole group had big grins on our faces. That was a nice warm up for the week.
We skied down to the van, drove home and retired to the sun on the decking, with the hot tub warming. Two reindeer trotted along the coast, not too interested in us. We ran into the freezing Arctic sea and then into the 36 degree hot tub, just as the sun was low enough to turn on an evening alpenglow across the mountains and turn them pink. We discussed and agreed on tomorrow’s plan, and behind the lodge could see the mountain in question lit up in the distance. Tomorrow would be the start of the incredible weather, so we’d be up and out early for a big day.
Day 2: Store Jaegervasstinden. 18 km | 1800 m+ | 4/8.5 hours
For day two we headed for Store Jaegervasstinden, which rises to 1543 metres. After yesterday’s warm up we were going big today. The ascent to the summit is a long trip through a variety of terrain, some pretty steep, and once summiting, we’d retrace our steps back down to complete an out-and-back route for the day.
We woke early at 05.45, but I didn’t find that difficult here, the skies were bright blue and brought an instant energy to the day. Whilst eating breakfast I looked out the window to see porpoise swimming in the sea and were all very excited and ready for a big day.
We packed our bags with all the kit needed, we’d be in a range of conditions today so would likely use it all, including ice axes, boot crampons and extra food and water.
After a short fifteen minute drive, we parked and kitted up. For most of the day we wouldn’t be able to see the summit we were heading for, as from most of our perspectives on approach it was hidden behind more prominent peaks. We skinned the access road and through the birch trees in the direction of the mountains, ascending to reach the lower banks as the sun came over and onto our faces, and we started working up a sweat.
Entering the amphitheatre between Lille Jaegervasstinden mountain and Trolltinden glacier the incline increased, conversation dropped and we were all concentrating on our skinning. We put in around 10 kick turns on steeper pitches before stopping for food at 11.30, I was starving and had left it a little late for substance.
We were almost as far up as our skis could take us, then we’d need to strap them to our packs, put on boot crampons and, ice axe in hand, punch steps in the snow to climb up the couloir. Sections here reached 45 degrees and staring back down the face was quite impressive how far we’d come, you could see the road clearly from here in the far distance.
The thirty minute bootpack up was tough work in the soft snow, as debris rolled down and into me from my team mates climbing above. I was sweating a lot and welcomed the break when out of the couloir, where we sat below the summit for a break before the final push.
Although hard work and steep, I felt the risk was fairly low, kicking my toes deep into the snow and plunging the ice axe shaft deep for security.
We’d only seen a handful of people so far today, but this trickier section created a natural break spot so we chatted to others who were doing the same and took turns to ascend/descend the lip into/down the couloir.
This final ascent was less technical, but far more exposed and offered steep, long drop either side. A final 20 minute push took us to the summit at exactly 1 o'clock and we enjoyed panoramic views and still, sunny conditions. It had taken us five hours to get up here, and now it was finally time for the ski down!
We mostly side-slipped the top exposed section and then dropped into the couloir. On this section, the snow in the shade made for better turns as it was less sun-affected and cut up by others. After a long approach and climb it felt very rewarding to let the skis run and put some nice turns in. The lower slopes that were slightly more mellow made some ideal spring snow conditions and were on more open faces so I could open up and carve some wider turns. I wooped my way down, picking up speed and before we knew it we were back amongst the trees, weaving through to quickly hit the road and reach the car park.
We loaded back into the van at 16.15, so it had been a long day, although we’d seen a maximum of ten people all day, which was staggering.
We got home and were back out on the decking, exhausted after a hard day but also continually energised from the seemingly never-ending bright blue daylight and still baffled by how unique our surroundings were.
I went to bed early, more than satisfied with today’s outing and happy I would be waking up to another bluebird day and we’d go again. It was only day two and I felt I’d got what I came for already.
