the arctic lifestyle magazine – winter 2016 eng

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gastronomisk upptäcktsfärdGuide: prova de lokala smakerna

Hantverk ochrent vatten!

Passionerade mikrobryggerier:

Kalixlöjromf rån Bottenv iken

t i l l f in rummen

Lämna vardagen hemma och sma-ka på vår arktiska livsstil

SwedishLaplandT H E A R C T I C L I F E S T Y L E M A G A Z I N E

P E O P L E / 1 1 2

What beanie are you?C U L T U R E / 3 4

God’s own heritageN AT U R E / 3 4

Four-legged citizensTA S T E / 1 6

Wild and crazyL I G H T / 7 7

The Illuminated ArcticD E S I G N / 2 6

More wow to the World

w i n t e r 2 0 1 6 • w w w . s w e d i s h l a p l a n d . c o m

2 THE ARCTIC LIFEST YLE MAGAZINE 2016

61° anchorage, alaska

64° reykjavik, island

66° polcirkeln

68° abisko

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You find the Aurora Sky Station on the Nuolja mountain in Abisko, at 900 m.a.s.l. On the top there is no artificiell light or sound that will shatter your northern light experience. 2015 was UN:s Year of Light, and Lonely Planet listed the ”10 most illuminating experiences”. And to no surprise, Abisko’s Aurora Sky Station was number one.www.auroraskystation.com

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61° anchorage, alaska

64° reykjavik, island

66° polcirkeln

68° abisko

swedishlapland

SÁPMI

e define the Swedish Lapland region in a hundred or more ways. For the mountains, forests and wetlands, and for the major rivers flowing continuously to the sea and the archi-

pelago. For the people who live here and for the broad, untouched expanses of wilderness. For the art, music and literature. For a cultural landscape and for wildlife. Naturally, our everyday arctic lifestyle also defines us as people. The seasons, distances and climate have not only dictated a special way of life, but also a life in which nature is a major aspect, almost like a religion. Of course, for many, the geographic boundaries, drawn by rulers many hundreds of years ago, are more important than the actual soul of the place. But what we are instead trying to define here is an arctic soul. But what is that? An aboriginal people lived here long before a Swedish king moved the boundaries for his domain farther north. The king's men called these people Lapps, but they called themselves the Sámi and their homeland Sápmi. Sápmi is a borderless land that stretches across the entire Nordkalotten region, from northernmost Norway, over northern Sweden, into northern Finland, all the way to the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Today we also refer to this region as Arctic Europe. It is a part of the world that has become increasingly interesting for major political powers, foreign investors and oligarchs. Naturally, this destination, Swedish Lapland, is a vital part of the global fabric, but it has been shaped since time imme-morial in a multicultural melting pot. Via our neighbours to the east and west – Finnish Lapland and northernmost Norway – we are also the only part of Sweden to share national boundaries with two countries. And, somewhere at this intersection, there is something that we wish to define as a unique lifestyle. Amid the clatter of reindeer hooves, fiery sermons and weathered log cabins, something very exciting has emerged. It is an everyday arctic lifestyle deeply rooted in nature that we wish to share. We live our lives under the Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun, amid hail and black flies, wet snow and intense sunlight. We dry our meat in the spring, smoke our fish in the sum-mer and boil our coffee over an open fire all year round. And we put 'coffee cheese' in our boiled coffee, because we love the taste and the squeaky sound it makes between our teeth. For us, Swedish Lapland is not really a place, but rather a way of life. /RED.

map Swedish Lapland Sápmi

Swedish Lapland represents the Swedish part of the Arctic region, shared with six other countries: USA (Alaska), Den-mark (Greenland), Norway, Finland, Russia, Canada and Iceland.

How far north is Swedish Lapland actually? For example:

• Whistler in Canada has the same latitude as Frankfurt in Germany at 50° north.

• Hokkaido in Japan has the same latitude as Rome in Italy at 43° north.

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88 54The Arctic Lifestyle Magazine is a standalone publication, published by Swedish Lapland Visitors Board – the regional representative of the tourism industry in Sweden’s northernmost destination, Swedish Lapland. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author, or persons interviewed and do not necessarily reflect the view of the editors. The publication is financed by the Regional Structural Fund project Destination Capacity Building in Swedish Lapland.

EDITORIAL Swedish Lapland Visitors Board in collaboration with the regional network of communicators. Contact: [email protected]

COVER Jonna Froom in a reindeerhat and gloves on the lake Skabram, Jokkmokk photographed by Carl-Johan Utsi. More personal beanies at pages 112–115.

PRINT Lule Grafiska, Luleå, 2016.

SWEDISH LAPLAND® is a registered trademark used as destination brand of Sweden’s northernmost destination. The region includes the municipalities of Arjeplog, Arvidsjaur, Boden, Gällivare, Haparanda, Jokkmokk, Kalix, Kiruna, Luleå, Pajala, Piteå, Skellefteå, Sorsele, Älvsbyn Överkalix and Övertorneå.

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The importance of ice in Swedish Lapland extends far be-yond the hype of ICEHOTEL. In the beginning of time, after the inland ice retracted, the ice on lakes and running water was already an important factor when the reindeer migrat-ed. And following their trace, nomadic man. The ice age shaped the landscape we live in, and ice shapes the day-to-day life we lead. Today we go skating, fishing and driving on the frozen ice. Of course we build hotels and cool our drink by the fireplace too, the only thing that’s different there is the size of the cubes. Water in its frozen form is one of the corner stones of Swedish Lapland. »

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At the edge of the ice, where it meets the sea, the power of weather creates the landscape of winter. The different currents and changing wind directions pack the ice into a mighty scenery. Here you can discover real ice bergs and a calm night might provide you with flawless, new ice for an exciting ice-skating adventure.

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1. ICE ageThere is a theory that says that the entire Earth was once covered in ice. That would then explain why we can find enor-mous erratic boulders in the middle of the Namibian desert. The theory is usu-ally called ’Snow Ball Earth’. A suitable name. Swedish Lapland is very influenced by the latest ice age, the ice that receded ten thousand years ago. The land is still rising by the coast and the Swedish mountains have very rounded peaks. The peaks never reached the surface of the ice, instead they were sanded down by a kilometre-thick sandpaper, which is what the inland ice in effect was.

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3. ICE musicThe coolest winter music experience in more ways than one. Tim Linhart’s ice musicians in Luleå invite us to a concert where the ice speaks. This personifies the Arctic in a won-derful way – professional musicians who let the voice of ice speak inside a cosmic igloo. www.icemusic.com

4. ICE hotelMore than 25 years ago Yngve Bergqvist looked out from the Inn in Jukkasjärvi and thought that there must be a way of develop-ing the destination for winter. Up until then it had been a summer destination because of the midnight sun. But inspired by Japanese ice artists Yngve got the idea to construct a hotel out of ice. The first modest igloo was 60 square metres, but an instant success. This year’s ice hotel is made using 1,000 tonnes of ice in the form of blocks from the Torne River, and 30,000 cubic metres ’snice’, a special kind of artificial snow that’s made especially for the hotel. Speaking in terms of snowball wars that’s 700 million snowballs. And of course Yngve was right: today more visitors come for the ice than for the midnight sun. www.icehotel.com

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5. ICEweddingA church has always been part of ICEHOTEL as a place to celebrate. Weddings and christenings have been part of its history since the first ICEHOTEL was built. The ice church is transient; the ice always changes. Your wedding will take place in a building that’s unique, just like your ceremony. And the wedding night? Yes, you can spend that, too, on ice. www.icehotel.com

6. ICEharvestIt might sound a bit weird, but every year has its own particular ice. No ice is exactly the same. 2015 was a very good year for ice, for example. Every block that was sawn out of the Torne river was a couple of inches thicker than the year before and also extra compact and transparent. www.icehotel.com

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7. ICE barA whole bar made of ice that became a successful export. Sometimes as a pop-up bar in the various metropoles around the world, but also as a constant feature in the city rhythm of Jukkasjärvi, Stockholm and London for example. At ICEBAR BY ICEHOTEL you can enjoy a drink in subzero temper-atures, surrounded by ice from the Torne river. www.icehotel.se

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8. ICE skatingA sense of freedom, speed, wind, and adventure. The joy of first ice can be ex-perienced in many different ways. For the regulars, it’s that first, swaying ice they want. In October the first mountain lakes start to freeze, then the bigger running waters in the forest land and finally the archipelago in the Bothnian Bay freezes. It’s a mare tenebrosum for all adventurers on skates. The sea of the unknown – there to be explored.

9. ICE kickIn the Swedish cult classic ’Sällskapsresan 2, Snowroller’, a kick-sled fascinates the English gentleman Algernon Wickham- Twistleton-Ffykes, a.k.a. ’Algy’ as it passes by on the roof rack of a Volvo 245. And Stig-Helmer explains in his best Swenglish that: “We call it a kick”.

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10. ICEhooveringFrom the hotel at Brändön a hovercraft takes you on an unforgettable tour of the archipelago, above ice and perhaps open water. By hovercraft you can get close to the outer rim even when the ice won’t hold heavier vehicles. After a while you get used to the intense experience and start taking in the landscape. And somewhere there’s both seal and sea eagles to look for.

11. ICE drivingThese days, the car-testing industry in Arjeplog, Sorsele and Arvidsjaur is world famous, and an exciting form of enter-tainment driving has been developed in connection with it. Mercedes just wrote on their Facebook page that they found ’heaven on earth’ for their driving events in Sorsele, and Land Rover have made an amazing film about the perfect copy of Silverstone on the ice outside Arjeplog.

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12. ICE artNature’s own creative spirit is born out of the meeting between water and cold; it’s fantasy that runs free. They say there no two snowflakes alike, and the same is true for natural ice. It freezes in different ways and at different speeds, with different effects and different mindsets. And sometimes it becomes amazingly beautiful like here, outside Årrenjarka, when meltwater freezes again after a cold night.

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13. ICEswimmingSkellefteå’s fascination with winter bathing has also resulted in regular winter swimming competitions. For the last four years, international championships have attracted participants from all over the world to Skellefteå. The participants often compete in water just 0.1 degrees ‘warm’ – at distances ranging between 25 and 200 metres using breaststroke and freestyle. The championships are held in early February every year. www.darkandcold.com

To deliver goods to Sweden’s north-ernmost parts there are a number of ice breakers stationed in Luleå to keep the Bothnian Bay ports open. Some years they work around the clock and other winters they are mostly found docked, all shiny. But for those who wish to engage in their own ice-breaker adventure, we recommend Piteå Havsbad. www.pite-havsbad.se

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15. ICE bathWhether ice baths are good or bad for an elite sports professional has been discussed frequently. But the British long-distance runner Paula Radcliffe used to take ice baths, for example, and she won quite a few half marathons and marathons during her career. But of course there’s a difference between the heart of a marathon runner and a normal person – switching from a hot sauna to a black hole made in the ice of a lake can put a strain on your heart that you should take into consideration. But even so: there is nothing more refreshing than a four-degree-Celsius bath when it’s twenty minus in the air. The sensation of ice-cold water being warm is an amazing experience!

16. ICE climbingHere today, gone tomorrow. There’s only ice during the right season. Ice climbing is a simultaneously cool and sublime adventure. In the shade of the mountains’ north-facing sides the ice in Swedish Lapland keeps its high quality during a very long season. Ice climbing makes you focus properly and not think about anything else, challenging your physique as well as your mind. Abisko Ice Climbing Festival February 25–28 is the occasion for all ice climbers, of course. www.abiskoiceclimbing.com

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17. ICE hockeyWhere there is cold, there is ice. Where there is ice, there is ice hockey. The region is known from taking great pleasure in ice hockey. Ask anyone you meet here in Swedish Lapland who their favourite player is and you’ll get an answer: ’Krobbe’ Lundberg, ’Hårde-Hardy’ Nilsson, ’Homer’ Holmström, Börje Salming and his brother ’Stygge Stig’, or a variety of other names will be mentioned. The region is also known for its successful teams. Skellefteå has made it to the final the last five years running. And the derby between Luleå and Skellefteå, that people in Piteå call the ’derby between Pite North and Pite South’, is a Swedish classic.

18. ICE fishingThe author Jim Harrison, Legends of the Fall, called ice fishing ’the moronic sport’. But even if it can be slightly monotonous to stare down a hole in the ice with cold toes, that statement might be a tad unfair. When a large arctic char bites it’s even exciting! And in Swedish Lapland it’s not uncommon that we build ourselves a little house – an ark – to sit in when we’re out ice fishing.

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19. ICE roadsThe last time Sweden was in a war, in 1809, the Russians walked across the Bothnian Bay. Using frozen water – lakes, rivers or even the sea – is a common way of finding the fastest road. In many places inhabitants help making the ice (read: the road) thicker by pumping up water on top of the ice, which then freezes. Because it’s a lot colder on top of the ice than underneath. One familiar ice road is the one in Avan, along the road between Boden and Luelå, or in Rödupp west of Överkalix. It’s quite amazing to be able to take the car out to Hindersön in winter to have waffles at Jopikgården. The photo above shows an ice road in Saxnäs, near Sorsele, across the biosphere reserve Vindelälven.

21. ICE blueBlue, blue eyes. There are few things as icy blue as the eyes of a beautiful Husky in the middle of winter. It’s bewitching. You go on

a dog sled tour through the mountains. And your leader-dog Spike has the most magical,

intense eyes you’ve ever seen. You can’t stop thinking about them when you get back

home. You decide to go back.

20. ICE churchSince the first Ice Hotel – the one called ARTic hall – was built in Jukkasjärvi weddings and services have been part of the experience. The most unique thing about getting married in a church made of ice is of course the fact that it never looks the same. Ice is a living, perishable material. Like they say: ice churches come and go, but love goes on. www.icehotel.se

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The taste of SwedishLapland

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When you visit Swedish Lapland you’ll soon discover that our food culture and our lifestyle are closely interwoven. A strong tradition bears witness to how we have lived, for thousands of years, off of what nature has so generously provided. The sea, lakes and rivers, the mountains, woodlands and wetlands have been the sources, and it is here, near these sources, that people have chosen to live and to find sustenance. Join us on a guided tour of natural resources that take the fastest route to the table. »

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TA S T E

you are wearing a sturdy pair of hiking boots, and a wind breaker over a comfortable fleece. Warm rays of sun-light filter down through the treetops. Flowing swiftly, the river provides the background music as it dances and splashes over the rocks. Several anglers stand knee-deep, sweeping the air in long, even casts and landing a fly gently on the surface of the water. Looking down, you sea blueberry bushes every-where. Scanning the ground method-ically, you take a few steps towards a wet patch. Suddenly, a bright orange object in the undergrowth catches your eye. Squatting, you pick the warm, ripe cloudberry and pop it into your mouth. The characteristic flavour rouses your senses and there, spread out before you, is a sea of gold – there are berries every-where. It's time to fill the freezer!

When you visit Swedish Lapland, we recommend that you take the time to pause, look around and discover new fla-vours. They are everywhere around you. Come and blaze your own trails through the forests, over the high country and across the islands of the archipelago. Stop to rest a while by the fire, speak of

life and talk of everything we've seen and done today. Together, we'll prepare a meal with ingredients fresh from nature's pantry. Reindeer meat raised by local Sámi herders and lingonberries picked just around the bend. Being outdoors and experiencing and enjoying all of the good things nature has to offer is a natural way of life for us that we are very happy to share with visitors.

All good things that live here have adapted to life in our subarctic environ-ment, where the warm Gulf Stream's North Atlantic Drift creates conditions that are unique at our northern latitude. The heavy snow cover of an arctic winter protects dormant wild herbs and berries, allowing them to store energy for the coming spring. Then, they will burst forth in an explosion of life under intense rays of spring sunlight that warm the landscape. A growing season of 100 intensive bright summer days and nights packs our produce with flavour and nutrition. The Midnight Sun fills us with energy and lust for life. Game and livestock graze and grow fat and healthy. Fish swim and spawn in water so pure you can drink it. Pure, natural flavours so fresh they practically jump in your mouth. Nature is generous and we are grateful. And we show our thanks by making it our playground and our breathing space. When you visit us you are never far away from the wide horizon on the sea, the deep silence of the forest or the broad vistas of the high country. And when you find your favourite view, the best way to enjoy it is with great food, cooked over an open fire, under an open sky.

age-old authenticityIn Swedish Lapland we like good, honest food. This is only natural in a place where nature's finest ingredients

factsThe traditional Sámi knowledge of nature, as it is reflected, for example, in the food culture, has been passed down verbally through the genera-tions. This knowledge, Árbediehtu, is a resource that, together with new innovations, could lead toward a more sustainable society.

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are there for the picking, right at our doorstep. The Sámi began to develop our wilderness kitchen thousands of years ago. They ate reindeer, of course, and moose, naturally; fowl such as ptar-migan and grouse; fish such as grayling, salmon, trout, char and whitefish. In the summer months these delicacies were supplemented with wild berries, roots, herbs and other edible plants.

The need to preserve food that could be eaten and enjoyed year-round gave rise to many culinary traditions. Tech-niques such as drying, smoking, salting and pickling meant that food was avail-able throughout the four seasons. The flavours we now enjoy are often a legacy from a time when grocery stores were a luxury few could afford. And in a part of Sweden where the indigenous Sámi people still make a living from reindeer herding, living with the herds in remote areas for long periods, the knowledge and craft of food preservation lives on. Try, for example, souvas, a favourite on a tour in the high country or the archipel-ago. Fried in a muurikka together with onions and mushrooms, it is served in the soft flatbread gáhkku. It is a simple, honest meal in which the ingredients play the leading role.

free-range, straight from natureMeat from animals that have grazed and foraged in the wild is lean and healthy. All of the minerals and vitamins from the plant kingdom not only make the meat healthy, but also flavourful. This is about as far from processed food as it gets. Moose, bear and deer live freely in alpine and coastal areas throughout Swedish Lapland. For many, the autumn moose hunt is almost sacred. And, much like ptarmigan hunting, it's all about ex-periencing nature, camaraderie, tradition and resource management.

The reindeer graze freely but, unlike game animals, they are semi-domestic and belong to the herders. Ownership is identified by a mark on the animal's ear. In Swedish Lapland there are 32 Sámi villages, each of which is a kind of trade association that operates a reindeer herding business. Reindeer belonging to the woodland Sámi villages graze year-round in the forests, while the mountain Sámi herds graze in the high country in summer and near the coast, where fod-der is more readily available, in winter.

Using the whole reindeer is part of Sámi tradition. Intestines and stomachs are washed and used to make blood sausage and gurpi, minced reindeer

SUOVAS IS SÁMI FOR LIGHTLY SMOKEDSalting, smoking and drying are the tradition-al methods of preparing and preserving reindeer meat. Originally, these methods were used to prolong shelf life; now, they are used for the sake of flavour. First, the meat is salted. Dry-curing, whereby meat and salt are placed in alternat-ing layers in a barrel, means that the meat will keep for months without becoming too salty. Smoke also prolongs shelf life, adding a fur-ther flavour dimension. Normally, smoking takes about two days, and the method and choice of wood are an art in themselves. Dried, lightly salted rendeer, goike-suovas, is a perfect compact source of energy on a long hike. Drying is done outdoors in spring and normally takes a few weeks.

A muurikka, a type of frying pan that resembles a wok, is ideal for cooking over an open fire. Outdoors, it can be used to bake gáhkku, grill hamburgers or whip up a quick meal of chipped reindeer.

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meat that is smoked and then baked in an oven. Antlers and hides are used, together with wood and parts of plants, in the traditional handicraft, duodji. Traditionally, the reindeer were also milked and cheese was made in shallow moulds, a tradition that is still practised. Sámi culture and traditional knowledge of animals and nature have contributed to making reindeer herding an industry that is competitive in terms of both environmental friendliness and food quality. As consumer awareness and the demand for additive-free, naturally pro-duced food are increasing, this knowl-edge is more relevant than ever.

Thanks to their superior quality, many fine ingredients from Swedish Lapland are also in great demand in gourmet kitchens the world over. Locally, there is also a strong tradition of preserving the old cooking techniques and of taking advantage of the best, most natural flavour combinations, for example, in the pairing of game and wild berries.

open landscape and coffee cultureAgriculture isn't the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Sweden's northernmost destination, around the Arctic Circle. But, the fact is, Swedish Lapland is essentially self-sufficient in terms of dairy produc-tion. Tornedalen, which has growing conditions that are more like those in the southern end of the country, is re-nowned for the quality of its vegetables. Water has created good conditions for agriculture in the river valleys along the Vindel, Skellefte, Pite, Lule, Råne, Kalix and Torne Rivers. A cold winter climate also creates good conditions for environ-mentally sustainable farming, since there is less need for pesticides, etc.

The region also has strong traditions of preserving dairy products to prolong shelf life. The most characteristic of these is coffee cheese, which originated in Tornedalen. This cheese is made from unpasteurized milk and then baked.