Morgan Salen’s Day 2 photos
Day 3: Russelvfjellet. 11 km | 1100 m+ | 3/6 hours
The last two days we’d skied some popular/prominent peaks local to the house, so today we drove a little further and headed for a mountain that would give us a different perspective on the peninsula. The skiing would be more straight forward, though, so a lighter pack without extra kit was welcomed. I had a slight blister issue from yesterday’s excursion, but that’s to be expected really. I taped up and we got going in the van, today we’d be driving for around 40 minutes to the northern tip of the peninsula. The objective would be Russelvfjellet, which has a north (818 metres) and a south (770 metres) summit, and is an isolated mountain rising straight from the shore, so offers a unique viewpoint out to sea.
This route would be more of a loop, first skiing out to the tip of the peninsula to the north summit, then back inland to the south, and finally skiing the west face of the mountain down and back to the van, in the afternoon sun. This mountain is also often skied as an out-and-back on the southwest side to the south summit, so Morgan’s plan for us to head further north meant we were pretty much guaranteed not to see very few people.
After parking and kitting up on the shore alongside waves lapping the rocks, we walked a section of road before joining a skin track to the side, then began ascending. The mountain side quickly got steep so ski crampons were soon on, the morning snow was cold, crunchy and icy here, sat behind the mountain, rarely touched by sun. A few short, sharp pitches through shrubbery took us to a plateau where the gradient levelled off and we had a mellow, consistent skin to the summit. Ski crampons came off and we moved into the sun so layers also soon came off.
The warmer snow did require me to concentrate on my skinning, looking ahead to avoid slipping. I found it easy to drift off, distracted by the scenery, and quickly lose traction, so I had to repeatedly keep telling myself out loud, “head up, look ahead, soft ankles!”. We reached the north summit at 12.45, and had seen a group ahead of us summit and descend from the south side before us, so we had the cairn to ourselves. It was warm but windy, so we took photos and looked down on the unique viewpoint we’d gained, pointing out our lodge and looking out at ships and islands. We weren’t in a rush to ski down as it was still early and we hoped the sun would soften the snow whilst we transitioned.
The south facing couloir we then skied went surprisingly well and gave me 7 or 8 grippy, fast turns, down to the frozen lake where we ate lunch.
From here, in the hot sun we headed up to the south summit, which offered similar skinning conditions, with consistent, gentle gradients and wide open faces. The same situation arose on this summit approach too, just as we crested the peak to the summit, at 14.45, a previous group departed, so we sat in the sun on the summit alone again.
From here we traversed around to the west face to descend back to the road, crossing a firm sastrugi field, so we hoped as we lost altitude the snow would soften drastically.
Morgan scouted ahead looking for the best snow and line for us to take and after the first few turns he stopped, turned to us and called back “the snow is exceptional”. Hearing this word in Morgan’s Swedish accent made me laugh, and we continued on, skiing through sections of trees, in perfect spring corn, the whole descent to ourselves. These felt like some of the best flowing turns I’d ever made and I moved from one to the next effortlessly.
We skied the rest of the mountain, through some local’s back gardens and down to the road, then walked a few metres back to the van. The day had flown by, we’d had another day in stunning scenery and more relaxed uphill terrain but excellent descents.
Morgan Salen’s Day 3 photos
Day 4: Bjørndalstinden. 11 km | 1150 m+ | 3/5.5 hours
The only potential hiccup in the forecasted wall-to-wall sunshine for six days had crept into today’s forecast, in the form of some high winds in the morning.
A plan was made accordingly and we headed to a local mountain so we could have a slightly later start. Bjørndalstinden, at 913m, sits in the shadow of Stetinden, so Morgan hoped this would offer us some shelter. The trade off was that it’s one of the busier mountains in the range.
The morning was warm though, and we were down to base layers from the van through the flat approach. Moving up into the shade the temperature dropped and a breeze picked up. Still, no sign of the strong winds and the skies were a brilliant blue again.
We moved up and over the first col which we’d traversed slightly to gain an easier gradient on the looming steeper face. Our first sight of other skiers came here, at around 11.00, a group of four in the distance behind us.
We paused to refuel, put on ski crampons and looked ahead to pick our spot to drop into the east face of Bjørndalstinden. We wouldn’t summit today and instead chose a preferable line to ski down in a couloir just below the top. The route up was quite steep though, with some exposure. Morgan put in a wide, shallow skin track for us to follow, before we could ski no further and needed to shoulder our skis again. Sat in the shade, this final 30 metres was hard, icy snow, so we could kick in solid steps. I was last in the group at this stage of the ascent, so the team compressed the snow nicely for me, creating solid steps that I could walk up fairly effortlessly, so that worked out well!