Traditionally, it is served in small cubes, instead of milk, in coffee. Another way to enjoy coffee cheese is to heat it in the oven and serve it as a dessert with cloud-berry jam. When you're out hiking or snowmobiling, chances are you'll be of-fered a cup of coffee that has been boiled over an open fire. Far from the hectic urban life, we take plenty of time to chat and savour our coffee while the flames of the camp fire complement nature's own backdrop lighting. Ask your host or guide how they prefer their coffee; with a pinch of salt to add minerals to the alpine water, or perhaps with a thin slice of dried, smoked reindeer heart.

Chances are, your boiled coffee will be served in a kåsa, a drinking or serving vessel with a handle. A traditional kåsa is usually made from a burl, which is an irregular growth protruding from a tree. This material is harder than normal wood.

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greetings from the inland iceStreams, rivers, lakes and the sea have always been a lifeline for the people of Swedish Lapland. With some 30,000 lakes, more than 300 km of coastline and four national heritage rivers, fishing has always been an important source of food and recreation. The Bay of Bothnia has the world's largest brackish-water archipelago, but the water doesn't taste at all salty. The inflow of freshwater from the rivers is pure and full of minerals, creating unique conditions for certain fish species. This is what gives the Vendace, which seldom grows to be longer than 20 cm, an ideal diet for producing Kalix löjrom, the world's finest roe (if we do say so ourselves). Owing to its unique quality and flavour, the characteristic Kalix löjrom, which is often served on particularly festive occasions such as the Nobel banquet, is the first Swedish food to have gained the prestigious Protected Designation of Origin label, thereby joining the ranks of Champagne and Parma ham.

When the European whitefish, a much larger relative of the Vendace runs up the Torne River to spawn each year, according to tradition, fisherman stand ready and waiting with long-handled bag nets. Throughout July, there is feverish activity in places like Kukkola, where long jetties that have been built out into to the river allow fishermen to net whitefish that pause to rest in holes on the riverbed. Traditionally, whitefish is grilled over an open fired and is a great delicacy when served with new potatoes and clarified butter.

If you’re hiking in Swedish Lapland, the kåsa is an essential piece of kit, ideal for drinking directly from mountain streams. With such pure water, it's easy to see why arctic char, grayling and trout are totally in their element here. Icefishing is a popular winter pastime, especially in late winter, when the skies are clear and the bright sun beats down. Out on the ice, small, portable fishing

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The European cisco, or vendace, has been fished in Swedish Lapland ever since boats and fishing tackle were invented. The season, during the fish's spawning period, is from 20 September until 31 October. The female carries the delicate roe, which can only be painstakingly harvested by a skilled hand.

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huts are a common sight. The fishing in the region is as richly varied as our fish-ing waters. Master the art of fly fishing or sit back and relax with a casting rod. Fishing is as close to meditation as it gets.

wild green and all the other coloursWhen the trees start to bud, after a long and snowy winter, it is a particularly joyous time. In Swedish Lapland nature practically explodes under the bright spring sunlight and the greenery grow so fast we can almost hear it. The Midnight Sun speeds the process, charging wid herbs and berries full of vitamins and antioxidants. In addition to lingonberries and bilberries, we have other ”super berries” in the north, like the sea buckthorn berry, the sweet arctic raspberries and the juicy cloudberries. The bush of the black crowberry bear both female and male flowers, making them extremely productive.

They are not only a nutritious treat for wild animals; as soon as we get the chance, we bend to pick them and pop them straight into our mouths. We make as much juice and jam as we can before putting the rest in the freezer.

And then there is plenty of other herbs and plants that are full of flavour,

meadowsweetThe flowers of mead-owsweet, or mead wort, can be used like elderflowers to make a delicious beverage. Steeped in boiled water, the leaves make a tasty herbal tea. Both the leaves and the flowers contain salicylic acid and have been used in folk medicine to ease aches and pains and reduce fever. The plant's Latin name Spiraea ulmaria has inspired the commercial pharmaceutical name Aspirin.

dopp i kopp('dip in the cup')Eaten year-round, this dish, an old favourite from Tornedalen, is particularly good with new potatoes. Chop dill, chives and onion and place in a cup. Fill the cup with plenty of hot, melted butter. Serve a plate of potatoes, smoked whitefish and gravlax, with the cup on the side. Start dipping and enjoy!

From Margit Spolander, Kukkolaforsen

vitamins and minerals. Angelica was picked by the Sámi when they moved their herds to the summer grazing grounds. The stems, eaten grilled or fresh, are said to improve the immune system and alleviate stomach pains. The roots can be boiled to make porridge from. Nowadays marmalade is made from the stems and the dried seeds are used as a seasoning. Another Sámi tradition is to chop and boil wild herbs together with reindeer milk until the mixture thickens. This guompa could then be stored in a keg over winter. Juobmo, mountain sorrel, is picked by the sackful in summer. Rich in vitamins.Like spinach, it becomes tender when cooked, often used for soup or sauce.

dinner is servedOur bountiful pantry may lie dormant beneath the snow, but you can be sure it is there, waiting for the warm sunshine of spring. And, if you want to find it, we'll be happy to show you the way. You can also visit the nearest restaurant – watch out for Swedish Lapland's Cloudberry label – and let the region's creative chefs and culinary storytellers take your tastebuds on a journey around our region and through the ages. Welcome to share our way of life and a tasty natural heritage.

ColumnistTherese Olofsson


1. the book ‘vintermat i tornedalen’ will teach you how to cook with the seasons. www.alacarte.fi/vintermatitornedalen/

2. the world’s first dark roasted pot boiled coffee – Lemmel www.lemmelkaffe.se

3. coffee bag in leather. Keros speciality is natural tanned hide. This classic coffee bag in reindeer skin is no exeption. 290 SEK. www.kero.se

4. the local catch. You can catch your own healthy food in rivers, lakes and sea. Just buy a license and a rod, or buy your fish in small local shops.

5. a dutch cheese in sweden. From the ”fjällko”, a rare Swedish breed of cow adopted to mountain areas, and some great dutch traditions Skabram produces a great farmer cheese. www.skabram.se

6. smak på sápmi. The book was number one at Gourmand cookbook awards 2015. Great source of knowledge about food and traditions in Sápmi. www.slowfoodsapmi.com

7. the nature is my kitchen. No ordinary cook book, rather it’s Greta Huuvas testimony about the rich food culture in Jokkmokk, from a family’s perspective. www.viddernashus.se

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arjeplogs vilt & kafe is in the town square, just a stone’s throw from the Silver Museum and the church. Here, you have the chance to enjoy a truly unique coffee experience; just ask for a Kaffetår. Café owners Helena and Johnny Johansson had run their game meat shop in Arjeplog for many years. But they dreamed of developing the concept and opening a café. Their shop on Drottninggatan wasn’t quite the right location for a café, so they waited. Nearly two years ago, an opportunity presented itself and they jumped at the chance to take over the old café on the square. – As soon as we decided to open, we knew we wanted to do it our way, said Helena, when I walked in and ordered the Kaffetår. Of course, the duo had decided that the café would also feature the product range from the game shop. This would give patrons a chance to taste the products, but also to experience old traditions. The names of some of their sandwiches also echo their food philosophy: genuine and generous. With virtually untranslatable names like Full Rulle, Sjön Suger, Rentjur’n and Älgstud-sar’n, all we can say is that these game

meat and fish-based sandwiches are served in man-sized portions. Naturally, for those with a taste for the northern lifestyle, boiled coffee is also served. But Helena and Johnny do it their way, con-cocting something called Kaffetåren. Boiled coffee with a refill, dried meat, coffee meat, reindeer tongue and coffee cheese. These are all classic accom-paniments to arctic coffee. Personally, I haven't always been a fan of dried meat with coffee, because it is a bit lean, usually salty and slightly smoked. On the other hand, I love the other ingredients. The coffee meat, preferably a bit fatty, so that it absorbs the coffee, leaving a few droplets of fat on the surface, is very comforting on a rugged autumn day. And reindeer tongue is always good. It is fatter and tenderer than other tongue. Moose tongue, for example, must be boiled for hours, while reindeer tongue cooks at a fraction of the time. In the coffee the warm fat of the tongue melts on your palate in the most wonderful way. In this part of the world, coffee cheese is a favourite. A bit like mozzarella, it is a soft cheese made from unpasteurized milk. Some people fry or grill it, but the cheese that Helena

and Johnny sell is baked in the oven. I like it best when it is served fresh. Anyhow, whether fried, baked or fresh, the great thing about coffee cheese is its somewhat unusual consistency, it squeaks between your teeth when you chew it. After my second refill of boiled coffee I take a look around the shop. Although I'm not fond of it in coffee, dried meat is on my shopping list. I like it just as it is; sometimes, with a whisky. A coffee cheese goes into my shopping basket. As for coffee meat, at home I have a side of ribs and a moose calf, so I refrain. But reindeer tongue? – You're in luck. It’s slaughter time and four tongues came in just yesterday, says Helena. – Okay, I'll take them all. Christmas is coming and no Christmas table is complete without reindeer tongue. – It certainly is good! So, I head for home. This evening I will boil tongue and roast some coffee meat. And if you ever consider doing this, I have an important piece of advice. You must never eat the tip of the tongue. According to Sámi custom, that is strictly taboo; because if you do, you may start telling lies.

KaffetårenHave you ever had a cup of pot-boiled coffee? In that case, have you ever had it with coffee cheese, coffee meat, dried meat and reindeer tongue? In Arjeplog, they're brewing up a genuine Kaffetår. T E X T H Å K A N S T E N L U N D

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The flavour of a place is a large part of our travel experience. Taste is also one of our strongest senses connected to memory, and has the ability to take you back to places you’ve previously visited. That’s why we would like to help you accumulate culinary memories of Swedish Lapland to bring home – and the only thing you need to do is follow the cloudberry.

restaurants that carry on our food tradition and cafés that hold local produce close to heart. We also point you in the direction of the shops where you can find carefully selected products that gives you the opportunity to bring a piece of Swedish Lapland home. And last, but not least, we present to you producers that, by using traditional meth-ods and a large portion of respect, turn our rich natural resources into products ready to remind you of our region.

We invite you to try the Taste of Swedish Lapland. And we hope that it will be a cherished memory for many years to come.

it is no coincidence that the cloudberry gets to symbolise our tasteful tips – the berry referred to as the gold of the marsh is typical for the region, but also unique in its flavour and a bit tricky to find. Just like it can be finding those special spots that put a silver lining to your travels by providing high-quality taste experiences.

Our cloudberry-symbol marks selected restau-rants, cafés and shops where you can experience the food culture of Swedish Lapland. Discover what this great region tastes like. We guide you to innovative fine-dining venues where the chefs make the most of our dearest raw produce, rustic

PRODUCERS1 Kiruna Praliner,

www.kirunapraliner.se Kirunasvampen,

www.kirunasvampen.n.nu Stenbergs Vilt,

www.stenbergsvilt.com W. Eliassons Partiaffär

www.renvilt.com5 Lemmelkaffe,

www.lemmelkaffe.com Skogsbärsfröjd,

www.skogsbarsfrojd.se Åive, www.åive.com6 Rönnbäcks Fisk,

www.ronnbacksfisk.se Tornedalica Special,

www.tornedalicaspecial.se7 Essense of Lapland,

www.eolapland.se Jokkmokks Bär,

www.jokkmokksbar.se

Jokkmokks korv och rökeri, www.jokkmokkskorv.se

Sápmi ren och vilt, www.sapmirenovilt.se

Skabram Turism och Gårdsmejeri, www.skabram.se

Utsi ren, www.utsiren.se8 Svartbergets Getfarm,

www.svartbergetsgetfarm.se13 Svantes Vilt & Bär,

www.svantesvilt.se14 Tornedalens Renprodukter,

www.tren.se Yvonnes gluten och laktosfria

bageri, +46 (0)72-248 82 2215 Pesula Lantbruk, rybsolja,

www.pesulalantbruk.se16 Kalix Ost, Bondersbyn,

www.kalixost.se Kalix Sylt,

www.kalixsylt.se

18 Luleå Konfektyr, +46 (0)920-25 57 16

Junköfiskarna, www.junkofiskarna.se

19 Arvidsjaurs Renslakt, www.arvidsjaurrenslakt.se

Glommersbär, www.glommersbar.se

Nausta Bryggeri, www.naustabryggeri.se

21 Fjällvilt i Ammarnäs, www.fjallvilt.se

22 Alterhedens Rabarberi & Gårdsbutik, www.alterhedens.se

24 Västerbottensost besökscenter, www.ostriket.nu

Svedjan ost, www.svedjanost.se

Barkbrödsbageriet i Kåsböle, +46 (0)70-259 15 92

Skellefteå bryggeri, www.skellefteabryggeri.sePlease note that opening hours may vary upon season.

– your guide to the culinary gems of the region

The cloudberry


STORES

1 SpiS Deli, www.spisikiruna.se Thornéus Renprodukter,

www.thorneus.com3 ICEHOTEL Shop,

www.icehotel.com Sámi Siida – Sameviste,

www.nutti.se5 Karlgrens slakteri,

www.karlgrens.se7 Ájtte Svenskt Fjäll- och

Samemuseum, www.ajtte.com Gamla Apoteket,

www.gamla-apoteket.se Hantverksbutiken,

+46 (0)70-371 46 29 Ica Rajden Supermarket,

+46 (0)971-101 10 Viddernas Hus,

www.viddernashus.se

11 Arjeplog Viltbutik & Kafé, www.viltbutiken.se

12 K&M in bageri och lanthandel, +46 (0)928-500 00

15 Tornedal & Co, www.tornedalandcompany.com

16 Arctic Shop, www.arcticshop.se Kalix Ost, www.kalixost.se Made in Kalix, www.madeinkalix.se17 Vittjärvs Lanthandel,

www.vittjarvslanthandel.se 18 Bensby Bageri & Café,

www.bensbynsbrod.se Biergo, www.biergo.se Hemmagastronomi,

www.hemmagastronomi.se Kallax Gårdsbutik,

www.kallaxgardsbutik.se

Please note that opening hours may vary upon season.

Lilla skafferiet, www.lillaskafferiet.se

19 Frostab, www.frostab.se Anna-Lisas Souvenirbutik,

www.presentbutiken.se Hembygdsmuseet Gamla Präst-

gården, www.hembygdarvidsjaur.se21 Eldmark Sorsele,

www.eldmark.se Fjällvilt i Ammarnäs,

www.fjallvilt.se22 Järnspisen Piteå,

www.jarnspisenpitea.se Karinas Viltbutik,

www.karinasviltbutik.se24 Burträsk Saluhall,

www.burtrasksaluhall.se Handelsgården,

www.handelsgardenskelleftea.se

Bryggargatan Restaurant & Bistro in Skellefteå.

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Restaurants and cafés with a is listed in the White Guide 2016.Cloudberries – probably

the best dessert in the world.

Reindeer meat is dried in spring and makes

up for a perfect snack.

Bleak roe could be enjoyed with red onion

and creme fraiche on a blini.

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RESTAURANTS/CAFÉS

1 Elsas Kök, STF Kebnekaise Fjällstation, www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/kebnekaise

Krogen, Abisko Mountain Lodge, www.abiskomountainlodge.se

Låktatjåkko Fjällstation, www.bjorkliden.com

Meteorologen Ski Lodge, www.riksgransen.se

Restaurang Kungsleden, STF Abisko Turiststation, www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/abisko

Restaurang Lapplandia, www.riksgransen.se

Restaurang Lapporten, www.bjorkliden.com

Restaurang Nikkaluokta, www.nikkaluokta.com

2 Camp Ripan, www.ripan.se Landströms Kök & Bar,

www.landstroms.net Restaurant Arctic Eden,

www.hotelarcticeden.se SPiS Mat & Dryck,

www.spiskiruna.se3 Café Sápmi, www.nutti.se ICEHOTEL Restaurang,

www.icehotel.com Jukkasjärvi Hembygdsgård,

www.icehotel.com4 Stora Sjöfallet Mountains Center,

www.storasjofallet.com5 Glada Kocken,

www.glada-kocken.se Steakhouse Restaurang Quality

Hotel Lapland, www.qhrl.se Vinbaren, Björnfällan Dundret,

www.dundret.se6 Explore the North, Kangos,

www.explorethenorth.se Forest Hotel, Tärendö,

www.foresthotel.se Kangos Wärdshus, Kangos,

www.laplandincentive.se7 Café Gasskas,

www.gasskas.se Restaurang Ájtte,

www.restaurangajtte.se Viddernas Hus,

www.viddernashus.se8 Restaurang Nåidde,

www.vuonatjviken.com

9 Restaurang Vuogga, www.vuoggatjolme.se

10 Adolfströms handelsbod & Café, www.adolfstrom.com

Bäverholms Wärdshus och stugby, www.facebook.com/Baverholm

11 Hotell Silverhatten, www.silverhatten.se

Kraja, www.silverhatten.se

Hornavan Hotell, www.hornavanhotell.se

13 Brittas Pensionat, www.brittaspensionat.se

Restaurang Kallkällan, www.sorbyn.se

14 Brännvalls café, +46 (0)926-107 16

Jockfall, www.jockfall.com Restaurang Utblick,

www.utblickluppioberget.se15 Seskarös Wärdshus,

www.seskarowardshus.se Kukkolaforsen,

www.kukkolaforsen.se Hulkoffgården,

www.hulkoff.se16 Arvids Steakhouse, Kalix,

www.arvids-steakhouse.com Restaurang Jara, Kalix,

www.hotellvalhall.com Roady’s, Töre,

www.facebook.com/roady.tore17 Restaurang Kallkällan,

www.sorbyn.se18 Bistro Norrland,

www.bistronorrland.se Cooks Krog,

www.cookskrog.se Hemmagastronomi,

www.hemmagastronomi.se Jazzmatsalen,

www.hotellsavoy.se Jopikgården,

www.jopik.nu Lilla skafferiet,

www.lillaskafferiet.se Ralph Lundstengården,

www.ralph-lundstengarden.com Restaurang CG,

www.restaurangcg.se

Restaurang Kaptensgården, www.restaurangkaptensgarden.se

Restaurang Kitchen & Table, www.kitchenandtable.se

Roasters, www.roasters.se 19 Clarion Collection Hotel Arvidsjaur,

www.nordicchoicehotels.se Hotell Laponia,

www.hotell-laponia.se Rolles Krog, www.rolleskrog.se Tant Sveas Café,

+46 (0)70-589 80 4120 Båtsuoj Skogssamecenter,

www.batsuoj.se21 Ammarnäsgården,

www.ammarnasgarden.se Ammarnäs Wärdhus,

www.fishyourdream.com Mat till kalas,

www.mattillkalas.se Sandsjögården,

www.sandsjogarden.se Sorsele River Hotell,

www.sorseleriverhotel.se22 Doktorsvillan,

www.doktorsvillan.se Järnspisen Piteå,

www.jarnspisenpitea.se Restaurang 1906,

www.piteastadshotell.com23 Svansele Vildmarks Camp,

www.svansele.se24 Bryggargatan Restaurang

& Bistro, www.bryggargatan.se Café Fyren,

www.bjuroklubb.se/cafe-fyren Café Lanthandeln Nordanå,

www.skellefteamuseum.se Furuögrunds hamncafé,

www.furuogrundby.se/furu- ogrunds-hamncafe

Nygatan 57, www.nygatan57.se

Stiftsgården, www.stiftsgarden.se

Please note that opening hours may vary upon season.

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PITE BRYGGERI Pite Bryggeri is housed in a former root cellar at Furunäset in Piteå. A microbrewery dedicated to pleasure, where Piteå's soft water is the basis of a flavourful beer of the highest quality.pitebryggeri.se

BOTTENVIKENS BRYGGERIThe label text on bottles from Bottenvikens Bryg-geri reads: "Our beer is unpasteurized, unfiltered, unrestrained, unartificial and, we hope, unopened, so that you can enjoy one.”www.bottenvikensbryggeri.se

NAUSTAEstablished in 2012, Nausta Bryggeri attracted immediate interest. This is a fully-modern craft brewery. Water is sourced from a nearby well. www.naustabryggeri.se

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TORNE ISLAGER There’s really not much difference between a person and a beer. In both, the main ingredient is water; preferably, good water. Torne Islager is a collab between ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi and Carnegiebryggeriet in Stockholm. Each winter, ice from the Torne River is harvested in big blocks. The crystal-clear water, collected 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, not only provides building blocks for the famous ICEHOTEL, but is also the basis for great lager.

Carnegiebryggeriet knew, of course, that beer consists of about 94% water, but the water is seldom afforded so much attention. Exciting water was the starting point for Torne Islager. "And who knows exciting water better than ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi," reads the message on Carnegiebryggeriet's website, continuing, "ICEHOTEL shared our vision and provided the ice that we melted and used for brewing. You're holding the result in your hand; a strong Vienna-style lager with a wonderful bitterness. Excellent water, excellent beer."