We packed out a ledge at the top of the couloir and transitioned, ready to drop into the couloir, taking our time, providing as much time as possible for the snow to soften to perfection. It was 12.30 now and the snow not as soft as we’d like. Thankfully there was still no signs of the high winds, though, or any more people.
Dropping into the couloir gave me some fun, tight and steep turns, before opening it up in the bowl where I could pick up some speed and cruise over some gentler terrain.
We pulled over at the bottom to look back up, and at the same time were surprised to also notice a few other groups. This was seemingly rush hour in Lyngen - three groups of ski tourers all in the bowl at once!
From here we put in a second skin for another hour, to reach 760 metres, which would provide us one long ski all the way down to the van. We clicked our heels in to ski down at 14.30, and could see the road, so could enjoy an open ski all the way down and pick up some speed and ski independently.
Reaching the road, Morgan dumped his kit and thumbed a lift back to the van, then drove back for us. I sat roadside, waiting in the sun, more than contempt with another days efforts whilst enjoying blue skies, warm temperatures and more prime time turns. Back home for another terrace chill, hot tub and dinner. The competition was also hotting up with our evening games of quarto, Graeme being the undefeated champion so far.
Morgan Salen’s Day 4 photos
Day 5: Sofiatinden round trip. 14 km | 1400 m+ | 3.5/7 hours
Another fairly early start, pulling away from the lodge in the van at 07.00. Today we planned to ski a route circling round a mountain, rather than ascending it.
We were skiing by 07.45 and the early morning brisk windchill kept conversation low until we all warmed up. The first 50 minutes were on a flat access road and forest trail, before we hit the base of the first col or the north west slopes of Sofiatinden.
Now on day five we were well drilled and our skinning was quicker and we faffed less, although the steep mountains and couloirs either side distracted me, listening to Morgan recounting experiences of skiing most of them. A short shouldering of our skis and climb took up to a plateau where we’d skirt the first of two frozen lakes.
The sun was warm now and another day of sunny weather had each day semi blurring into one - long ski adventures filled with white snow and blue skies and clear water. Whilst by the lake next to the steep mountain walls I felt more enclosed for the first time all trip. Still no other people seen today, though, and the change was good.
Sliding up to a ridgeline, Morgan pointed the way and we skied down another wide open south facing bowl slope, taking us to Lake Brevatnet. The face was mellow and soft for the first half, then steepened for the second, so the snow became slightly wet and heavy.
We were at the lake for 12.00 so stopped for lunch before heading up the next climb, which would take us around the back side of Sofiatinden.
The subsequent climb was similar to the first of the day, long and steady, with a short hike over the last steep section. Morgan kicked deep into the snow and his hard work gave us all a nice set of steps to climb.
From here, at around 925 metres, we were facing south and could almost see the road where we started, with the fjord behind it glistening. In a series of around 10 pitches we skied all the way down to ski level, and I enjoyed my best turns of the week. This descent was so much fun, through trees, around rocks and finally along a track to the road. We saw our first other skiers of the day on the way down, so another day in glorious isolation.
We hit the road at 14.30, and waited for a car to pass that would let Morgan jump in, which didn’t take long. We were home pretty early for a relaxing evening packing our kit up, the final games on the quarto board meant the intensity was hotting up. We had one last attempt to topple Graeme from his throne. Thankfully Morgan managed it.
Morgan Salen’s Day 5 photos
Day 6: Langdaltinden. 8 km | 900 m+ | 2/4 hours
Today we’d drive back to the city, but not before stopping off en route for a final ski. We cleaned up the lodge and set off at 09.00, heading for the 09.20 ferry off the peninsula to the mainland, and back towards Tomsø.
By the time we’d parked up, got our kit on and got moving, it was 10.30, and the sun was high in the sky and it was super warm. By far the hottest day of the trip, and being day six of skiing, our pace wasn’t too quick. Once up onto steeper slopes the snow was hard, though, and adding our ski crampons gave further unwanted drag on tired legs.