SKELLEFTEÅ BRYGGERI Skellefteå Bryggeri com-bines Czech brewing crafts-manship with northern Swedish tenacity. The basic range includes Kallholmen, Backens and Seth Mikael. Each beer has its own char-acter, but all are brewed with care.www.skellefteabryggeri.se

TJERSTjers sources its water from the spring in Halljärv. Deep forests, a wild river, a rich dialect, bright summer nights and boundless free-dom are other ingredients in the beer from Överkalix. www.tjersbryggeri.se

i drink; therefore, i am. Well, maybe we shouldn't glorify the drinking culture, but perhaps it is inescapable. In recent years many interesting rumours concerning microbreweries and whisky distilleries have been circulating here in the north. In many cases, these are not merely rumours. The beer culture has blossomed and is thriving.

Twenty years ago in Sweden, beer was synonymous with Pripps Blå. A beer from a brewery in which the state held controlling interest and was about as exciting as an annual visit to the dentist. Today, microbreweries are popping up all over Swedish Lapland. Before 2010, who would ever have believed there would be a brewery in Slagnäs, popula-tion 160? None other than two beer- crazy brothers, of course. Now, Nausta Bryggeri's biggest problem is brewing enough lager and ale to keep their place on Systembolaget's shelves.

One day, brewer Frida Andersson realized that the name of her family farm, Tjers, in Överkalix, is pronounced 'cheers'. Is that a sign, or what? Today, you can buy Frida's beers, with fanciful Överkalix dialect names, at many of the destination's best pubs. Do you know how a "Väintern" tastes, or what a "lios" Pale Ale looks like? How does an IPA

brewed with "Hå:mLe" taste? Perhaps you're wondering what the colour of a real stout is in Överkalix? In any case, Frida Andersson can confirm that it is "kå:L swåRtt" (dark as coal).

Brewery beer is a passion; just ask the ten owners behind Skellefteå Bryggeri. And while you're at it, ask them about their investments in the brewery in Skel-leftehamn and Bryggarbacken in town. They know the answers. Or ask Tommy Eriksson, whose obsession with beer led him to practise at a famous American west-coast brewery before moving home to Tuvan in Skellefteå to start up his own brewery, Southside.

In one way or another, most of these craft brewers have taken a similar path. A personal interest has grown to become a mission in life. Avid homebrewers have found premises, ordered ingredients and set out to save the world from bad taste. 'I drink; therefore, I am' has become a truth.

Without hesitation, friends Mattias Bergström and Joakim Nilsson explain their raison d'etre:

Our beer is unpasteurized, unfiltered, unrestrained, unartif icial and, we hope, unopened, so that you can enjoy one.

Somehow, that's what it's all about. Pleasure.

SOUTH SIDE BREWING COMPANYSouthside Brewing Company was founded by Tommy and Julie Eriksson. Southside’s beers are inspired by American west-coast brewing tradition and flavoured with hops from the American northwest.www.ssbcbeer.com


T H E R E I N D E E R

Visut – a story of the

reindeerOur home, Swedish Lapland, has been formed by the Ice Age, the seasons and the reindeer. And we, too, have lived our lives in the shadow of the forces of nature.

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t nutti sámi siida in jukkasjärvi a reindeer named Bulmmot eats from my hand. I have a handful of fodder pellets and Bulmmot seems to like them about as much as I like a bag of candy. Bulmmot is North Sámi for grey sparrow. His coat, in different

nuances of grey, is the same colour as the little bird. A castrated bull, he is also named for the grey sparrow because he is small, lazy and a bit fat. His attitude is also similar to that of a grey sparrow.

There are about 20 reindeer in Nils Torbjörn Nutti's paddock in Jukkasjärvi. All have names and each is named according to their disposition, their appearance or their significance for Nils Torbjörn. Here, we meet Linis and Girjak, and Dábaláš, meaning common, which seems a little unfair. Dábaláš is beautiful. We also meet Áddjá Muzet, 'great-grandfather's dark-brown', the last reindeer to bear his grandfather's earmark before Nils Torbjörn took over the herd. The Sámi language is very descriptive.

My pet's name, Frasse, reflects the limited extent of my imagination. But the name Bulmmot reflects the animal's character and personality. When the pellets in my hand are all gone, Bulmmot wanders off, back to the herd, where he is happy. That's not unusual. Your dog, who you love more than you can

imagine, will still be happier in the company of other dogs. Humans' relation to domestic animals is always different than the animals' relation to their human masters. It's just that we don't understand it. But for the Sámi, the reindeer is not merely a domestic ani-mal, a pet or a companion; it is the foundation upon which their culture and lifestyle are based. Between the Sámi and the reindeer there is a promise; they will care for each other for all eternity.

at home in her kitchen, Ingrid Pilto is preparing blood dumplings. The autumn slaughter provides quite a lot of blood and fat. "Healthy fat," as Ingrid is quick to point out. The fat of the reindeer is part of an ecocycle unto its own. The animal fattens up in spring and summer, only to lose its fat during winter. This explains why it is healthy; few toxins accumulate in the reindeer's fatty tissue. Some even believe it is better to cook with reindeer fat than with olive oil or rapeseed oil. The ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 is also optimal. Naturally. And furthermore, the fat is a natural flavour enhancer.

While the blood dumplings cook, Ingrid prepares a thin membrane of caul, which surrounds the innards. This is for a gurpi, a sort of crépinette, which Ingrid will make later. The gurpi, from the Sámi word gurpat,

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meaning ‘to tie together’, is a kind of sausage made from minced reindeer meat, and lightly smoked and frozen so that it can be conveniently taken on a trip.

In recent years, both gurpi and suovas (salted, lightly smoked reindeer) have become best sellers. Suddenly, tastebuds the world over have become enamoured with the old ways of preserving and pre-paring meat. On the menus of leading eateries, smoking, drying and pickling are all the rage.

Ingrid expertly carries the traditions forward. Her poached sea trout is a clas-sic. Her gurpi differs from all others. If it is seasoned, it certainly isn't with some-thing you'd find on the grocer's shelf. Ingrid maintains high standards when it comes to Sámi fare. With reindeer meat, she eschews seasonings. The meat is cold-smoked which, together with the crépinette, gives the gurpi its flavour.

All reindeer meat differs in flavour from one season to the next. Summer reindeer, from animals that have eaten almost nothing but grass, is particularly mild. Meat from bulls that have been slaughtered in the autumn is richer, since the animals have begun to eat wild fungi, which imparts more flavour to the meat. Meat from the winter slaughter is the gamiest. This is because fodder is scare and the animals have foraged for lichens. A bearer of tradition, Ingrid is a Sámi home cook who knows the secrets behind good food. And she knows that it is both possible and necessary to develop the art of cookery.

there are several aortas in a bucket on the front porch. They remind me of the over-cooked pasta that they served us for school lunches. In the old days, the Sámi boiled aortas and ate them, just as they are, like spaghetti. Nowadays, explains Ingrid, when battered and deep

fried, they are a bit like calamari in terms of both taste and consistency. My mouth begins to water. Sámi cooking is chang-ing and, of course, there are modern versions of all the dishes, but the reindeer remains the same. From this animal, which is the heart and soul of a cultural identity, everything must be used and nothing discarded. English celebrity chef Fergus Henderson helped to popularize 'whole beast' or 'nose-to-tail eating' at his Michelin-starred restaurant St John in London. In the words of Fergus Hen-derson, "If you’re going to kill the animal, it seems only polite to use the whole thing." But this is nothing new. Making use of the whole animal has always been rule number one in a society of hunt-er-gatherers. I don't believe for a minute that the French would have eaten snails, oysters or woodcock with the innards if the freezer had been full of corn-fed fillet steak. Only in our careless, throw-way consumer society is it acceptable to prefer chicken breasts to thighs.

– Just imagine if everyone ate the way we do, says Ingrid, looking at me intently.

– I don't think we can afford it, I reply, laughing. You know, ptarmigan and arctic char don't come cheap.

– No, that's not really what I mean. I mean, like Per-Nils and I, we use everything and do the cooking ourselves.

I understand what she means. But it's sometimes good to be reminded. Have you ever eaten the muzzle? Or

Ingrid Pilto, reindeer owner in the Gran Sámi village producing Sámi fast food – gurpi – the slow way.

”From this animal, which is the heart and soul of a cultural identity, everything must be used and nothing discarded.”

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blood pancakes made from dried reindeer blood that has been dried in an inside-out stomach before being mixed into the pancake batter? For the Sámi, the reindeer is no throw-away item. Hides were tanned for clothing, sinews became sewing thread, antlers were ideal for knife handles and other tools, and the hooves were boiled for glue. Nothing was worthless; everything had a use. shed antlers. Not only the fat of the reindeer is part of a cycle, so are the antlers. The bulls shed their antlers in late autumn. Neither blood nor energy is lost through the antlers in the cold of winter. The cow, the female, however, keeps her antlers. This allows her to protect her offspring from predators, but also to keep antlerless bulls away from her fodder.

Craftsman Jon Tomas Utsi sits in a workshop in Porjus working on an engraved piece for a bone-handled knife. Jon Tomas has crafted traditional Sámi artefacts all of his life, as did his forefathers. He began selling his works at the Jokkmokk winter market at the age of ten. And it was in Jokkmokk that he studied his craft and later became a teacher at Samiska Folkhögskolan for a while. Here, in Jokkmokk, his works are always exhibited at the Ájjte museum during the market. Jon Tomas gathers all of the materials himself and he works mostly in burl*, curly birch and reindeer antler, of course. We chat about reindeer antler and I am a little surprised when he says that he only works with shed antler, and that it makes no difference if it has been lying on the ground.

– How do you mean? Isn’t it degraded by the elements?

– No; in fact, it isn't. The antlers just get a bit more patina. Of course, there’s a limit to how long they can be exposed to

the weather and wind, but that just gives the material more character.

Jon Tomas's family were forced to move from Karesuando in the early 1900s. His great-grandfather brought his herd and his children to Vájsáluok-ta in Sirge village. While he combines different traditions, Jon Tomas has also added his own individual touch. His work is Sámi duodji, genuine Sámi craftsmanship, and his engravings and ornamentation also follow Sámi tradition. In addition, he decorates his knives with fantastic reindeer motifs. This type of art, crafted from recovered shed reindeer antlers, has been his principal source of income since his youth. This is a beautiful form of recycling and sustainability.

a reindeer herd is a sort of matriarchy. A cow decides. It is the leader cow who knows, or decides, if the ice will hold and when it is time to migrate from the fell country to the lowlands. It is the leader cow who knows when it is time to return to the calving grounds in the spring. The leader guides her herd through eight shifting seasons of the year.

I tell my good friend, reindeer herder Lennart Pittja, that I think it is a little strange that the female is clearly the leader of the herd but, where people are concerned, the Sámi world seems to be more of a patriarchy.

– Yes, we haven't quite progressed that far yet, says Lennart, laughing.

– That's a rather interesting thought. On the other hand, we have to be hon-est; patriarchy is a product of the agrar-ian society, stemming from a time when families had many children. Perhaps we Sámi were the last to live that way.

–Indeed, that is probably the case, but I really just said it as a passing remark. No harm intended, I say, trying to let it pass.

”This type of art, crafted from recovered shed reindeer antlers is a beautiful form of recycling and sustainability.”

Jon Tomas Utsis Náphi a vessel

made from burl* and reindeer

antlers.

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*) A burl is a tree growth in wich the grain has grown in a deformed manner. Commonly found in the form of rounded outgrowths.


– I know, but an entire life of 'pass-ing remarks' might make some of us a bit sensitive, counters Lennart.

I understand him. At his home in Gällivare, we sit in silence. We have to be careful with our words.

the apartment in gällivare is hardly Lennart's real home. Instead, it is mere-ly a place to stay, because the 'modern world' demands it. The kids have to go to school, forms have to be sent to the tax authorities, the car has to be taken in for motor vehicle inspection, and the hairdresser is fully booked before Christmas. The list goes on and on. We drink our coffee.

I place a bit of meat in my cup. Lennart smiles. Sårkåjaur, near the Norwegian border, where Lennart's Sámi village Unna Tjerusj has its calving

grounds, is where he really feels at home. A few years ago, we met at the Jokkmokk market. It had snowed heavily that winter and the spruce bows were hanging low under the weight. Every tree in the forest was white with snow. I remarked at

the beauty of the landscape. Lennart said that he was very concerned about what it would mean for the reindeer. I stood there like an idiot. It occurred to me that the reindeer probably didn't care about the lovely scenery. But if they did, they wouldn't complain about the spectacle. A forest becomes a cathedral of light. Lennart explained that the snow on the trees covered the lichen. And when the reindeer ate the lichen they ingested mostly snow and water but not very much lichen. Although

their hunger may have been stilled, they would derive little energy.

Several weeks later I read that many reindeer had succumbed to starvation that winter. I though of Lennart. How sad he must have been. He didn't need to hear any passing remarks, like 'there's always some problem with the reindeer. Either there's too much snow or too little'. I thought of calling him to offer my condolences. I never did. there is no adequate way of explain-ing what the reindeer mean to the Sámi. In an age of consumerism and credit institutions the reindeer doesn't quite fit in. Perhaps, for the sake of comparison, I could liken the reindeer to oil in a petro-leum-based economy. But that is a rather simplistic view of something so beau-tiful. It would reduce us all to neurotic consumers. For the Sámi people and the Sámi culture, the answer is so much more complicated. The reindeer, its habitat and its migration have given rise to the entire Sámi culture and, thereby, even Sápmi, the Sámi homeland.

A nomadic people, the Sámi fol-lowed the reindeer over a yearly cycle of migration between the high country and the coast. An ecocycle over the eight seasons. Gijrra is the most important season. This is the time of calving, when the continuity of life is reaffirmed. Calv-ing is central to the Sámi culture, much like the resurrection is to Christianity. If you studied religion at school, you know what I mean. After gijrra comes gijrra–giessie, spring-summer, the season that can't quite make up its mind. Is it late spring or early summer? One minute it's cold, the next it's warm. Always sun, always greenery, everywhere.

Giessie, of course, is summer as we know it. Apart from the task of ear-marking calves, it is a time to rest and


”The apartment in gällivare is hardly Lennart’s real home. Instead, it is merely a place to stay, because the ’modern world’ demands it. ”

Lennart snaps a selfie in his real living room.

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grow. Tjakttjagiessie is harvest season, when wild berries, mushrooms and game are gathered. It is the most beautiful of the seasons. Nature is decked out in her most colourful finery, the morning mist lingers over the lake and the mercury no longer rises as high in the thermometer.

Tjakttja comes at last. Leaves fall from the trees, snowflakes dance in the air and the reindeer know it is time to leave the calving grounds for the winter grazing grounds. A cold wind blows the snow here and there, and skis are brought out after three seasons in storage. Tjaktta- dálvvie, autumn-winter, is a time to gather at the fireside at nightfall, light the candles and huddle up under a warm blanket on the sofa. The year, like nature, enters into repose.

During Dálvvie the change will come. Even so, it will be some time before we notice that the days are starting to grow longer. The winter cold still holds us tightly in its grip, but it slowly relaxes as


”You are totally dependent on that clacking sound, the sound of reindeer hooves. It’s almost metaphysical. Something I cannot do without. Yes, for me, that sound is purely physical; the thought of not hearing it hurts.” Carl-Johan Utsi

In spring, gijrra, the reindeer calves are born. The cow – or vaja – seeks bare spots where the sun will heat up the ground, so the calves stays warm.

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Gijrradálvvie takes over, with all of its light and promises of a new resurrection. You manage to do more and more during the day. There's time for a ski tour both before and after work. The light returns as does the lust for life. Soon, expectant cows will begin the migration towards the calving grounds again. The wheel has come full circle. The birth of the reindeer calf bears witness to its resurrection of life, which is really a cycle.

carl-johan utsi is a photographer and reindeer herder in the Sirges Sámi village, whose lands include parts of Bad-jelánnda in Jokkmokk. He lives in symbi-osis with his animals and his camera and with a foot in two worlds. There are at least two other Utsis who are professional photographers in Swedish Lapland. I ask Carl Johan if they are related.

– Distantly, maybe. Among the Sámi, Utsi is very common. Many share the name.

– I didn't realize that.– No, of course.

Carl Johan has studied engineering phys-ics with specialization in space technol-ogy for five years at Uppsala University. Or, as he puts it, he has a ‘helluva lot of credits’. But, he says that his studies have benefited him more than he would have expected since he decided to return to reindeer herding.

– Study involves problem solving, but so does reindeer herding.

Carl Johan says he wanted to get away, to rebel against the Sámi lifestyle. He thought he could be anything, do a doctorate, solve the fusion problem, and win a Nobel Prize. But, during a break in his fourth year of studies, Carl Johan's father said that his boy was doing so well in school that it might be time to sell the reindeer. That cut Carl Johan like a knife; he'd never really considered it. He wasn't prepared to lose that part of his life. His

father promised to keep the reindeer for a couple of more years, until Carl Johan had graduated.

– Life in the reindeer forest is a feeling but, at the same time, it is an absolute reality. I mean, when you get your snow-mobile stuck in soavli – ' water on top of the ice' – out on the lake and you have to struggle for a couple of hours, that's just part of a normal working day in the life of a reindeer herder. Even so, there's something else there as well, something we have in our genes.

– The reindeer is our strongest link with nature. That is my real connection with reality.

– Anyone can do a 9-to-5 job; where's the challenge in that? But try succeeding at reindeer herding. It's impossible if you don't understand deep within your inner-most being that you are totally dependent on that clacking sound, the sound of reindeer hooves. It's almost metaphysical. Something I cannot do without. Yes, for me, that sound is purely physical; the thought of not hearing it hurts.

– Is that why you chose this – getting your snowmobile stuck in the slush, never knowing if the ice will freeze, constant fear of accidents and trouble – instead of a career in space physics?

– I don't know. It's sort of weird and ambiguous. In the woods, there are no high demands or expectations; I simply want to be outdoors. And that feeling is wonderfully liberating. At the same time, it's bloody difficult to make a go of it financially or business-wise.

– But you can't do without it – or?– It's tough. But if you asked me what

the reindeer means, my answer would have to be Visut.

– Visut; what does that mean? – Visut is a North Sámi word. For me,

it means 'everything I will ever want or ever need'.


Footnote: The sami words used in the text is from different language and dialects. Carl-Johan Utsi och Nils Torbjörn Nuttis speaks the north sami laguage. The words used for the eight seasons, is also north sámi with a Ume-sámi dialect spoken in Ammarnäs, along the river Vindelälven.

“Visut is a North Sámi word. For me, it means ‘everything I will ever want or even need’.”Carl-Johan Utsi

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Take the antlers, for example. Unlike many other antler-bearing animals, both male and female reindeer have antlers. But, while the bulls shed their antlers in late autumn, the cows keep theirs. The mother must be able to protect her calf from predators. Her antlers also help her to keep bulls away from her fodder. In addition, in winter, heavy antlers are an encumbrance for bulls after the rutting season. They must conserve energy.

It has been said: "The reindeer has a shiny red nose and lives in a harsh environment where food is scarce". Besides the fact that it only has a shiny red muzzle in Disney productions, the reindeer is well-adapted for thermoregulation and finding fodder. The reindeer's winter coat provides highly

The habitat and existence of the reindeer are under constant threat. Global warming is now a reality, just as the Ice Age was a reality, about ten thousand years ago. The reindeer adapted to the expansion and retreat of the ice cover. That is how evolu-tion works; over millennia. It is not by chance that the reindeer on Svalbard are short legged, while the reindeer of the woodland Sámi villages in Sápmi have longer legs. Long legs are a disadvantage on mountain slopes swept by winds coming off the Arctic Ocean, but they are a great advantage in the deep wood-land snow. The reindeer is ideally adapted for life in the Arctic.

efficient thermal insulation. But cold weather poses a problem only if the animal has developed its summer fur and summer is delayed. The greater problem, instead, is how to lose heat. Therefore, a system has evolved that allows blood to be circulated out to the legs, where a lack of subcutaneous fat means that the blood is cooled. Another mechanism allows the reindeer to lose excess heat. Like dogs, reindeer have large tongues and panting regulates their body temperature.

Perhaps the most fascinating feature to have evolved in a cold climate is the reindeer's muzzle. Although it is not red it is still noteworthy. It is a highly efficient heat regulator. When we humans exhale in temperatures of around minus 30 Celsius, a cloud of warm vapour forms around our faces with every breath. If we are walking, it freezes on our faces. This does not happen to reindeer. As the animal exhales, its muzzle lowers the temperature to 21 degrees Celsius. In this way, the reindeer avoids being covered in frost while at the same time minimizing heat loss. But the muzzle also functions in the opposite way, much like a heat exchanger. The reindeer can 'open' its muzzle and release heat, for example, if it is being pursued. But the animal also has other arctic adaptations.

Researchers have discovered that the reindeer's eyes change colour with the seasons. This colour change helps rein-deer to see better during the continuous darkness of winter, when the reindeer's eyes are blue and in the continuous daylight of summer, when the eyes have a golden colour. The blue-eyed winter reindeer can see ultraviolet, which is abundant in arctic light, allowing them to find food and see predators. In the wake of global warming, when one might ima-gine that the reindeer will slowly adapt to new conditions, a question arises. Can it be possible for the reindeer to do this in times such as these?

All factors considered, including the busy, modern lifestyle of the Sámi, the answer is probably no. On the other hand, the impact of a growing society, with highways, railways, power lines and hydro dams, is probably a much greater problem than whether or not, due to a changing climate, the reindeer will have time to change their migratory paths. One problem gives rise to the next, even for an animal that uses its nose to regulate its body temperature.

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Arjeplog

båtsuoj samecenter , Slagnäs, +46(0)70-642 31 66 www.batsuoj.se

Arvidsjaur

abborrträsk natursafari, +46 (0)70-573 37 36 www.natursafari.se

Boden

årstidsfolket, Flakaberg, Gunnarsbyn+46(0)925 330 23+46(0)70 548 30 23

Gällivare

hyr&äventyr i lappland ab, Koskullskulle. +46(0)70-648 08 07 +46 (0)73-181 33 41 www.hyrochaventyr.se

per-erik kuoljok, Ruokto, +46 (0)73-031 79 83

Haparanda

guest house tornedalen, Risudden/Hedenäset +46 (0)70-994 08 48 www.guesthousetornedalen.se

kukkolaforsen, Haparanda+46 (0)922-310 00 www.kukkolaforsen.se

Jokkmokk

sapmi ren och vilt, Helena och Rickard Länta, www.sapmirenovilt.se

Kiruna

nutti sámi siida, Jukkasjärvi, +46 (0)980-213 29, www.nutti.se

giron travel, +46 (0)70-649 18 87 www.girontravel.se

rensjön sápmi adventures, Rensjön, +46 (0)70-568 60 46

Meet the Reindeer

Luleå

pinebay lodge, Brändön, 30 km north of Luleå www.pinebaylodge.se

Pajala

arctic circle adventure, Korpilombolo,+46 (0)70 219 78 11 www.arcticcircleadventure.se

forest hotel, Tärendö,+46 (0)978-203 80 www.foresthotel.se

lapland incentive ab – wärdshuset, Kangos/Pajala, +46 (0)978 321 37 www.laplandincentive.se

rajamaa, Muodoslompolo,+46 (0)978-430 40 www.rajamaa.com

Piteå

reindeer events, +46 (0)70 348 36 44 +46 (0)70 353 10 40

Sorsele

piltos goda, Ammarnäs och Sorsele, +46(0)70-302 31 81 www.sapmivisti.se

jk event, Sandås/Rusksele, +46 (0)70-238 93 41 www.jkevent.se

Överkalix

rokkas ren, Överkalix,+46 (0) 926-260 18 +46 (0)70-650 60 18www.rokkas.se

Övertorneå

svanstein arctic experience, +46 (0)927-20130 www.svanstein.net

All around Swedish Lapland there are places where you can meet reindeer and learn more about them and their lives, as told by reindeer-herding entrepreneurs. This way you can get a better idea of Sámi daily life.

Bulmmot’s impressive antlers are still covered in skin and haven’t finished growing yet. The male reindeer, called sarv, lose the skin covering in autumn, in time for the rutting season when the antlers harden. The female reindeer, called vaja, keeps her skin covering longer. Demand for antlers doesn’t lead to poaching, as antlers are shed and new ones grow each spring..

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Lingonberriesvac c i n i u m v i t i s - i da e a

rich in benzoic acid lingonberries were easy to store even during years when people couldn't afford much sugar to pre-serve them in. The Lingonberry is a hardy plant that keeps its leaves all year round and tolerates temperatures down to minus 40 degrees Celsius without much problem. That's why lingon-berries are found in the northern hemisphere, in near-arctic environments. Mashed with sugar they are served as an accompaniment to potato pancakes and fried pork, to meatballs and game. But lingonberries are also used to make jam, face creams and tasty caramel. The lingonberry is Sweden's most important berry, economically speaking, and we export a lot to Germany and Austria where it's called Preisselbeere. The lingonberry flowers are hermaphrodite and you can grow them yourself in a pot. The Latin name for lingonberry is vaccinium vitis-idaea and it's one of the ingredients in a classic Swedish long drink – the one we call Vargtass (Wolf 's Paw).

< Luleå Konfektyr make lingonberry-flavoured caramel. Not only do lingon-berries taste good, they are also good for you!

< Care of Gerd have several products that are made using oil from lingonberry seeds. Lingonberry Clear Cream is a skin cream based on lingonberry seed oil. The cream calms and balances unbalanced skin. Every berry has its own characteristics and is used for different kinds of skin care.

> Skogsbärsfröjd use lingonberries – the red gold of the forest – in many of their products. Lingonberries are full of beneficial substances and are referred to as the new super berry; they contain many different antioxidants, for example. Lingonberry nectar is an excellent choice with pancakes and ice-cream. Lingonberry shots can be enjoyed as they are, or dilute them with water to serve as a table drink.

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Uncooked lingonberry jam

you need:250 gr lingonberries 150 ml granulated sugar

Stir thawed lingonberries and sugar until the sugar has melted. Serve with renskav (thin slices of reindeer meat).

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Berry raisins from Skogsbärsfröjd are natural sweets that are good for you: bilberries and lingonberries sweetened with sugar. They are tasty and chewy, with a consistency that will remind you of 'normal' raisins. Dried berries are perfect if you want to enjoy your berries allyear round, but have no space tostore lots of them in the freezer. Tray by Per-Stefan Idivuoma.

Lingonpolka is a version of the classic Swedish polkagris (peppermint rock). It's a boiled sweet with a fresh, slightly acidic lingonberry flavour. Artisan food from Västerbotten, sold by Shop in Lapland.

Lingonberry is an evergreen shrub, and the stubborn little plant easily copes

with minus 40 degrees Celsius.

Lingonberries in all it’s forms, cooked or uncooked jam, is a great ingrediens in the nordic kitchen. Perfect with everything from reindeer meat to breakfast pancakes.

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7 suggestions for sleeping rough

To survive in the cold was the obvious key to being able to live in Swedish Lapland. Using snow, ice and animal

skin as building blocks for winter accommodation became something

natural. Because underneath the snow, or perhaps rather inside the snow,

it never gets really cold. These days we use the old knowledge and put a

luxurious spin on it. For those who wish to experience winter dwelling at its best

we've listed seven of our most exciting accommodation alternatives. >>

1 on your own. To go winter camping on your own in a silent forest, underneath the northern lights and falling stars is nothing but magic. But you need a good tent, one that's made for winter. You need knowledge to put the tent up, making sure the material is taut to lessen condensation between inner and outer tent. You need a really good camping mattress to insulate from the cold, unless you have a reindeer skin or make a bed of fir tree branches first, of course. You also need a sleeping bag that works in proper winter cold.


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stay in a snowball. That’s basically what it’s all about. And outside Villa Åsgård in Jokkmokk they’ve taken this a step further and Cecilia Lundin has constructed some ready-made ’snowballs’ where you can stay.

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construct your home from snow. With more than 15 years of experience as a tour guide in Laponia, Cecilia Lundin knows how to build these ”arctic homes”. And she’s also seen how fascinated people are by snow construction. In the mountains you probably choose to build and sleep in an igloo. The Wind-blown snow makes it easy to saw blocks and build your own igloo. In the forestland, where the snow is loose it might be easier to build a quinzhee. Just shovel snow into a pile and let it rest. Then hollow it out. Like a snow cave. Basically. www.natulife.se

aurora safari camp in the middle of the forest by the river Råneälven in Gunnars-byn is photographer Fredrik Broman’s brainchild and creation. There is no arti-ficial light nearby and for those who wish to experience the northern lights and the starry sky it’s pure heaven. You stay com-fortable in a traditional lavvu, a Sami tent heated by a stove. Even if it’s cold outside you’ll be nice and cosy inside. Aurora Safari Camp has taken the traditional tent one step higher on the comfort scale, but also stayed true to tradition. This is first-class glamping. www.aurorasafaricamp.com

iglootel in arjeplog. Just south of the Arctic Circle (50 km) you find one of the most unique hotels in the world: the so-called IGLOOTEL. The building, built entirely out of snow, is ready to be inhabited from January to April every year. If you don't want to stay there, only visit on a guided tour, the hotel is near the Kraja holiday complex in Arjeplog. But really: you should try a night in an ex-citing hotel room and be surprised by the warm atmosphere – after all – in the middle of the ice. www.iglootel.de

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Aurora Dome — an Arctic night under wondrous skies

Almost 100 miles above the Arctic Circle, in a transparent dome tent, you have all the stars in the universe to yourself.

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we are 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle with Sara Ljunggren and Johan Väisänen at Explore the North in Kangos, Pajala. Here, under the Arctic sky and deep in the wilderness, Sara and Johan have made a life for themselves.

– We live in an eldorado of natural phenomena and we want to share that with our guests, says Johan.

We follow Sara’s and Johan’s footsteps through the forest. Every exhalation looks like a small cloud as it meets the cold at 24 degrees below zero, but the cold doesn’t reach us underneath our three layers of clothing. A bit further on the forest ends and the bog starts, we see the lights from Aurora Domes, our accommodation for the night.

– Aurora Domes is our latest creation, says Sara and shows us into the dome. We are lost for words; the idea is as mad as it is brilliant. In the centre of the dome there is a double bed and outside the transparent walls the wilderness continues as if we weren’t there.

– Many guests comes to us with a dream of experiencing the northern lights, explains Sara. We wanted to give

them the whole sky. There’s so much to discover up there.

– A moose passed here quite recently, interjects Johan and points to the tracks outside the dome. He smiles when he sees our surprise, – don’t worry, the moose prefer to observe you from a distance – and no, they would never tell on our guests.

After an afternoon filled with ac-tivities Sara welcomes us to dinner. A big fire in the centre of the restaurant spreads warmth and creates a cosy feel-ing. As we satisfy our hunger, we learn that the chances of seeing the northern lights in the evening are good. We finish off with the steam from the sauna and make the walk through the forest.

Inside the dome it is warm. We update Instagram with pictures and greetings from our great location and quite soon we are in the middle of a spectacular light show. The northern lights dance across the Arctic sky in changing ranges of col-ours and we are overcome by something far beyond what words can describe.

www.explorethenorth.se

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ICEHOTEL® number 26

”Elephant in the room”, design AnnaSofia Mååg.

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”Show me what you got” design Tjåsa Gusfors och David Andrén.

ICEHOTEL. Let’s put this straight, so you're not surprised: For the 26th year running ICEHOTEL has amazed everyone and taken the world by storm. It's cool to stay inside snow and ice, but it's even cooler when you're staying in the middle of an absolute world-class art exhibition. Every year ICEHOTEL attracts renowned ice sculptors who shape the public areas of the hotel, the halls and the church. And above all: the suites. An ice peacock – 'Show me what you got' made by Tjåsa Gusfors and David Andrén, or an elephant in the room – 'The Elephant in the room' by AnnaSofia Mååg will make you raise your eyebrows. 130 artists from all over the world handed in drawings and ideas for the 19 suites. Other artists who participated were Erik Fankki, Luca Roncoroni, Luc Voisin, Mathieu Brison, Shin-go and Natsuki Saito – among many other ice creators and ice magicians. www.icehotel.com

Reception and pillar hall

”Goathie” (Sámi hut), design Erik Fankki och

Arne Bergh.


our church villages are in many ways synonymous with certain hard-ships; great distances and the duty to attend church compelled people to flock to the villages. As part of the Protestant Reformation it was decreed in 1681 that church attendance should be compulsory for the region. Regard-less of place of residence and travel distance, the common folk could not be denied the Christian message that was preached from pulpits throughout the sparsely populated regions of the country.

– Worship often entailed a journey of many miles on foot or by horse and cart, says Frida Forsell, manager of Lövånger Kyrkstad AB, which has managed Lövånger's church village since 2014.

Travel was time-consuming and a one-day return journey to worship was, of course, out of the question.

– Thus, church villages began to grow up, here and there, throughout the north.

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Great distances and mandatory church attendance gave rise to

the beautiful church villages of Swedish Lapland. Neither the

settlers nor the Sámi would be deprived of the message of Christ.

And for souls to be saved, an overnight stay was often necessary.

God’s ownworld heritage

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Swedish Lapland's Church Villages ammarnäs: Twelve poled sheds and a chur-ch cottage; a national heritage site.arvidsjaur: About 30 log huts and some 50 sheds; designated buildings of historical significance. boden: About ten church cottages.burträsk: Three larger church village buildings; replicas erec-ted in 1930 after a fire.byske: Eight church cottages; designated buildings of historical significance.gammelstad: 400 church cottages, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.hortlax: Nine church cottages, rebuilt after a fire in 1917; a national heritage site.lövånger: More than 100 church cottages; a national heritage site.norrfjärden: About ten church cottages; a national heritage site.råneå: Ten church cottages.skellefteå: Bonn-stad, with more than 100 church cottages; listed buildings and a national heritage site.älvsbyn: About ten church cottages; a national heritage site.öjebyn: About ten church cottages; a national heritage site.Source: Wikipedia

vital meeting places– If you lived ten kilometres from

church, at least one member of the household would have to attend Sunday service every week, continues Frida.

If you lived twenty kilometres way, someone had to attend every other Sunday. Thirty kilometres meant every third Sunday, and so on. Everything was regulated by the decree of mandatory church attendance. And everything was carefully documented. In its role as a state supervisory authority, the church permitted scarce opportunity for tru-ancy. In addition to Christianizing the population, the state was able to keep tabs on taxation.

But during the major feasts of the church – Christmas, Easter, Whitsun-tide and Michaelmas – things were a little different.

– And no excuse was good enough, smiles Frida.

Entire parishes gathered in the church villages. During church holidays, parishioners also took the chance to visit markets, take care of errands and transact business. Perhaps the adults would frequent an illicit tavern, proba-bly run by a woman, while the younger generation went courting among the church cottages.

– It's easy to imagine how these places would have been bustling with activity during major church feasts.

a very neat little townEarly on, there were about 70 church villages in Sweden. Today, 16 of them have been preserved, 13 of which are in Swedish Lapland, from Ammarnäs in the high country to the coast. Gammel-stad in Luleå is maybe the most famous, since it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Skellefteå has four church villages, two of which are particularly well preserved and are listed as national heritage sites.

One of them, Bonnstan, in Skellefteå, is near the rural parish church. This grand building just happens to be the largest of its kind in Sweden. It was

designed in the 1700s by architect Johan Rijf.

In 1732, in his Iter Lapponicum, Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus) reflected over the place:

”I was gratif ied with the view of a f ine river, and the very neat little town of Skellefteå, consisting of two principal streets and several cross ones, with a church. The houses are about three hundred and fifty or four hundred, and their white chimneys give them a cheerful aspect. I was informed that every peasant in the parish had a house of his own in the town, for the use of his family during festivals”.

world famousPerhaps the most well known church village is Gammelstad, outside Luleå. The more than 400 very traditional, red, well-preserved church cottages have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. The 408 cottages are grouped around northern Sweden's largest medieval stone church. Perhaps this is indicative of the importance of the mouth of the Lule River for the Swedish economy at the time. Income from the salmon fishery on the Lule River helped to build Uppsala University. An alumnus of that university, Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus), visited Gammelstad in 1732. At Midsummer that year, the 25-year-old Linnaeus wrote in his journal: "If the summer be indeed shorter here than in any other part of the world, it must be allowed, at the same time, to be nowhere more beautiful. I was never in my life in better health than at present". Quite possibly, he missed the Midsummer cele-brations of those less fortunate. A unique feature of the church is that it has never burned. Many other Swedish church villages have been restored after being razed by fire.

the old townThe name Gammelstad (Old Town) is quite simply explained by the fact that there is a newer Luleå. The first mention of a church service being held in Luleå is in 1339. When the church and cottages


were built around present-day Gammelstad the site was an island at the mouth of the Lule River. But three hundred years later the land had risen to such a degree that the first church village was no longer accessible by boat, so a new Luleå had to be established. This new town became present-day Luleå, while the original was named Gammelstad. The church, which is the largest medieval stone church in northern Sweden, has many interesting features. There is a bishop's throne and ancient church pews. An altar-piece depicting the Passion of Christ was made in Antwerp and is believed to have cost 900 silver pieces. This was an enormous sum in the 1400s. It is said that Luleå's farmers paid for it all in cash. Fishing was profitable in those days.

historic treasure chest of stories. Throughout Sweden, in times of unrest, it was customary to temporarily sink valu-able church bells in rivers or other bodies of water to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. It is believed that this was also done in Skellefteå, just downstream from Bonnstan. When peace resumed, despite

a careful search, the bells could not be found. A wise man was summoned and he came to the conclusion that the bells had been taken by a mermaid.

– He told the people to continue the search and that the bells, if found, must be salvaged under absolute secrecy. Further-more, the bells would have to be drawn from the river by two white oxen.

– After twenty years of labo-rious searching, the bells were found and the salvage operation

began in silence. Suddenly, the party was distracted by a curious shifting of colour in the west. As the apparition approached it assumed the shape of a waddling figure that grew larger and larger. The men stared transfixed at the phenomenon, one of them

exclaiming, "A hen!" A second later the half-retrieved bells fell back into the river, taking the oxen, tackle and harness with them. Since then, the bells have been lost for ever.

they went a-courting in bonnstanNot only tales of the supernatural flour-ished in the church villages. Many stories bear witness to the fact that Bonnstan in Skellefteå was not only a place for worship-pers to stay, but also a place of romance. On weekend evenings, groups of young men roamed among the cottages, singing courting songs to girls who caught their eye. Usually, they were rejected, but sometimes a suitor was admitted and permitted to lie abed, fully clothed, and talk to the girl. Sometimes, this led to matrimony and, sometimes, unrequited love.

the church village in lövångerLövånger's church village shares much in common with Bonnstan in Skellefteå. In form and function, they differ little. The buildings are also about the same in number, 117 in Lövånger and 116 in Bonnstan.

– However, here in Lövånger, the stables have been preserved, says Frida.

All of the buildings in Lövånger's church village are Falu red. The window shutters and doors are okra, while the window frames and muntins are white. In other words, visitors are greeted with a cheery display of Swedish rural charm.

– "Yes, the traditional red-and-white theme is quite evident here,” smiles Frida. In Bonnstan, for most of the buildings, the natural wood colour has been retained.

comfortable accommodationEverything changes over time. This also applies to the function of a church village. Nowadays, distances have in many ways diminished. Horse and wagon is no longer the preferred mode of travel. In Bonnstan, as in Gammelstad, the cottages are still pri-vately owned and are a popular destination,

”An altarpiece de-picting the Passion of Christ was made in Antwerp and is believed to have cost 900 silver pieces. This was an enormous sum in the 1400s. It is said that Luleå’s farmers paid for it all in cash. Fishing was profitable in those days.”

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especially in summer, though they are seldom occupied by anyone other than the cottage owners. In Lövånger, howev-er, visitors are frequently accommodated in the church cottages.

– We have 100 beds in total, says Frida. All cottages are equipped with toilets and showers and have two to five beds. Great food is served in the restaurant in Storstugan and you can enjoy morning coffee on your own front porch.

For obvious reasons, Lövånger's church is main feature of the village.

– This makes it an ideal venue for weddings.

A cottage is reserved specifically for such occasions.

– Brudstugan - the Bridal Cottage, says Frida, smiling. The address is Uttersjögatan 147.

Yes, all of the buildings in Lövånger's church village have addresses.

– It has its advantages. And that's easy to see. A wedding in

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The beautiful street Hamngatan in Gammel-

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the church village is a magical event, but it might otherwise be a bit of a challenge to find the right cottage. Whether you've been partying like the church festival revellers of old or you are just a tad forgetful, it can be quite useful to know the number of your cottage. They are undoubtedly very similar; all one hundred of them.


LAPONIA The large forests, moun-tains, glaciers and vast marshlands were inscribed as a world heritage in 1996. Laponia is also the land of the Sámi and the reindeer. Every year the mountain Sámi move in and out of the world heritage to take the reindeer to their different grazing areas. In the forest region the Sámi live all year round and use the marshes to let the reindeer cool off. – Laponia is a living world heritage, says Åsa Nordin Jonsson, who has been director of Laponiatjuottjudus for three years. Laponiatjuottjudus is a new regional administration organisation for Laponia.

A world heritage is an area, place or building so valuable that it must be preserved for the future. Such as pyramids, barrier reefs, the Grand Canyon – and in Swedish Lapland: Laponia, the church town of Gammelstad and the Struve geodetic arc. UNESCO selects world heritage sites based on nominations. 2015 there were 1,031 world heritage sites, 15 of them in Sweden.