This side of the water was quite a different mountain setting, and some peaks were wide and flat, reminiscent of those in the Cairngorms. A couple of final steeper pitches took us to the summit where we had a pretty relaxing final lunch in the sun.
The ski down proved to be probably the best snow of the week! As we hit the lower slopes the snow warmed, though, and got wet and sticky. With tired legs we didn’t want to risk catching an edge and easily popping out a knee, so took an easy traverse out and headed back to the van.
Back in Tromsø we dried kit and then headed out for some beers, all still in bewilderment and amazed at how special the last week had been. This is not a trip I’ll ever forget.
Rest of group photos
Additional thoughts
This felt like the trip of a lifetime for me. As the photos show, the unbelievable weather - wall-to-wall sunshine every day, together with so many hours of daylight - meant time on the trip was somewhat warped and days felt long and began blending into each other. Arriving home I felt like I’d been away for about a month rather than 10 days.
This was an out-of-the-ordinary ski trip and the first of its kind for me. Having skied resorts all my life, I enjoyed the slower pace and the simplicity of each day - there’s no first lift to queue for, very few people around, no big groups, and those who you do see you are enthusiastic to talk so you can discuss plans and conditions.
Compared to last spring’s ski tour, which was hut to hut, I enjoyed returning to the same base each night. I don’t mind carrying the extra sleeping kit for hut trips, but having a base allowed for a more flexible and relaxed trip, making daily logistics so much easier.
Last winter’s tour was also a traverse, so we moved through the mountains to cover ground and complete an objective, rather than looking for particularly good descents and going in search of the best snow each day. It’s still an intense week-long experience for the group though, you spend almost a full 24 hours each day with the team together. Skiing in the day, eating, drinking and hot-tubbing in the evening!
I enjoyed that we didn’t spent any length of time on glaciers - so no harness, ice screws or crevasse rescue gear needed, and also no need to rope up to each other. Fewer concerns about where you can stand and ski in relation to crevasses and bridges, and being able to generally relax more was welcome.
This trip has given me a solid confidence boost in my ability to ski couloirs, skin, descend, ascend and ski well in a remote environment. Morgan complimenting my skiing was a particular highlight of the week! I also enjoyed the Scandi culture change of this week. The beer, food and drink, coffee, cinnamon buns, fresh fish, and the Scandi vibe in general. There was a cool cafe culture in Tromsø, considering it’s such a small city, there were lots of speciality coffee shops. Risø was a highlight!
All in all, we had an exceptional guide, exceptional weather and exceptional snow conditions. I’m not sure coming back here in the future will ever be able to live up to this… If I win the lottery, I’ll be back for a Sail+Ski trip.
Further info
See more at: visit-lyngenfjord.com, ski-scandinavia.co.uk, visitnorway.com.
Useful links: friflyt.no, The Northern Playground, kugo.no, FATMAP guide to the Lyngen Alps, snowgenius.com, arcticlines.com.
Short films: Welcome to Lyngen, Moon Valley, NOUVELLES VUES, The Godmother Couloir, SKADI, Apogée, Store Jægervasstind, Coastal Temptations, Lyngen Descents: Episode 1, Episode 2 & Episode 3, Hedvig’s Way series, Eulogy Of A Steep Skier, NÁLLANGÁISI, A Part Of Us, Divine Playground, Wavy: The voyage to the scariest ski run of my life, Wavy 2: The Journey to the End of the World, The White Giant, Beyond The Arctic Circle.
Related reading:
- The Lyngen Alps, Sjur Nesheim & Eivind Smeland
- Ski Touring in Troms, Espen Nordahl
- Ski Touring: A Practical Manual, Bruce Goodlad
- Ski Rando Europe: Best of Ski Touring, Ski Rando Magazine
- Powder, The Greatest Ski Runs on the Planet, Patrick Thorne
- Free Skiing - How to Adapt to the Mountain, Jimmy Odén
- The Art of Shralpinism: Lessons from the Mountains, Jeremy Jones
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