Heritagefor the world

Her best Laponia suggestion is to buy some fresh, smoked fish and newly baked gáhkku, 'ember bread'. – I think everyone will find their own gems in Lapland. I like Gáidumgeahi, Skárjá in Sarek, walking the Padjelanta trail, or climbing up the birdwatching tower in Muttosluoppal looking out over the vast marshlands. If you know what to look for you can see how man and nature have influenced each other, Åsa Nordin Jonsson explains. The paths all take the most advantageous routes and along them you find fireplaces as beads on a string. The best tent sites are often lusciously green meadows where the reindeer were milked. At the

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same time you can hear a helicopter heard the reindeer for the calf branding. – If you don't know where to start you can always ask the locals what there is to see and do in the area. They know the best trails and will tell you what you can see along the way. Åsa Nordin Jonsson says that another easy way of experiencing the world her-itage is to visit the Naturum Laponia Visi-tor Centre on Viedásnjárgga in the Stuor Muorkke national park. The Naturum is a visitor centre for the entire world heritage featuring a large exhibition, café, lecture hall, guided tours and so on. Here you can get information on how to enter further into the world heritage.

The 'Snow Trap' – Naturum Laponia, designed by the inter-nationally renowned architectural firm Win-gårdhs Arkitektkontor AB in the middle of the world heritage. It's built to leave no trace in nature, in accordan-ce with Sámi tradition. There is no building like it anywhere in the world.

FACTS:• Laponia became a world heritage

in1996.• The world heritage consists of Sarek,

Padjelanta, Stora Sjöfallet and Muddus national parks, as well as the nature reserves Sjávnja and Stubbá. The areas Tjuoldavuobme, Ráhpaäno sourgudahka and Sulidäbmá are also included.

• Laponia is approx. 9,400 square kilo-metres, a bit larger than Cyprus.

www.laponia.nu

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Gammelstad outside Luleå is the largest preserved church town in northernmost Sweden, and also the only one were two kinds of wooden towns are combined: the church town and the burgher town. From the 14th century Gammelstad was a market place and the centre of a

THE STRUVEGEODETIC ARC In the beginning of the 19th century the German-Russian astronomer Wilhelm von Struve decided to use triangulation to establish the exact shape and size of the Earth. The measurements marked an impor-tant step forward for science and the development of topographic mapping. Struve carried out his measurements between 1816 and 1855 and through them he could show that latitudes are longer in Scandinavia than by the equator. This proved that the Earth isn't a perfect sphere, but rather an oblate spheroid, because the sphere is squashed by the poles as the Earth spins and the mass is pulled towards the equator. 34 of the 265 observation points have been on the world heritage list since 2005.

parish that at times consisted of nearly the entire Norrbotten county of today. At the beginning of the 17th century the town had developed into a church town and received trading privileges. The church cottages were mixed with those that were inhabited all year round in the church town. Today the church village is a living community where the cottages are mostly used during the confirmation festival at midsummer.

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THE CHURCH TOWN OF GAMMELSTAD

FACTS:• 520 culture-historically valuable

and protected buildings, of which 405 are church cottages.

• The unique environment consists of the 15th-century stone church with surrounding church cottages, a medieval network of streets and buildings stemming from the 17th-century burgher town.

• World heritage since 1996.

www.lulea.se/gammelstad

– It's a great advantage to figure on the world heritage list. It puts us in a larger international context, since there is a lot of interest for world heritage sites, says Sara Vintén, world heritage coordinator.

FACTS:• It runs through ten countries: Norway,

Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.

• There are seven station points in Sweden and four of them are on the world heritage list.

• The points are marked by drilled holes in rock, iron crosses, cairns or obelisks.

• World heritage since 2005.

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Struve chose to follow the 'Tartu-meridi-an' through 265 station points, with 30 kilometres in between, along a 2,821 km long stretch from Fuglenes in Norway to Izmail, Ukraine, by the Black Sea.

The beautiful Rapa Valley in Sarek National park.

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Museums

ájtteÁjtte is the principal museum of Sámi culture, specialist museum for mountain nature and culture and information centre for mountain tourism. Ájtte shows mankind in its natural environment, and nature and culture in an integral, ecological perspective. Ájtte is located in Jokkmokk, one of the gateways to Lapland's mountain world. Mining has been present since the 17th century and dramatic structures for hydroelectric power were constructed during the entire 20th century. Forestry has exploited the last large untouched forests. But this is also where you'll find Laponia, the World Heritage in Lapland. Ájtte's geographic scope covers the entire mountain region and the traditional Sámi settlement area from the western border down into the forestland: 1,000 km from south to north.

norrbottens museeumNorbottens museum in Luleå is the coun-ty museum of Sweden's largest county, in terms of size. Norrbotten has a varied landscape spanning from coast to mountain with a culture that goes back more than 10,000 years. The county is a multi-cultural environment, shaped by Sámi, Torne Valley Finnish, Finnish, Swedish and New Swedish culture. Activities related to cultural resources management, archaeology, ethnology, documentation, archive, library and col-lections, art and education are carried out at the museum as well as an exten-sive range of programs. Norrbottens museum collaborates with all municipal areas in the county and its task is to collect, convey and develop the county's cultural heritage.

the national defence museumThe National Defence Museum in Boden is a modern museum putting Sweden and Boden's fortress into a bigger perspective. The permanent exhibition at the museum – Norrland, Sweden's Northern Barrier – presents Swedish defence history from the end of the 19th century to the present, through war and peace and seen from several different perspectives. The journey takes you from the large-scale mobilisation for the First World War through the calm period between the wars, the Second World War and the Cold War to a more stable region where priority for Sweden's national defence has changed and it's now used in peace-keeping missions on every continent. The National Defence Mu-seum is part of SMHA, Swedish Military Herit-age, a network that consists of 26 state-owned and state-supported museums.

havremagasinetUp until 1997 large yellow signs with bold, red frames prohibited foreigners in the area around Boden. During a different era the same kind of signs pro-claimed 'The Russians are coming' and welcomed people to an impressive art exhibition in one of Boden's most spec-tacular buildings – Havremagasinet. The year was 2010 and Boden's role as a strategic military defence against the East was over. The door to the rest of the world had opened. Havremagasinet had been transformed into one of the largest art galleries in Sweden and since then it has presented international contemporary art that deals with themes like democra-cy, human rights and freedom of speech.

All our museums are unique. From the main museum of sámi culture, via the museum of saunas, to one of Swedens largest art exhibitions you will have a great experience.

the sauna museum The Sauna Museum by the Kukkola rapids shows us how sauna culture has developed through the ages. Here you can visit different kinds of saunas, learn about the positive effects taking sauna can have on your health, and in general everything you need to know about how best to take a sauna. The area has 13 different saunas, from different times and places.

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silvermuseetSilvermuseet in Arjeplog is the key to the cultural history of the mountains. The exhibitions housed on three floors inside Silvermuseet tell the story about life during ten thousand years in a mountain community, from prehistoric time to present day. Here are the stories about people who for thousands of years have come there to hunt and catch their food; stories about the Sámi and the farmers and their strenuous daily life; but also about man's rejoicings and adventures. A whole exhibition is dedicated to the important role nature played in their lives, and the crowning, glittering glory is the large collection of Sámi silver.

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tornedalens museumTornedalens museum – Tornionlaaak-son maakuntamuseo – the provincial museum of the Torne Valley is found in Tornio, showcasing the history of the region on both sides of the border; the museum includes both Haparanda and Torneå. The exhibition tells us about the common roots shared by the people in the Torne Valley: why did they come to the region and how did they go about their lives? It also features food culture, rock music, local identity, regional iden-tity, language and dialects..

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D E S I G N

Made in Swedish Lapland

Sámi design comes in many shapes. From

traditional leather hats to a blue dress at the

Nobel Banquet. Some of Sweden’s coolest

designers have taken the Sámi expression

further – to put some excitement into

everyday life. »

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Hanna Råman,VittangiFor Hanna Råman, handicraft and duodji are based on thoughts and tradition, creativity and joy. An ability to use what nature has to offer and create something beautiful. It has to do with slow and sustainable processes. Simply preparing and tanning a hide is a process that extends over the seasons.

designs: Handbags and jewellery for the here and now, and duodji.

what inspires you? Nature, wherever I am. People, wherever they are. I suppose it's the same for many people, but it is important to be able to find inspiration here and now. At the same time, it's important to allow yourself to be surprised when you meet new people, cultures and forms of expression.

which materials do you work with? Natural materials. Mostly reindeer hides, but also birch root, woodland and alpine birds, birch bark and wool. I like to mix materials that marry well with each other. Silver and horn therefore appear in much of what I make. Among other recycled fabrics, I use denim in handbags based on the coffee-pouch model.

what do you wish to communicate with your designs? Simplicity. It must be natural and useful. I like stripped-down, functional design. Even so, I like to make things as beautiful as possible. There needn't be any difference between beauty and simplicity.

what is your personal expression? Mixing hard and soft materials is probably my artistic expression. But, for me, crafting means creating something with my thoughts and my hands. I like the long processes; that's what makes the work sustainable and interesting. The environment is important to me and my work mustn't have a negative impact on our world. Taking advantage of changes in the temperature to allow the reindeer leather to soften, and using osier, willow and birch to tan it, is just one example.

for you, what is the arctic lifestyle? Being close to the forest, the mountains and the water.

what is your next step? Live life. But right now I am applying the power of my thoughts and my hands towards work for the Jokkmokk market and the travelling exhibition with the duodji group Árbi.

From top to bottom: Necklace and earrings in birch bark and silver. Northern Sámi gákti where Hanna has used denim instead of the classic vadmal (frieze). Bags shaped like a tradi-tional coffee bag, made in vadmal or recycled denim with shoulder straps made of braided reindeer skin. Bracelet Ovttas in braided reindeer skin, sold in favour of the organisation PLAN Sweden.www.hannaraman.n.nu

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“ I like the long processes; that's what makes the work sustainable and interesting... my work mustn't have a negative impact on our world.”


D E S I G N

“Unnit Leavttu – ’slow down’ –

is my motto.

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Erica Huuva Simma,IdivuomaErica Huvva Simma from Idivuoma loves to shape, or realize her ideas, with her hands. For her, a day when nothing is cre-ated is a lost day. Erica designs Sámi silver jewellery based on a philosophy she calls Slow Art Sàpmi, in which time is quality and quality is sustainable. And sustainability is our foundation, culture and future.

designs: Modern and traditional Sámi silver jewellery. Utility items. Her own patterns and forms, among other things, mod-ern textiles, art and textile printing.

what inspires you? Nature. Life. The Sámi culture and traditions, encounters with other cultures and people. Time and space; on makes room for the other. Without space there is no time – and vice versa.

which materials do you work with?? Silver, brass, gold, wood, horn, paper, textile, paint and canvas. But also the joy I experience over being able to produce something every day.

what do you wish to communicate with your designs? A love of my culture, and to pass our heritage and traditions on to new generations. Initially, inspiration reaches me in the form of words. I keep the words within me, where they grow to become forms and jewellery.

what is your personal expression? Natural simplicity rooted in the Sámi culture. I want to combine Sámi aesthetics with modern classic elegance. It must be timeless. I want my products to become much-loved friends for many years to come.

for you, what is the arctic lifestyle? It is nature and the changing of the seasons. How we live off, and with, nature. I have a Sámi background, which means that I am more attuned to nature. To listen and internalize.

what is your next step? Slow Art Sápmi. And to contin-ue designing jewellery and utility items. The creative process cannot be hurried. Instead, I choose to live in and with the rhythm of my craft. Unnit Leavttu – "slow down" is my motto.

Árbevierru/Tradition is a classic jewellery collection. Erica’s collections have themed names such as for ex-ample Gárdi/Reindeer Corral, Muohta/Snow, Ráhkisvuohta/Love, Garra biegga/Strong wind. Take a look at the collection here: www.ericahuuva.se

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D E S I G N

Modern interpre-tations inspired by the v-shape of the Southern Sámi gákti garment and its embroidered collar. Anna-Stina mixes leather, cloth, fur, different fabrics and metals by ear, and creates unique and personal items of clothing.www.astudesign.com Astu is the Northern Sámi word for ‘having time’.Ph

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Anna-Stina Svakko,PorjusClothing designer Anna-Stina Svakko is from Kiruna but she grew up in a Sámi village in Malå. Currently, she lives in Porjus and develops a modern language for a traditional form of art and handicraft. She finds inspiration in the reindeer and nature. By October 2015, she had sewn 267 kolts (traditional Sámi tunics).

designs: Sámi-inspired clothing.

what inspires you? Traditional Sámi forms in textiles, but also winter and its nuances of blue. A sense of being part of a culture should be at the heart of everything we do. I’m inspired by duodji (traditional Sámi art and artefacts). I also want to give the world a bit more 'wow'.

which materials do you work with? Often, modern designer fabrics from labels such as Armani, Gucci and Prada, and, of course, natural materials such as wool, silk, leather and fur from the north. I also use recovered material whenever I can.

what do you wish to communicate with your designs? That Sámi form is alive in the here and now. We are part of the age in which we live. But, naturally, I also want to make my own mark.

what is your personal expression? To dare to go against what is expected; that is, people's preconceived notion of what constitutes Sámi culture. For me, ethno fashion is red, blue, green and, often, yellow. But that isn't always easy. All Sámi design, mine at least, has its origins in árbdiettu, the inherited knowledge we acquire subconsciously simply from growing up in the Sámi tradition. Even so, although my design is deeply rooted in my genes, I want to surprise.

for you, what is the arctic lifestyle? The blue days and nights give us vitality, as long as the climate does not change. Shovelling snow six months of the year and realizing it is an asset.

what is your next step? Find a new challenge. I get a bit crazy when I do the same thing for too long. Both my world and the greater world around us could do with a little more wow.

“A sense of being part of a culture should be at the heart of every-thing we do. But I also want to give the world a bit more ‘wow’.”

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D E S I G N

Sara Björne,KirunaSara Björne works with slow fashion. Quality materials and small-scale pro-duction are keywords. Sara’s ambition is to make clothing for those who care about style and sustainability. When culture minister Alice Bah Kuhnke was going to attend her first Nobel banquet, she contacted Sara.

designs: Jewellery and custom-tailored clothing.

what inspires you? I am inspired by everything around me; magazines, the web, people, books, TV and travel.

which materials do you work with? I work with metal, mostly silver and pewter thread, but also textiles. Then, I work with various kinds of textiles, just like a tailor. The dress Alice Bah Kuhnke wore at the Nobel banquet was special. She already had a dress that she wanted me to redesign, as a form of recycling. Besides the fact that I like the idea of recycling, I was very pleased with the result.

what do you wish to communicate with your designs? Simple, stylish and timeless products. My products should be able to mix and match with everything. They should be for everyday wear, as well as for festive occasions. Above all, good quality stands the test of time.

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what is your personal expression? Again, simple, stylish and timeless products. Sustainability in the choice of both material and style. I want my clothes and accessories to be worn season after season. I want to create products that tell their own story together with the wearer. That's slow fashion, an attitude to fashion in which quality always takes precedence over quantity. But that doesn't mean we have to stop shopping and consuming, simply that we should consider choosing products that are good and sustainable.

for you, what is the arctic lifestyle? For me it’s skiing, both conventional cross-country and ski touring. Being outdoors, fishing and hiking. If it hadn’t been for nature and the outdoors lifestyle, I would have lived somewhere else. That’s important for me.

what is your next step?? My next step will be to add some exciting new patterns to my jewellery collection.

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Sara Björne from Kiruna designed the dress, bag, hair accessory and brace-let that Alice Bah Kuhnke, Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy, wore to the Nobel Banquet in 2014. Craig Mello was awarded the Novel Prize in Medicine 2006 and was Alice’s dinner partner. Ear-rings and ring designed by Erica Huuva, Idivuoma. An example of the traditional meeting the modern in the hands of young designers.

Tin bracelet ‘Vintage Denim’ made of second-hand fabric with a 925 silver clasp.

Earrings ‘Cirkel’ in recyclable aluminium with 925 silver pins.

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Necklace ‘Minsttar’ in recyclable aluminium with a 925 silver chain.

“I want to create productsthat tell their own story together

with the wearer. That's slow fashion.”


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Lena Viltok,JokkmokkTogether with her sister Mia, Lena Viltok has a studio and boutique in Jokkmokk. She mainly designs and sews leather/fur hats, shoes and larger garments, as well as doing commissioned design work. In many ways, her business, the studio, has developed out of a need to develop her art.

designs: Clothing, accessories, interior design.

what inspires you? I am very inspired by the materials I work with. Our traditional Sámi handicraft, which is a treasure and an inheritance, is also a very great inspiration, as are people who go their own way, instead of following the crowd. But my greatest source of inspiration is the place where I live, the land and the sky. The mountains, forests, heaths, rivers, starry skies, sunrises, bad weather, and everything that lives there. The sense of security and strength it gives me and, above all, the power in it.

which materials do you work with? I work with many different materials, often, leather and pelts from, for example, reindeer, goat, seal and marten. I use a lot of woollen fabric and dupion silk, but also other materials such as lace, cotton fabric, etc., depending on what I am creating.

what do you wish to communicate with your designs? With my design I want to convey the power and life that is in everything around us, and the richness of Sámi cultural expression. I want to make these even more visible for the rest of society.

what is your personal expression? My most personal expression is in my use of very bold colours. I love decorations and appliqué and I never leave anything unadorned. My favourite decorative items right now are motifs such as reindeer antlers and birds, dressed in different colours, reindeer calfskin, goatskin and silver thread.

for you, what is the arctic lifestyle? It is a way of life whereby we value and respect the mountains, the forests and the climate as they still exist, even though they may have been impacted. It also has to do with all of the seasons. And that we safeguard it all for future generations. We must use the land without abusing it. It's as far as you can get from a throw-away lifestyle. It's about being outdoors and the special light we have here. My own arctic lifestyle revolves around my artistic creation, which is based on my love of the outdoors and helping to take care of the family's reindeer. I don't want to live any other life!

what is your next step? My next steps are actually a bit of a secret. But I can say that I am now working very hard towards the 2016 Jokkmokk winter market. This involves an exhibition together with several other Sámi designers and artists. Something new and beautiful from the Viltok sisters.

Lena’s unique, decorated creations in bold colours are based on Sámi tradi-tions and feature a contrast-rich mix of materials. Her char-acteristic appliqué style makes each garment as unique as its wearer. You can find ‘Systrarna Viltok’ (the Viltok Sisters) on Face-book.

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D E S I G N

“My greatest source of inspiration is the place where I live, the land and the sky. The mountains, forests, heaths, rivers, starry skies, sunrises, bad weather, and every-thing that lives there.”

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Bilberriesvac c i n i u m m y r t i l l u s

Berry raisins from Skogsbärsfröjd are natural sweets that are good for you: bilberries and lingonberries sweetened with sugar. They are tasty and chewy, with a consistency that will remind you of 'normal' raisins. Dried berries are perfect if you want to have access to berries all year round, but no space to store lots of them in the freezer.

> Jukkasjärvi Blue Berry Drink consists of one sole ingredient: bilberries picked by hand, matured under the midnight sun in the forests of Lapland, where long days filled with sunshine and clean nature give the bilberries their particularly nice flavour. It's a great drink with a meal, rich in acids and tannins, reminding you of a tart red wine.

one of our most common berries – the blue one – is also one of the healthiest in the world. Packed full of vita-mins and antioxidants it can be found in 17% of Sweden, including nearly the entire region of Swedish Lapland. In Europe the bilberry is a shrub that grows on the ground. In America the blueberry grows on bushes that can become up to four metres high. In mythology the berries are said to cure problems related to sight and digestion as well as scurvy, and it's been proven that these things are also true in real life – and that they are good for a lot of other things too. Bilberries grow during summer and can be picked in August. Apart from being a crucial ingredient in a bilberry pie they are also used in yoghurt, tea, skin-care products and really tasty sweets. The Latin name for the bilberry is vaccinium myrtillus and on Sardinia they make Mirto from them.Kåsa/Guksi

design Per Ola Utsi.

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> Care of Gerd use oil from bilberry, cloudberry and lingonberry seeds in the different skin care products they produce. Every seed oil has its own unique characteristics and they have been used for different product lines: bilberries for mature, dry skin; cloudberries for normal, dry skin; and lingonberries for unbalanced skin. Bilberry Queen Facial Cream is a nourishing facial cream that deeply moistures your skin – one of many products based on bilberries!

Bilberry syrup from Jokkmokksbär is a perfect accompaniment to pancakes and cream, but also tasty to add to porridge.

Skogsbärsfröjd make different berry drinks, such as bilberry shots, bilberry nectar, cordial and mulled wine. The drinks are produced by cold pressing the berries in a berry press. Bilberries – 'the blue gold of the forest' – are rich in nutrients and these days perhaps best known for the powerful antioxidants they contain. Drink the berry shots as they are, or as an alternative to wine.

Tea from Jokkmokksbär made with dried bil-berries and rooibos tea. Rooibos is a plant that grows in the south of Africa and even if it's not tea, strictly speaking, that's what it's called. Rooibos is rich in antioxidants and said to be calming as well as beneficial for your digestion.

Luleå Konfektyr use bilberries among other things to flavour their hand-made sweets. Bilberry caramel is one of their many tasty treats.

Ground bilberries from Jokkmokksbär. Bilberry powder is an easy way of getting your daily dose of berries. One or two teaspoons a day is enough and it's easy to add to yoghurt, porridge or a smoothie.

< The bilberry jam Midvinternatt (midwinter night) from Kallaxgårdsbutik is made from bilberries with Cuban rum and vanilla powder added.

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T E X T L E S L I E A N T H O N Y | P H OTO S M AT T I A S F R E D R I K S S O N

Northern exposureIn November 1996 the American skimagazine Powder put the mogul skier Janne Aikio, from Riksgränsen, on the cover with the headline: “The next big thing”. Twenty years later, the editor himself travels north to find out what the fuzz is all about.

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fter driving all day through northern Sweden, experiencing hours of nothing, it’s a treat when a ski area erupts from the land-scape. That usually marks a town. Which,

in turn, invariably means a mine. The biggest of these is Kiruna, perched atop one of the world’s largest iron deposits high above the Arctic Circle.

After Kiruna the landscape changes—a low sweep of mountains takes over the western horizon and trees begin to disappear. Before we reach the mountains, however, clouds claim the peaks and rain arrives, fall-ing in every direction at once before quickly changing to snow. It feels like the region unique winter-in-spring skiing is just around the corner. »

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Henrik Windstedt, Åre, calls Riksgränsen his second home

ever since he started going here in 1990’s. Henrik has won the

Scandinavian Big Mountain Championship six times. Here he’s

going big at ”Klumpen”.


The American Leo Ahrens traveled north to enjoy the true soul of Riksgränsen. Some heli-ski, some midnight sun and great session at the quaterpipe outside Schmedjan.

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similarities with the famously isolated South American resort. Inside, the walls of lobby, museum, library, halls, bars, and restaurants are lined with historic photos from when Riksgränsen—“the border”—was only a stop on a railway to the Norwegian coast. There’s an old roundhouse, the first mountain station built here in 1901, a commemorative photo of dignitaries gathered to christen it, and shots of early skiers. The gallery finishes with a smiling Sámi reindeer herder on an enormous pair of wood skis, the snow around him deep and inviting. It’s a good omen.

we awake to a storm so intense it shutters the resort: no one is getting in or out on the closed road. At least one lift is open, though, so we ride it up only to be deposited into a bowl of milk. With no trees for visual reference you can barely see to the end of your arm. The snow up high is deep, but Riksgränsen’s famously variable terrain tosses us without warn-ing into holes and natural halfpipes; we abandon the ski party until tomorrow.

Next morning, skiers wait patiently around the summit. Lingering at the top of a few open chairlifts in groups, they chart the glow of the sun’s orb through thinning cloud, one eye on an untracked route off the top, another on lifts that are yet to open. They are scheming, one and all, adding up the possibilities, divid-ing by the risk of making another run where they are and, by doing so, possibly missing the opening of new terrain. Others who know the area well are less patient: they slink off alone into the fog, to be rewarded with huge, empty powder fields. And so it goes, until the clouds finally lift and the entire alpine drama of Riksgränsen is revealed, and you can see why it’s such a freeride legend as skiers and snowboarders trash every centimeter

That turns out not only to be figura-tive, but literally true, and we soon pass Abisko and its small ski area—with a single lift, a single piste, and great backcountry.

“Sweden’s La Grave,” laughs Mattias.Abisko National Park is some of

northern Europe’s last wilderness, an unspoiled expanse bursting with beautiful landscapes and waterways. The area is also home to Lapporten—a giant U-shaped pass between two mountains and one of Sweden’s most photographed sights. It catches your eye from the main lodge at the ski area of Björkliden, which soon passes us on the left through a curtain of snow. We’re close.

The reason for our long drive is a noble one: to replicate the annual May pilgrimage of young Swedish freeriders to the ski resort of Riksgränsen, where we finally arrive just in time for dinner. The self-contained hotel-village where we enjoy our meal seems like a cruise ship afloat on a sea of snow.

“Sweden’s Portillo,” laughs Mattias.Indeed the hotel shares many

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Janne, in Riksgränsen, portraited with the legendary November cover of the Powder magazine, with him as the coverboy.

The chairlifts at Riksgränsen isn’t the fastest you experience. But the old time charm is still there.

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of the slopes in a full-on powder frenzy.It may be famous in the ski world, but

Riksgränsen wouldn’t be here without Kiruna’s iron or the ice-free harbour in nearby Narvik. When they built the railroad between the two, they’d needed a customs house on the Sweden-Nor-way border. While the customs officials waited between trains there was little else to do, expect ski. Soon they began to rent out rooms to others. After the world war two people thought to build lifts. Riksgränsen was soon to become the most important ski area in Arctic Europe—a vibrant hot-dog freestyle destination in the 1970s, a snowboarding ground-zero in the 1980s, and the host of some of the first ski and snowboard freeride competitions in the 1990s—a scene propelled by Jesper Rönnbäck’s infamous jump over the train station. The mountain terrain here is a de facto alpine playground—a little bit Alaska, a little bit Alps, and whole lot of fun. Famously, skiers and boarders build their own hits on the natural formations, and one of these—the notorious Riksgränsen

Quarterpipe—was once featured on hundreds of magazine covers around the world. Which is how I came to know about Riksgränsen in the first place—and to meet Janne Aikio.

janne grew up in kiruna, but once the road to Riksgränsen opened in the mid-’80s, he spent every minute he could here. In the late 1980s he got into freestyle and mogul skiing, and soon he became serious about it. Some of his mogul-skiing friends started to pick up snowboarding, but Janne stuck with mogul skiing, and in the spring he and


language blunderKebnekaise is the high-est mountain in Swe-den. In Northern Sámi it’s called Giebnegáisi, from giebnne (caul-dron) and gájsse (high, peaked mountain). But this is a linguistic and geographic misunder-standing between the Swedish National Land Survey and the Sámi. The glacier-clad South Peak was in September nearly 2,098 metres high, and therefore a metre high-er than the bare North Peak. Giebnegáisi has also been affected by global warming. During the past three years the peak has shrunk by nearly five meters. The North Peak also used to be glacier clad. 1922 it was 2,135 metres high. The first person to climb the mountain was the Frenchman Charles Rabot. Starting in Tjäkt-javagge he hiked to the top via what is now known as Rabot Pass. The year was 1883. Charles Rabot was also the first person to climb Sarektjåkko and he was the secretary of the Geographic Society in Paris. The Swedish Tourist Association (STF) mountain lodge by Kebnekaise has been there since 1908.

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ssonhis snowboard friends would session

jumps together. Eventually he moved to Riksgränsen. “It seemed natural because the season was long and there was so much snow,” he tells me when I meet him in the hotel’s library one afternoon. “And also because the wind-lips and other formations made it like a big terrain park.”

In May 1996, a friend asked Janne to forerun a snowboard quarterpipe event on skis. Because he was working at his job, cleaning rooms at the hotel, Janne missed the practice session. When his boss finally let him go, he bee-lined to the quarterpipe, where Ingemar Back-man and other pro snowboarders were warming up. Without knowing how high people were going on the jump or where the best start position might be, Janne chose a spot 50 metres higher than the snowboard start. It would be the jump seen around the world.

“A lot of people told me after that my jump put pressure on the snowboarders, but I didn’t know it at the time because I was just there to do someone a favor and have fun. Before I dropped in I remember thinking ‘Am I calculating this right?’ I was pretty nervous and the in-run was sketchy so I was forced to do a little cliff jump to gain some speed to get into the track. The pressure in the compression hit my body like a wall. I shot straight up and tried to remain calm and focused in the air. I didn’t do a grab because I just wanted to land. I heard people cheering so I knew I’d done something good.”

Not only good, but unprecedented: boosting some seven metres into the air on his one and only hit, Janne set the bar so high that it took Ingemar Backman six tries and a change to a longer snowboard to even come close. Many photographers were there for the

snowboard contest, but it was German Richard Walch who captured the shot of Janne that would ripple around the ski world as a clarion call to freerid-ers everywhere. A world away, in the California offices of Powder magazine where I worked at the time, Walch’s shot of Janne at his high point landed on the photo editor’s light table. We put it on the November 1996 cover of Powder, just as we were launching an investiga-tive series into “The Next Big Thing” in skiing, guaranteeing that people would forever associate Aikio’s feat with that headline.

Together, me and Janne visit the spot where it had taken riders two weeks to dig out the quarterpipe by hand back in 1996. The first thing I notice is that the area indeed looks like a terrain park—rolls, cornices, lips, ridges, boulders and steep landings are everywhere. As we stand in silence, Janne looks at the hill-sides facing the hit, where spectators—hundreds of them—once sat. “I can still hear the roar of the crowd,” he says, with a wan smile.

although riksgränsen’s lift system is small, you can ski 360˚ off the top, either back into the ski area, or into Norway, or you go ski-touring. You can also just call in a helicopter.

With weather often an issue, heli-ski-ing in Riksgränsen falls somewhere be-tween British Columbia-organized and Alaska-cowboy, but shares with both the act of waiting. Orchestrated out of a tiny office beside the hotel’s virus-spilling kids room, an adjacent waiting area of couches and stuffed chairs is often filled with geared up skiers waiting patient-ly to take on the abundant untracked terrain of these 450 million-year-old mountains. When it’s on with mountain guide Andreas Bengtsson, whose

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The American pro skier Sven Brunso has skied everywhere for the last 20 years. In April this year he did something special – skiing midnight sun at the roof top of Sweden: Kebnekaise.

“Up high, the snow is windboard interspersed with pockets of pow. Down low in the bowls, however, the snow is mid-calf deep and soft. It’s beautiful out here, as a wilderness should be”.


Heliskiing in midnight sun is truly special. The skiing impressive for most people, every run 900 vertical meters in average. Here we have 900 horsepower on the way up to Nallo.

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company Mountain Guide Travel runs Heliski Riksgränsen, it’s one of the more unique heli-ski experiences out there—an enormous tenure of more than 5,000 square kilometres. You can choose other companies as well, in Riksgränsen, in Björkliden and also at Abisko Moun-

tain Lodge. All with certified Mountain Guides.

Andreas trained for years to be a guide, working in La Grave and Chamonix. When he started running the heli program here it was mostly day skiers from the resort who seized the opportunity

for good weather or good snow, but now it’s about 65 per cent multi-day pack-ages. The terrain is mostly on the easier side—low-to-medium-angle pow—but there are some short steeper sections that get the heart beating.

When we head out with Andreas one day it’s difficult to find a hole to

fly through, but the pilot banks his way around upper-mountain ridges and bulges into pockets of visibility, snaking up to a landing spot on a broad peak. Up high, the snow is windboard interspersed with pockets of pow. Down low in the bowls, however, the snow is mid-calf deep and soft. It’s beautiful out here, as a wilderness should be

We shared the heli with a Norwegian couple, Bjarte and Martina, and end up lunching with them at the Riksgränsen’s on-hill restaurant Lappis, a pizza joint that also has a cheap lunchtime buffet. While we eat, a ski and snowboard freeride competition is underway on the hill in front of the restaurant, whose front deck is packed with spectators watching kids huck a nearby wind-lip. After lunch we all hike up Nordals, the infamous face on which the now 25-year old Swedish Big Mountain Champion- ships take place most years. It’s like a frozen stairmaster.

“I’ve done the hike hundreds of times,” says Henrik Windstedt, who, along with American Leo Ahrens, has

“To be out here, on this storied mountain in this preternatural light, so close to a ski area yet so far removed from everything, is what Riks-gränsen is truly about”.

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Leslie Anthony is one of the worlds most well known ski journalists. He was the editor for Powder for many years, he has skied all over the world. Nowadays he writes books as well as he is a free-lance writer for many of the worlds best ski magazines. His been to Sweden more than 15 times.

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joined Mattias and I at the resort. The six-time Scandinavian Big Mountain Champion and two-time Freeride World Champ has made the slog more times than he can accurately recall, but he knows how long it is. “I counted once—1,392 steps,” he says.

Nevertheless the 15–20 minute bootpack nets you a fantastic ski descent. There are elegant and literary ways to describe various mountain formations and phenomena, and climbing, hiking, and skiing writers have all taken turns at just such exposition. But sometimes you need the blunt-force trauma of first impression to help portray the visceral effects of a mountain face. Thus, the best I can muster to describe the main wall of Nordals as we stand atop it readying to ski is this: steep as shit, and both terrifying and exciting in equal measure. Even without a helicopter, it’s the best run of the day.

The next afternoon Mattias and I find ourselves skiing steep, perfectly groomed pistes of impeccable snow that are com-pletely devoid of humans (in a reversal to the European norm, almost everyone here skis off-piste).

“Sweden’s Aspen,” laughs Mattias.At the bottom of one run we run

into Stefan and Pia Palm; well-known around these parts despite residing in Chamonix. Stefan was one of Sweden’s first examined mountain guides and his wife Pia is a former Big Mountain win-ner. Together we make the traverse out to Nordals for one final climb. Breaking onto the flattened summit we’re hit by beautiful afternoon light. As we tip into the fall line washed in fuchsia and mauve alpenglow, Stefan pauses. “You have to feel something from the light here,” he says. “It’s a different, special thing.”

He’s right. The wind-hammered snow

isn’t the best, but the skiing is somehow still amazing. To be out here, on this sto-ried mountain in this preternatural light, so close to a ski area yet so far removed from everything, is what Riksgränsen is truly about. At the bottom we watch the sun setting over even more formidable mountains to the west, fire rising from the horizon. Mattias and I are particu-larly interested because one of those peaks is Sweden’s highest—Kebne- kaise—and our next destination.

an hour west of kiruna, past a string of villages with tongue-twisting names, the road ends at Nikkaluokta. Here, a large A-frame next to a parking lot is the starting point for ferrying people and supplies a final 19 kilometres to the Kebnekaise Mountain Station, a 218-bed lodge/hostel set below a mountain massif of the same name. The Sarri family operates the transport. Inside the


Before Hanna Ovin was a very promising Alpine skier, nowadays she works as boot fitter at Åre Skidsport. She joined the Elevenate team to Kebnekaise in April, and she will hardly forget this run down from Drakryggen. At about eight in the evening. In good powder. And all to her self.

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“The mountain terrain here is a de facto alpine playground — a little bit Alaska, a little bit Alps, and whole lot of fun”.


office, antique ice axes adorn walls hung with portraits of the matriarchs. A single silver-haired woman shuttles between serving coffee, manning the cash register, staffing the gift shop, and leaning out the front door to shout instructions to snowmobile drivers.

Our new posse—which now in-cludes mountain guide Jimmy Odén, skiers Hanna Ovin, Olle Regnér and Sven Brunso huddles on wooden sleds

pulled behind snow-mobiles. Following a trail as twisted as the surrounding trees, we emerge from forest to cross a barely frozen lake. The landscape looks as if the conti-nental ice sheets that carved these moun-tains into sharp-edged plateaus retreated only yesterday. The peaks are still large enough for serious skiing, how-ever, with 1,500-metre

climbs from the valleys and Kebnekaise itself topping out at over 2,000 metres. Even in March, when skiing here begins, the Arctic climate breeds weather that seems less to arrive with all the fury of a Norse God. Later in the spring, as light builds towards the midnight sun and weather systems change, wind pours over the ramparts fast enough to cause warming in the valleys. Just such a windstorm prevented us reaching Keb the previous day, and when we arrive, the wind is still half-crazy—enough to blow you off your feet if you aren’t paying attention. As we unload in front of the station that anchors Sweden’s mountain-hut system, about 50 people who were stranded after the annual Keb Classic—a ski-tour-mountaineering

race—sit with baggage waiting to leave. Tossing our own luggage inside a homey bunkhouse, we turn to Jimmy, who is leading our group on behalf of his cloth-ing company, Elevenate.

He peers into the raging ground blizzard. “Let’s go up,” he says.

after 18 years of guiding in Verbier, Switzerland, Jimmy recently moved with his family back to Åre, Sweden. He cites starting the Elevenate brand with wife Sarah and a few core-skier friends to be one of the biggest things he’s ever done—right up there with his long jour-ney from ski-bum to mountain guide, and the work involved in his illustrated ski-mountaineering book Free Skiing: How to adapt to the mountain.

Around the White Planet, ‘elevens’ is a widely used euphemism for ski tracks, and the clever Swedes have turned the idea into an English verb. “Elevenate is a description of an action like meditate or motivate,” notes Jimmy. “We like the idea that making ski tracks is also some-thing special that you can do.”

On our way to doing just that, we first had to battle ferocious winds on the way up. Climbing 400 metres to a large boulder on the slope above the lodge, we ski down in a mixed bag—wind and sun crusts, sastrugi both soft and hard, powder pockets and swaths of corn. The gullies are nice, the skiing better the lower you go. We’ve all earned the sauna we have later in a large facility with windows looking out to sharp, tem-pest-shrouded mountains.

Tobias Granath, another Swedish guide and Elevenate athlete arrives in the night. Living for years in Chamonix, playing pro hockey in the French league to feed his ski addiction, he’d always wanted to be a guide. So before his body was completely destroyed by hockey he

“Eating lunch in the shelter of one a lar-ge, angular block, we watch the others descend. These slopes are bigger than they look, and from our vantage, everyone is a mere dot in the distance”.

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pioneer spiritSweden’s first skiing school was created in Riksgränsen for the New Year 1934–35 by the skiing legend Olle Rimfors. Together with Sigge Bergman he had learnt how to ski with Hannes Schneider in S:t Anton. Rimfors was a skiing pioneer past the stemturn. He was the off-pist skier of his days. Today this pio-neering spirit lives on at Gränsen. The big competitions during spring and some of the best heli-skiing in the world vouch for it. And the midsummer snow, of course.

Hanna Ovin, mountain-guide Tobias Granath, Sven

Brunso and Olle Regnér prepares for a nice run down

Kebnekaises south peak. Swedens highest peak

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quit, earned his guide ticket, and moved to Engelberg, Switzerland. This morn-ing, he and Jimmy have their eyes on the Couloir Frågetecknet (the question mark) across the valley, so-named for its odd, wraparound entrance; as is usually the case, it looks good from here.

Gearing up, we head toward the Question Mark, warm snow sinking beneath our skis as we plod across the valley tundra. The climb poses few problems until we crest a ridge and have to remove our skis to cross a field of shattered rock, where wind threatens to lift us into the atmosphere. Not the safest place for a photo shoot, so we retreat to adjacent routes, splitting into smaller groups.

With the others busy shooting photos, Jimmy and I hit a long, rubble-bordered

chute, making hundreds of turns in perfect corn snow to the valley, where we steer through birch corridors and house-sized boulders from an ancient rockfall. Eating lunch in the shelter of one a large, angular block, we watch the others descend. These slopes are bigger than they look, and from our vantage, everyone is a mere dot in the distance.

Over the next few days, the crazy weather and dramatic mountains of Kebnekaise prove good for testing clothing, great for photos, and even better for the magic skiing you can only experience in the late light of the spring. Mattias and I may have experienced hours of nothing driving to this region of northern Sweden, but what we have found everywhere here is special indeed.


More runs for boththe rookie and the pro

1 nuolja offpist, abisko. Off-piste with a 500-metre drop bids you challenging skiing where the only limits are set by your imagi-nation and creativity. Sometimes called the ’La Grave of Sweden’. www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/ anlaggningar/stf-abisko-fjallstation

1 björkliden has the third highest drop in Sweden. Good skiing with lots of natural snow and a breath-taking view of Torneträsk lake and the Lapponian Gate. www.bjorkliden.com

1 riksgränsen, the legend, tempts skiers from all around the world. A lot here revolves around off-piste skiing, but there are also some really nice runs available. www.riksgransen.se

2 luossabacken, kiruna, is right in the middle of Kiruna. Apart from lifts, runs, jumps and rails there are also two ski-touring tracks. www.kiruna.se

Swedish Lapland gets the first and the last snow. Already in October the best skiing teams in the world come here for their training, and in May the best free-riders in the world go west to enjoy the last snow. Listed below are all the areas available here in Swedish Lapland:

3 dundret, gällivare The moun-tain in the middle of the city. Here you can find amazing cross-country skiing tracks and 15 runs ranging from easy to difficult. New this year is the six-person chairlift to the top of the mountain. www.dundret.se

4 sattajärvi skidcenter, 15 kilometres south of Pajala: cross-country skiing tracks, toboggan runs and lots of space. www.skidcenter.com

5 svanstein ski. Wonderful skiing experiences with a varied range of runs on the Pullinki mountain, just north of the Arctic Circle. www.svansteinski.com

6 porjus there’s a ski slope in the middle of the village as well. 112-metre drop, 500 metres long and open during season, when those in charge feel like it. www.destinationjokkmokk.se

7 bomyrberget, vuollerim, is located right in the middle of the village. Open December to April and run mostly by volunteers. www.vuollerimsk.com

8 ruskola slalombacke, övertorneå, is two kilometre from th town centre. Enjoy days full of sun, skiing, outdoor play and hot chocolate in the restaurant. www.heartoflapland.com

9 storlappberget, överkalix. A service station that covers most things to do with competition, train-ing and recreation, around three kilometres from Överkalix. www.heartoflapland.com

10 jäckvik fjällcenter, arjeplog Featuring the longest t-bar lift in Sweden (1,927 metres) and runs that measure a total of 12 kilometres with half-pipe, rails, jumps and off-piste skiing on the beautiful Pieljekaise mountain. www.jackvikfjallcenter.com

11 galtis, arjeplog. The mountain Galtispuoda (800 metres above sea level) is a mere 11 kilometres from Arjeplog. It’s a popular ski resort that’s been run by the same family since 1973. www.galtis.se

12 kåbdalis, jokkmokk, is the village that became a ski resort. People thought it was a crazy idea, but it’s become a popular skiing area. The first snow attracts the best skiers in the world. www.kabdalis.com

13 storklinten, boden, is an establishment near the coast offer-ing a mix of well-prepared runs and off-piste skiing in the forest. www.storklinten.se

14 pagla, boden. Depending on how much snow there is, there’s also a small, family-oriented ski slope in the centre of Boden, in the Pagla area. www.boden.se

15 rånekölen, råneå, is a volun-teer-run ski slope with 100% natural snow and enthusiasm. There’s a log cabin where you can buy something hot to drink during season. www.frilufts-ranea.se

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A new generation of free riders are born at Kanis in Älvsbyn.

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16 rudträskbacken, kalix. Ideal for days when all you want is some quality time filled with snow, sun and sweeping skiing. Walking distance from Kalix centre. www.heartoflapland.com

17 ormberget, luleå in the middle of Luleå is an outdoor centre for the entire family. The slope is best for children and beginners, but the cross-country skiing tracks are world class for everyone. www.lulea.se

17 måttsundsbacken, luleå, is located 15 minutes from Luleå with an 125-metre drop, three different runs and a good restaurant by the parking area. www.mattsundsbacken.se

18 lindbäcksstadion, piteå, offers skiing all year round! Downhill skiing with three runs, cross-country tracks, Fun Park, a children’s slope and a toboggan run (ski tunnel for cross-country skiing all year round until 2016). www.lindbacksstadion.se

19 näsberget, ammarnäs, has two lifts, a 255-metre drop and nine runs. There’s a children’s lift, a toboggan run and a very popular restaurant. www.ammarnasfritidscenter.com

20 nalovardo, sorsele, is known for its micro climate, providing ski-friendly temperatures when it’s too cold elsewhere. No long queues, lots of skiing! www.lapplandskatan.nu/nalovardo

21 vittjåkk ski resort, arvidsjaur. A cosy and exciting destination for adventurous families looking for cross-country and down-hill skiing. www.vittjakk.se

21 prästberget, arvidsjaur, Skiing very close to the centre of town; this is a run that’s approved for international competitions. www.arvidsjaur.se

22 kanis, älvsbyn, everyone can ski here. There is a family run here as well as a snow park, rails and bumps. For professionals and beginners alike. www.kanisbacken.se

23 storklinta skidcenter, jörn, has three lifts and six runs. The drop is 185 metres and the runs are always well prepared. Equipment available for rent. www.storklinta.se

24 vitbergsbacken, skellefteå , has two lifts, two runs and a very popular Fun Park. There’s a kiosk and a café here as well. www.friluftsframjandetskelleftea.se

25 bygdsiljum there are four lifts and 13 runs, a snow canon, Fun Park, mogul and toboggan run. There’s a restaurant and a kiosk as well. You can rent equipment in the ski shop. www.bygdsiljumsbacken.se

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H A N D P L O C K AT

The bracelet Torneälv, inspired by the 520 kilometers long and free flowing Torne River.

Rájddo, a belt with rivets and details, in-spired from traditional Sámi clothing.

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The designer Viktoria Pettersson has done a traditional ”kåsa” in ceramic. Every single one unique, celebrating the Arctic circle.

The designer Paula Fahl-ander (Re-cover) knitted sweaters are both warm and popular. They come in merino- och and shetland wool, with inspiration from the region. In different colors and patterns.

Stoorstålka’s tray Buorre Idet and coast-ers, from glas, in typical Sámi engravings.

Handknitted no hands ankle warmers and Torild

Labbas popular silver rings in both traditional and

innovative styles.

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TreehotelIn the middle of the woods, hidden from view in the tiny community of Harads, there is a poorly-kept secret. Thanks to its unique design and beautiful surroundings, Treehotel has become world famous. »

OUR WORLD-FAMOUS HIDEAWAY

Vogue is the oldest fashion magazine still published. It was founded in the US in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure and he ran it until his death 1909. The magazine is published in local editions as well as in the US. British Vogue was first published in 1916 and French Vogue in 1920. Issue no. 12/2014.

T E X T T H E R E S E O LO F S S O N


T R E E H O T E L

hat started as a crazy idea, to rent out a treehouse, has attracted international attention. Since the initial investment, Treehotel has slowly but surely grown

to become a popular and exclusive destination. Each of the six individually designed treehouses is unique and commands an ideal view of the forest and river valley below. A combination of friendly hospitality and discretion has attracted famous personalities to a tiny spot that is well off the beaten track and far from the prying eyes of the press. Of course, we are not at liberty to divulge the names of these well-known guests. Under absolute secrecy, American Vogue shot

W a fashion feature here with supermodel Karlie Kloss and photographer Patrick Demachelier. The mag-azine has a readership of more than eleven million and, during her visit, Karlie was so delighted with the place that she instagrammed her million-plus social-media followers.

from oprah winfrey's top list to japanDescribed as unique, romantic and scenic, Treehotel has become almost a given on travel media top lists worldwide. Perhaps the most prestigious mention was when Oprah Winfrey ranked Treehotel's Mirrorcube as one of the world's ten most beautiful places. Like

Courrier Japon is a weekly magazine from Japan that publishes a selection of stories and articles from more than 900 international newspapers and magazines. Courrier also have Portuguese and French editions. Issue no. 10/2010.

Lonely Planet Magazine, Spanish version, is a monthly travel magazine published in a variety of lang-uages. Stories from exciting and interesting travel destina-tions all around the world. Issue no. 11/2011.

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T R E E H O T E L

any other world-famous personality, Treehotel, or rather the story of the hotel, has travelled around the world. Even lifestyle magazines in Japan and China have told their readers about this woodland gem. Other types of publications have also written about the small but spectacular hotel in Swedish Lapland. Thanks to collaboration with different architects on the design of each hotel room, trade papers in archi-tecture, such as French Architectures Àvivre, have told the story of the hotel. Like so many other stories, there are just as many versions as there are storytell-ers. So, our advice is to visit Treehotel with someone you really like and create your own version.

Canopée is a French maga-zine focused on ecology for Earth, mankind and the soul. Pictures are used to poetically describe an ecological way of life. Issue no. 10/2012.

GQ Style, Gentle-men's Quarterly, is an international magazine with the latest in men's fashion. Published in many different languages. This iss-ue was the Spanish edition for spring/summer 2011.

The Week, an American weekly magazine with a resumé of news and other stories from media in the US and the rest of the world. Issue no. 10/2011.

FACTS:• Treehotel was inspired by the Swedish

documentary film ’The Tree Lover’ by Jonas Selberg Augustsen. A story of three friends from town who try to find their roots. A story of the significance of the tree for humans.

• Together with several of Scandinavia's le-ading architects, a uniquely designed space has been created 4–6 metres above ground, overlooking the Lule River.

• Preservation of ecological values, leaving a minimal footprint in nature, has been funda-mental to the entire concept.

• Treehotel is about an hour by car from Luleå's airport. Or about 40 minutes from Boden.

• There are plans to build an additional treehouse room.

www.treehotel.se


T R E E H O T E L

UOMO is a fashion magazine mainly for men. Published in many languages and connected to Vogue. Story from issue no. 10/2013.

Architectures À vivre, a French lifestyle magazine with modern, contemporary architecture as a theme. Issue no. 03/2012.

Z-Magazine is a Chinese magazine fea-turing lifestyle, travel, food, wine, architec-ture, culture, experiences and more. Issue no. 12/2013.

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< the lovikka mitten might be the best-known mitten in Sweden. The village Lovikka is north-west of Pajala and this is where the first Lovikka mitten was knitted towards the end of the 19th century. Erika Aittamaa knitted mittens to get some extra income. Erika was asked to knit two pairs of extra thick mittens and after a couple of attempts with thick wool, washing and careful brushing she created the Lovikka mitten. The mittens are still knitted in the same way, and a real Lovikka mitten has a seal that guarantees its authenticity.

Let your mittenstell a story

Traditional colours and patterns on mittens and other items of clothing have developed in different directions in different parts

of the region. There are similarities, but also clear differences.

> the jukkasjärvi mitten The teacher Terese Torgrim at the Nomad School collected pattern-knit mittens to pass on the knowledge of patterns connected with the region. She also taught the art of knitting, and patterns, to her students. One of the patterns was for the colourful Jukkasjärvi mitten.

< the arjeplog mittenThe story about the Arjeplog mitten begins in the middle of the 20th century. It's always knitted using bold colours, often green, red, blue, yellow and white. Green background for ladies and blue for men. It's easily recognisable with tiny roses that should be in three colours with the background colour of the mitten repeated as a dot in the middle of the rose.

> the torne valley rose. In the Torne Valley the tradition has been to adopt knitting patterns from the East: Finland and Russia. The pattern we call the Torne Valley rose is an example of this. Ph

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A R C T I C L I G H T

kaamosIf you translate it directly Kaamos means – darkness. But those who live in the polar regions know that’s not the case. It’s how the snow reflects blue light in a magical way; Kaamos is the word used for this particular light phenomenon. Call it the blue hour, or the blue light, around and above the arctic circle in December and January. Sometime from 10 o’clock in the ‘morning’ until three in the afternoon there is daylight. If you look north the sky is blue. But if you look south there is a blush along the horizon, coloured by the sun. Around two o’ clock every afternoon, and for about fifteen min-utes on a clear day, there’s a strange phenomenon that we can call the blue moment. Everything, the snow-covered landscape as well as the sky, is illuminated by a special, magical blue light. This natural phenome-non only occurs in the Arctic and can’t be experienced anywhere else.

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afterglowIn May the midnight sun arrives at Riksgränsen. But before these white nights we get some truly spectacular sunsets. The old saying goes “Red at night, shepherd’s delight; red in the morning, shep-herd’s warning”. And the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute has actually proven that there is a greater risk of rain on days preceded by a colourful dawn, and less chance of rain the day after a beautiful sunset. The red colour is a result of the dis-tance between the sun and the Earth; the shorter blue and green light waves can’t reach us, only the longer red waves get through. Apart from the afterglow you also get a phenomenon up in the mountains that is similar to what you’ll get in the Alps: Alpenglow. The mountains and the land-scape are brightly painted by sunset itself, of course, but when the sun no longer illuminates the entire land-scape the red and pink light stays on the highest peaks. A kind of third stage of Al-penglow that the Germans call Nachglühen occurs half an hour after sunset when the light from the sun is reflected back down onto the mountain peaks.

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spring winterNo one in Swedish Lapland minds when the green and blue part of the sunlight suddenly reaches our part of the world in February and causes the first drops of melted snow to trickle and fall from the rooftops. Between December and January the sunshine doesn’t fall in the necessary angle against Earth to provide the Arctic with blue and green, the short-wave light. Instead we carry out our daily Arctic life in a con-tinuous dawn, or dusk (pos-sibly depending on your mood). But from February and onwards everything changes and you can even feel the warmth of sunlight against your jacket. You see: the sun changes the snow, creating crystals and snow crust out of freshly fallen snow. There’s actually no nicer time to go up into the mountains or visit the archipelago than during spring winter. Whether you go skiing or drive a snow-mobile or sit on a reindeer skin ice fishing you’re now enjoying the sunlight. But nothing good that doesn’t come with a warning: please don’t forget your sunscreen. Sun combined with reflective snow creates a natural sun bed – a solarium 2.0.

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the milky wayTo capture the magic of the starry sky – and perhaps the Milky Way in particular – has become a challenge for many photographers, professionals and happy amateurs alike. But you don’t need a telescope for your photos of the stars. And astral photogra-phy isn’t about creating something that looks like the LSD-influenced album sleeves of the 1970s, even if the phenomenon some-times is truly spectacular. What you need is a clear night, a lack of disturbing lights – the exact same ingredients as when you take photos of the northern lights – a tripod and a camera set for 30 seconds with your lowest f-stop. You can’t always see the Milky Way clearly in the sky, so you must know where to aim the camera. And of course it doesn’t hurt if you know how to tweak the image in Photoshop after-wards. Because even if the galaxy contains a couple of hundred million brightly shining stars, the image of the Milky Way won’t be a shining neon line across the sky without help.

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aurora borealis – a greeting from the sunThe Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei gave the northern lights their Latin name: Aurora Borealis. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn. Once, Aurora fell in love with a mortal man: Tithonus. As he got older Aurora grieved and pleaded with Jupiter to grant Tithonus eternal life. Aurora’s wish came true, but she had forgotten to ask for him to stay eternally young. Instead Aurora’s great love became a grumpy old man, who would live forever. Borealis comes from the word Borea, the Greek word for the northern wind. The god Borea was not easy to handle, often associated with wild horses, untamed and with a terrible temper. In short – the perfect messen-ger for a cold northern wind. Somehow Galileo really hit the nail on the head when he named this beautiful ce-lestial show after two gods: light and untamed strength.

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Of course Lonely Planet was right when they crowned Abisko the best place in the world to experience the northern lights, or celestial phenomena of any kind.

It's no exaggeration to say that for those who live in Swedish Lapland autumn 2015 was full of possibilities. The mythological gods Aurora and Borea put on a

magical show from the mountains down to the coast almost every day.

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Life under the Aurora

Aurora Sky StationUN declared 2105 as a 'Year of Light' and the travel guide Lonely Planet picked The world’s most illuminating experiences. Not surprisingly Abisko, and perhaps Abisko Sky Station in particular, was number one on the list. The renovated café has become a magical attraction for all who want to be as sure as possible of experiencing the northern lights. They are impossible to guarantee, but at least you'll have the best chance in Abisko. The season runs from September to March. www.auroraskystation.com

On Four LegsSome of the best dogsled tours in the world can be found in Swedish Lapland. Skift magazine wrote about the 'sled dog taxi' from the airport in Kiruna to ICEHOTEL: “one of the greatest airport transfers in the world, along the lines of lagoon boats in Bora Bora and the helicopter between Nice and Monaco”. But other, perhaps longer, tours in Swedish Lapland and its beautiful winter will also give you memories for life. Matthias Schnyder at Erlebnis-Wildnis in Sorsele had one of his tours – 'Following in the footsteps of the Sami, by dog' – fully booked three years ahead. So a French customer booked the tour four seasons in advance and three other tours for the years until then. The teamwork between man and dog, and the meeting between civilisation and wilderness is so clear when you're stood behind a sled entering the silent forest. And often the northern lights set the sky above on fire. This isn't just the dream of meeting Jack London's Call of the Wild. It's to live it. www.outdoor-ticket.com

RecoverySometimes you just need some time to yourself. Aurora Retreat above the arctic circle, 90 km from Kiruna, is the place for those who just want to be. Sure, you can go ice fishing and cross-country skiing and snowshoe hiking, but what you really need is probably just to sit down and breathe. Make a fire in the fireplace. Have a sauna. Read a book. Not check Instagram. You have the opportunity to experience the wildlife here, of course: elk, reindeer, otter and hare are often spotted, or you can see their tracks. The food is vegetarian and/or based on game and fish from the area. Nothing can be more satisfying than to just relax and take the day as it comes. Well... until the northern lights come along of course. Because you don't want to miss them.www.auroraretreat.se

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A Room with a ViewNear Kangosfors in the Torne Valley Sara Ljunggren and Johan Väisänen at Explore the North have assembled see-through, dome-shaped tents – you could almost call them plastic igloos. Outside it's minus twelve and the 'blue moment', Kaamos, has just gone. You're reading a book in bed anticipating the northern lights are coming? In any case, the see-through tent is like taking a front-row seat in the wilderness, or perhaps being part of the skies. The lack of artificial light enhances the starry splendour of the Milky Way. And soon the green and blue northern lights take over the sky. www.explorethenorth.se

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In the Nice HeatAurora SPA at Camp Ripan in Kiruna was, like so many other good things in life, a spur-of-the-moment thing. Some friends were in the sauna when one of them went outside to cool off and came back in and said: “The northern lights are in the sky”. There and then they thought: “But imagine how nice it'd be to sit in the heat and experience the northern lights”. These days that's a reality at Camp Ripan in Kiruna. The Aurora SPA uses local products: rough pellets from the large iron-ore mine for your foot massage, in the foot bath, perhaps combined with juniper-berry salts, for example. Then you should definite-ly spoil yourself with a wrap and scrub based on coarsely- ground coffee. Or if you prefer drinking the coffee you can choose birch leaves instead. The body oil that concludes the SPA session is based on the wonderful light and growing power of an Arctic summer's night. Because that's what you want to feel like after a SPA retreat. Revitalised – like eternal summer light. www.ripan.se

Aurora FestivalThe first Aurora Festival in the world will be held in Björkliden January 15–17 with experts and speakers from all over Arctic Europe. But main-ly the festival is supposed to offer a possibility to experience something magnificent. The idea is to arrange the festival in January every year. www.theaurorafestival.com

Walk the walkSeveral enterprises in the forest-land offer snowshoe tours, where you experience the mystery of the forest and learn something new – following tracks made by elk or lynx. You learn how to make a fire and understand the expression 'cold snap'. Perhaps you'll make some coffee and cook over the open fire. Maybe you'll stay in a rustic forest cabin in the wilder-ness. CreActive in Gunnarsbyn along the Råne river valley offers that kind of two-day tour: an ideal hunt for the northern lights where you enjoy exciting activities during the day. You can combine this with a stay at the Treehotel or in Sörbyn. www.creactive-adventure.se Hans-Jochim Kaiser is a snow-shoe guide in Sorsele who also offer guided tours on snowshoes under the northern lights. www.erlebnis-lappland.de

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Glamping Taking camping to the next level, that's what 'glamping' is about – glamour and camping in one. But it's also about the action itself, not just the world. You expect your camping experience to be a lot better than when you put a tent up yourself. In Lassbyn, by the river Råne- älven, you'll find the Aurora Safari Camp. A project and glamping alternative run by photographer Fredrik Broman. He has worked in Africa for many years and wanted to take the safari tent experience back home to the village. But also to do it with more traditional Sámi tents, heated by a normal stove, using birch wood. Like it should be up here. Near the camp there is hardly any artificial light. Get close to the northern lights in a glamourised tent.www.aurorasafaricamp.com


Meänkieli means our language. It's a Finno-Ugric language that evolved in the Torne Valley and it has been an official minority language since 2000. The differences between Meänkieli and Finnish spoken in Finland are of a phonological, morphological, syntactical and lexical nature. Simplifying the story you could say that when standard Finnish affected other Finnish dialects the northern dialects kept the 'original language', which developed into Meänkieli. Since the publication of Mikael Niemi's book Popular Music from Vittula, the most famous word in

Meänkieli is probably knapsu. Knapsu is used as a slightly derogatory word for men who engage in 'typical female' pursuits or are slightly effeminate. Other well-known words are joki (river) and for skiers the famous last name Pitkänen which means thunder. A lot of Swedish loan words are part of the language as well, of course, and they have been 'meänkielified' into kranni, krrua and förkaasari instead of granne, gruva and förgasare. These are words that someone who only speaks Finnish would stand no chance at understanding, but a Swede is able to interpret them.

Meänkieli — The Torne Valley Language

The old ways of capturing and preparing the local produce have also made their mark on the Torne Valley. This book will give you an idea of how the food was prepared back in the day, describing how to grill, smoke, dry and pickle.

the torne valley is like no other place in the world. The river valley is sometimes called the most peaceful border in the world, and perhaps that's not very surprising, because the people who live here don't feel separated by the river, but rather united.

When Sweden was last involved in a war and lost Finland to Russia during autumn 1809, a new border had to be drawn. It was a heavy loss, and the border was supposed to be drawn at Kalix. But the story goes that the peace negotiations were a bit of a party and the officers got drunk. So the border ended up by the Torne river instead of the Kalix river. Well, at least it's a good story. And this is why the Torne Valley is a meeting space between Sweden and Finland these days. It's an area that's influenced by Swedish, Finnish and Sámi culture, and Swedish, Finnish, Sámi and the area's own language – Meänkieli – are spoken here.

This makes the Torne river a meeting space for two countries, three cultures and four languages. It's also a completely unique place.

The Torne Valley

ONE RIVER.TWO COUNTRIES.THREE CULTURES.

FOUR LANGUAGES.


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Meänmaan flaku, which is the name of the flag in Meänkieli – was first hoisted on the 15th of July 2007 on both the Finnish and Swedish side in Övertorneå. The flag was designed by Herbert Wirlöf with proportions taken from the Estonian flag. The colours were chosen from the Swedish and Finnish flags. The yellow field represents ’the yellow sun’, the whi-te ’a snow-white river’ and the blue ’the sum-mer-blue sky’. Nothing of which can be owned, and the flag has no cross, because the Torne Valley inhabitants have never been ’crusaders’.Source: Wikipedia

Nothing in life is more natural for a true Torne Valley inhabitant than the sauna. That’s why National Sauna Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in June every year by the Kukkola Rapids. All in order to spread the important sauna culture. Because there’s always a time and a season for a sauna. The Swedish Sauna Academy is located in Kukkola and there’s also a Sauna Museum there. Apart from the Sauna Aca-demy the marginally more famous Swedish Academy can also thank the Torney Valley for its existence. When it was founded at the end of the 18th century, the king Gustav III decided that the Academy would be financed by the profits from salmon fishing in the Torne River. There are 13 different saunas in Kukkola. You can try a smoke sauna and plenty of other sauna varieties. The recommended temperature in a sauna is 65–70 degrees. Forget all about red-hot iron and stones that shatter from the heat: the important part of a sauna, apart from emerging clean and refreshed, is to experience the steam and the wonderful feeling of a sauna – the sense of well-being known as ’löyly’ on the Finnish side of the river.

The Torne Valley Elk was created by Grethel Güthlein in 2011. The elk is hand-carved wood, painted drawing inspiration from local 18th century folk art. The elk is approximately 14 cm high, 15 cm long and 10 cm wide, and the pattern used comes from pieces of furniture from Tärendö and Pekanpää. The Torne Valley 18th century folk art uses colours and shapes that we recognise from Russia, dominated by yellow ochre and patterns in brown, earthen colours. In 1809 Sweden and Finland were separated after 600 years as one country. The border was drawn along the rivers Torne and Muonio. As time went by the folk art from the Torne Valley was influenced by art from the Kalix river valley. Since the 1980s Grethel has been inspired by folk art from the Torne Valley and looks for information through literature and people who have been able to tell her about it. With this inspiration from folk art Grethel has used old patterns for new pieces of art, such as the Torne Valley Elk.

Grethel Gütlein created the ”Tornedalen moose” 2011 with inspiration from common folk art.

The Torne Valley Elk

Sauna

THE TORNE VALLEY FLAG

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Moving OnSwedish Lapland was first populated on foot and by ski, of course.

The oldest ski in the world was found in a swamp outside Kalvträsk in Skellefteå. Then we came by horse, then using bikes, tractors, cars and snow mobiles, and these days by dog sled. Ah, and of course the

kick-sled. To be able to move on has always been important.

the bike came early to these parts. Lumberjacks used them in summer to get to the felling areas in the forest, and of course it was the fastest way to get to the Saturday night barn dances. The bike paths to the felling areas were often called ’starving tracks’ because the men were so badly paid. So next time you are told that terrain biking was invented in California in the 1970s, just laugh. Bikes with big tyres had darted through the northern forest for decades before that. These days the new fashion is to use bikes with proper big tyres, so called fat bikes. The wonderful thing about these bikes is that they can be used on snow mobile tracks in winter. That’s why they’re sometimes called ’winter bikes’ in the States.

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M E A N S O F C O N V E YA N C E

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a train of reindeer – a rajd – used to be how the reindeer keepers transported all necessities between their summer and winter homes. In summer they walked, with reindeers harnes-sed and used as pack animals; in winter the reindeer pulled sleds. The winter trains were well organised: first came the sled with children, warmly wrapped up, then a sled with clothes, then a third with cheese – the perfect trading item and used to pay tithes to the priest – then a fourth with meat, followed by other goods. In the last sled, the tenth, the valuables were kept. That sled had a lock on it. Once other vehicles became availa-ble for freight and transport, the reindeer trains stopped. One of the most well-known reindeer trains these days can be seen at the Jokkmokk Market, led by Per Kuhmunen. And if you’d like to experience a bit of speed behind a reindeer don’t miss out on a visit to Nils Torbjörn Nutti in Jukkasjärvi.www.nutti.se

in order to traverse snow faster, Native Americans in North America made snowshoes. This made it possible for them to walk on the surface of the snow. The original snowshoes were made using a wooden frame with animal skin tied into a criss-cross pattern to increase support. In Scandinavia we also have a tradition of using snowshoes, or ”trugor”. It was mostly lumberjacks and hunters who used them

instead of skis, because there was no need for poles. Horses used them too in Scandinavia when they were used in forestry. These days snowshoe hiking is a popular activity. In the French Alps the biggest winter sport after Alpine skiing is to do tours on snowshoes. And all around the world there are lots of snowshoe races. Snowshoes have of course changed in both looks and material during the years.

to go by dog sled across the white open is synonymous with the great winter adventure! And its popularity has increased dramatically during the last couple of years. It’s easily understood. Perhaps we re-member the books by Jack London, perhaps we’ve just seen the beautiful pictures. And whatever way you choose to think about it, it’s really something special about travelling by dog sled. It’s a true adventure. Or as Jack London wrote: “And through another winter they wandered on the obliterated trails of men who had gone before. Once, they came upon a path blazed through the forest, an ancient path, and the Lost Cabin seemed very near. But the path began nowhere and ended nowhere, and it remained mystery...”

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natural ice has always been a playground for adults and children alike. As soon as the ice would carry us, we’d set off exploring. If there was snow on the ice we’d clear a space for ice-hockey or bandy. These days there are indoor rinks for many of those games. At the coast they clear kilometre-long tracks for people to go skating. But still: nothing is quite like the adventure of the first natural ice. The skates never sing underneath you quite like that at any other time – whether you’re a child chasing an ice-hockey puck with your friends in the village, or an adult chasing an ever-escaping horizon.


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these days we find icelandic horses and western riding in different places around Swedish Lapland. But the horse used to be a tool to survive: in the forest, for transports and in ag-riculture. When the tractor came, our view of the horse changed and instead of being something useful it became a pleasure. The introduction of the Icelandic horse to the Swedish mountains was done towards the end of the 1980s and nowadays you can ride here in summer as well as winter.

M E A N S O F C O N V E YA N C E

it’s widely acknowledged that the kick-sled was invented somewhere in the very north of Sweden (Piteå is a common suggestion) during the 19th century. Those kick-sleds had runners made of wood and looked more like sledges. The first kick-sled with steel runners was ’Orsas-parken’, first made in 1909. Placing your foot on one of the runners you could quickly get the sled to move by kicking with the other. Hence the name kick-sled. The golden era was during the 1940s when J Malmqvist & Son AB in Växjö produced and sold more than 100,000 kick-sleds per year. Obviously some of these were provided with en engine through home engineering. 2010 it was reported that some guys from Östersund had reached a speed of 105.2 km/h. A world record. By the way: it only took four seconds to reach 100 km/h. Source: Wikipedia

there are cave paintings depicting skiers in the Altai Mountains that are more than 10,000 years old. Pieces found of an old ski in Siberia are said to be 8,000 years old, and the oldest preserved pair of skis ever were found in Kalvträsk in the 1940s. Those skis are 5,000 years old. We all come from somewhere else. This year the Swedish cross country skiing championships are held in Swedish Lapland; in Piteå during the so-called SM Week 27–31 January and the SM finals in Gällivare 31 March–3 April.

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Jokkmokk Market

on the first weekend in february, every year since 1605, the Jokkmokk market is held. Often it’s cold as a freezer, or colder. and if you’ve got any paranoid ten-dencies you’ll assume that’s why this particular weekend was chosen for the market. At a quick glance, as you zigzag between stands selling sweets, t-shirts, knitted socks, donuts – one stand even offers both piercings and spiritual talks – there is little to differentiate the market here in Jokkmokk from the famous Swedish one in Kivik. But if you look further than the muddle of seem-ingly pointless things you will find the genuine, the real and the beautiful. In Jokkmokk some of the best Sámi artisans and artists gather. Here is where you’ll find the future culture bearers.

When the market started some 400 years ago this wasn’t that large an event. The Sámi people met to trade goods, socialise, and possibly to get a bit tipsy. The Swedish king, Karl IX, and his bailiffs, wanted to see what kind of goods the Sámi were trading so they could extract more taxes. At the same time the priest would be there to give the sinners a good talking to. To make everything easier to control and run smoother, they or-ganised the market during the coldest time of the year. People had to stay near the houses to keep warm.

During winter 2016 Jokkmokk market will be held for the 411th year running. Apart from world-class Sámi art, culture and handicraft, visitors are normally greeted by proper, cold winter weather.

Today some 40,000 people come to Jokkmokk on the market weekend to partake in various functions and cultural events. It’s known for good music, shows and lectures. All markets have their own theme and in 2016 the theme is ‘Midwinter on the Arctic Circle’. Most visitors are people of late middle-age who have travelled here from all over the world and are in one way or other interested in Sámi art and culture. And they appreciate good shopping, good food and to feel good in general. From the classic marrowbone dinner at old Gästis – these days it’s called Hotel Akerlund – via refined slow food at Ájtte to fast food at the market in the shape of smoked reindeer souvas. Even if it’s cold you don’t have to feel cold, and you’ll never go hungry. Or uninspired.

Per Kuhmunen has lead the rajd, the reindeer caravan, through Jokkmokk Market since 1965. It starts at noon, every day.

From Sámi Duodji to helium balloons, from marrowbones to souvas kebab, from jojk to rap.

Jokkmokk Market isn’t either or, it’s more a bit of everything.


Events winter & spring-winter 2016

Name: Saleta Beiro

Hometown: Skellefteå

Style: Fur hat

Why? I got it from my mom when I moved to Sweden. It’s a bit big, which makes it warmer.

Look: Function: Warmth: Feeling:

Name: Adam Larsson

Hometown: Sorsele

Style: Beanie

Why? It’s light, wind-proof, keep me at the right teperature. And it also says Sorsele.


Show meyour hat ......and I tell you who you are. Sometimes freezing winds blow and you don’t earn any points for being cold! It’s all about keeping your head warm in the cold and its icy winds. We all wear something on our heads from time to time: a favou-rite hat, or a cap to show our affiliations. There are as many kinds of hats as there are people.

Fur hat, buff, cap, woolly hat, hats with adverts, beanie, fez, helmet… most of us are familiar with these. But have you heard of toque, ushanka, karpus, fedora and coif ?

You have to find a hat that works for your planned activities, one that you’re happy with.

Read what some of Swedish Lapland’s hat wearers were thinking as they got dressed.

15–17/1 Aurora Festival, BjörklidenThe world’s first festival dedicated to the Aurora. Participate in experiments, activities, and learn how to predict auroras.www.theaurorafestival.com

22–23/1 Ice Music, LuleåOpening night and a tribute to Dan Fogelberg.www.icemusic.se

23/1–23/6 The Space Journey, LuleåInteractive exhibition at Teknikens Hus.www.teknikenshus.se 24–31/1 Swedish Championship Week, PiteåA sports and winter event out of the ordinary. From classical cross-country skiing to alpine luge.www.smveckan.se

24/1–31/1 En mästerlig folkfest, PiteåA festival with music, market, harness racing and other activities.www.pitea.se

29–30/1 Lakafestival, SorseleFishing festival and an homage to the sun’s return in Ammarnäs.www.ammarnasfvo.se

30/1–1/2 Polarvinternatten, GällivareWinter activities and cultural events in the the heart of Gällivare that lasts almost the entire night.www.gellivarelapland.se

27–30/1 Kiruna Snow Festival, KirunaFestival program on Saturday. The Snow Sculpture contest runs January 27–30.www.snofestivalen.com

3–6/2 Jokkmokk Market, Jokkmokk2016 the winter market in Jokkmokk is arranged for the 411th time.www.jokkmokksmarknad.se

6/2 Ride & Seek, ArjeplogA snowmobile event out of the ordinary — in backcountry terrain.www.experiencearjeplog.se

8–14/2 Sami Winter Week, SorseleExciting events based on Sami culture and traditions.www.sorsele.se

12–13/2 Lapland Tattoo Weekend, Haparanda Tattoo artists from all over the world gather in Haparanda.www.haparandatornio.com

The longest dead-end road in Sweden is in Gällivare. It’s 140 km from the E45, Via Lappia, towards Stora Sjöfallet and Ritsem, where the road ends.

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Name: Linus Värdling

Hometown: Arvidsjaur

Style: Homemade fur hat

Why? My most comforta-ble hat and also the most functional purchase I’ve ever made.


Name: Rikard Eriksson

Hometown: Sorsele

Style: Light fur hat

Why? It’s friggin comfy, and makes me so handsome. When you snap it up it keeps the wind out.


Name: Mari-Louise Lindström

Hometown: Boden

Style: Beanie, with an ”inka” twist

Why? My sister gave it to me for Christmas. It’s really warm.


Name: Ulla Lindh

Hometown: Kiruna

Style: A ”rugged” beanie

Why? I’ve done it myself. It’s cozy and comfortable when the weather is a bit on the other side.


12–14/2 Kiruna Winter Market, KirunaAnnual event in the heart of Kiruna with market, party and entertainment.www.kirunalapland.se

13/2 LTU Big Air, Luleå Freeride festival with competitions and shows.www.ltu.se

13–14/2 Winter swimming, SkellefteåWorld Cup races and the Scandinavian Championships in winter swimming.www.darkandcold.com

19–20/2 Snöbio – Winter Film Festival, SkellefteåFilm festival at Bryggarbacken on the banks of the river.www.destinationskelleftea.se

19–28/2 Arctic Balloon Adventure, GällivareHighflying 10 year anniversary.www.gellivarelapland.se

20/2 Burkarcupen, SorseleBeat up snowmobiles gather in Blattnicksele.www.blattnicksele.se

25–28/2 Abisko Ice Climbing Festival, AbiskoAn Arctic festival for enthusiastic ice climbers from all over the world.www.abiskoiceclimbing.com

25–28/2 Vinterfesten, ÄlvsbynEverything from snow sculpting to traditional ski races and après-ski.www.alvsbyn.se

9/3 Winter Rally, BodenDistrict Championships rally in the winter darkness with four special stages, totaling 65 kilometres.www.upplevboden.nu

9–13/3 YJSM in downhill skiing, BodenThe Youth Swedish Championships in downhill skiing in Storklinten, Boden.www.upplevboden.nu

10–13/3 USM in cross-country skiing, BodenThe Youth Swedish Championships in cross-country skiing, ages 15/16 years.www.upplevboden.nu

11–13/3 Arjeplog Winter Market, ArjeplogQueen Kristina laid out Arjeplog’s winter market already in the 1640s. 375 years later there’s still a party.www.arjeplog.se

12/3 Thomas Di Leva, KalixAn acoustic concert with the Swedish artist Thomas Di Leva.www.kalixfolketshus.com

Johan Abram Persson from Arjeplog won the Vasa ski race

in 1929. On the Thursday he went from Arjeplog to the train station in Jörn (160 km). On the Saturday he went from Mora to

Sälen (90 km) and from there he did the race back to Mora on the Sunday. Afterwards, he took the train to Jörn and went home

to Arjeplog. That’s more than 500 kilometres of cross-country

skiing in just a few days.


17–20/3 Vindelälvsdraget, SorseleYearly dog sled competition along the Vindelälven River.www.vindelalven.se

19/3 Toranda On Ice, HaparandaOutdoor hockey game with Swedish and Finnish hockey legends on the Torne River.www.haparandatornio.com

20/3 Tornedalsloppet, ÖvertorneåLong-distance cross-country ski race arranged for the 49th time.www.tdloppet.se

24/3 Påskkärringtrampen, ÖverkalixEaster parade with games for the children afterwards.www.heartoflapland.com

24/3 Inlandskult – Easter Rock, ArvidsjaurA traditional Easter rock party.www.heartoflapland.com

25/3 Movits, LuleåLive concert with the hip-hop band Movits at Kulturens Hus in Luleå.www.kulturenshus.com

26/3 Kanisdagen, ÄlvsbynFamily festivities at Kanisbacken.www.berattarfestivalen.se

28/3 Ice fishing contest, AbborrträskChasing the big Arctic Char.www.berattarfestivalen.se

2–3/4 Tornion Suurpilkit, HaparandaIce fishing competition with a large gathering.www.haparandatornio.com

3–6/4 Volkswagen Tour, GällivareCross-country skiing over 30 km (ladies) and 50 km (men), sprint and the snowmobile contest Dundret Hill Climb.www.skidsmgellivare.se

4/4 SMASK, PiteåPiteå’s music student’s yearly song contest.www.smask.org/pitea/

5–10/4 Fjällräven Polar, JukkasjärviA 300 km long dog sled adventure between Signaldalen och Jukkasjärvi.www.fjallravenpolar.com

6–10/4 Keb Classic Vinter, KebnekaiseSki touring competition in Kebnekaise.www.kebclassic.se/vinter

9/4 Kungsledenrännet, SorseleLong distance cross-country ski race from Hemavan to Ammarnäs.if.ammarnas.nu

9/4 Retro snowmobile gathering, LaukerSnowmobile competitions and partying.www.arvidsjaur.se

Name: Naima Nergård

Hometown: Gällivare

Style: Beanie

Why? It’s brand new. I just love yellow, mus-tard-like yellow.


Name: Anna Sindsen

Hometown: Övertorneå

Style: Beanie

Why? I just wanted it. It was so green and frisky.


Name: Lars Westerlund

Hometown: Arjeplog

Style: Fur hat from seal-skinn and blue fox

Why? Stylish, comfy and truly expensive.


Name: Åsa Andersson Ulvede

Hometown: Kalix

Style: Hand knitted beanie

Why? It just looked so comfy. I just had to have it.


After a 132-year break the Nordenskiöld Race comes back to Jokkmokk. The toughest cross-country ski race in the world was first held April 3–4 in 1884. Pavva Nilsson Tuorda won. He skied 220 kilometres – without prepared tracks – in 21 h, 22 min. Powered by coffee and cognac.

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9–10/4 Dundret Runt, GällivareCross-country ski competition and Swedens’ oldest amature ski race.www.dundretrunt.com

10/4 Nordenskiöldloppet, JokkmokkThe world’s toughest ski race at 220 km.www.redbullnordenskioldsloppet.se

13–17/4 Pure Freeride Camp, AbiskoNot your average ski event – more like the beginning of a real adventure.www.purefreeridecamp.se

16/4 Ice fishing contest, LaxholmenIce fishing contest arranged yearly at Laxholmen.www.upplevboden.nu

16/4 Lemmel Pimpel Open, JukkasjärviFive year anniversary for the world’s strangest ice fishing contest.www.lemmekaffe.com

18–24/4 Berättarfestivalen, SkellefteåA week filled with never ending stories. www.berattarfestivalen.se

21/4 Miriam Bryant, PiteåPop star Miriam Bryant returns to Piteå with even more #1 singles.www.pitea.se

28/4 Shopping night, PiteåAll night shopping in Piteå.www.pitea.se

30/4 Walpurgis Night, LuleåTraditional Walpurgis celebratios.www.luleå.se

30/4 Låktastörten, Björkliden9 km downhill ski race from Låktatjåkko Mountain Lodge to Björkliden.www.bjorkliden.com/laktastorten

7/5 Arctic Hill Climb, GällivareSnowmobile hill climb race at Dundret.www.gellivarelapland.se

10–12/5 Scandinavian Big Mountain Championships, RiksgränsenArranged annually since 1992, the Scandinavian Big Mountain Championships is the world´s original big mountain competition.www. www.bigmountain.se

20–22/5 Hej Tö!, RiksgränsenMusic festival under the midnight sun with both ski and snowboard contests.www.riksgransen.se/hej-to

28/5 Dance night, PiteåSwedish dance bands Barbados and Black Jack take the stage at Pite Havsbad.www.pite-havsbad.se

Name: Dan Ojanlatva

Hometown: Jokkmokk

Style: Fur hat

Why? My partner gave it to me. It’s a friend of the family who makes them.


Name: Helena Backman

Hometown: Luleå

Style: Hand knitted beanie

Why? It’s good looking and comfortable. I like black and white.


Name:Kjell Henriksson

Hometown: Gällivare

Style: ”Åke på toppen”

Why? It’s a beanie given to the person who visit the mountain hut at Dundret most Sundays during a season.


Name: Anna Odevall

Hometown: Luleå

Style: Fur hat

Why? It’s a warm hat. With a classic and stylish look.


Lake Rissajaure (Troll Lake) in the Kärkevagge

valley between Björkliden and Riksgränsen has the

greatest transparency of any Swedish lake: 34

metres. Perfect for looking down the hole when you

go ice-fishing – if there had been any fish.


the endless Arctic summer brings some hundred days without nights. Meaning plenty of time to roam the country, have fun and read the summer issue of The Arctic Lifestyle Magazine.

Among others you’ll meet Emma and Erik Kero, heirs of the iconic brand Kero and makers of legendary leather shoes and merchandise in Sattajärvi since 1929. They’ll talk about sustainability, handicraft and philosophy. And, besides that, we’ll try to figur out whats really going on in Pattiskokki – the little hamlet in the outskirts of internet.

Until summer. Cheers! /red. www.swedishlapland.com

The summer magazine is released

right before the ice break on Luspas-

jaur and the folklore society

of Pattisjokki had their

annual meeting.

STAY TUNED!

The Design

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the arctic lifestyle magazine – winter 2016 eng

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