The Majic of Lapland

About 10 years ago I heard of this crazy place in northern Sweden called the Icehotel. It is built new each year on the shore of the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi, high above the Arctic Circle in the heart of Lapland. It has always been on my "list" of places to see in the world and I figured that this year would be a good time to go. The trip was booked and as the time grew nearer, I found that G was getting more and more excited and I was becoming more and more apprehensive. The reality of sub-zero cold was starting to set in. I hate being cold! What the heck was I thinking when I signed up for this anyway?!?

We landed in Kiruna and to my delight the sun was shining. We stepped off the plane and saw that we were surrounded by beautiful wilderness and lots and lots of snow. It was cold, but manageable and soon I was caught up in the excitement of it all and forgot all about the -15*C degree weather and just took it all in. We were greeted at the airport by Icehotel staff and put on a bus with other giddy tourists. The 20 minute ride to the hotel was stunning. Soon we were there and given a tour, instructions on where to take our things, and issued our official Icehotel gear: a snowmobile suit, boots, gloves, and a hat.

We grabbed a drink at the Absolut Icebar before meeting with a smaller group to learn "How to Survive a Night in the Icehotel". We were given a 20 minute talk and demonstration of the procedures of sleeping in a hotel made of ice and snow... but we didn't need that until tomorrow. Our first night we were staying in the "warm accommodations" (it is recommended to only stay one night in the cold accommodations - thank goodness!) We were staying in a place called "The Northern Lights Bungalow" which was a cozy little cabin with a little kitchen, a living room, a view of the tundra, a warm shower, and huge windows in the roof that allowed you to see the Northern Lights.

On our first evening we had booked a 'Northern Lights' excursion. We rode snowmobiles to a remote hut (complete with a fire in the center) where we ate a traditional Lapland dinner. The hut was cozy and held about 15 people. We met some really nice gals from... well actually from all over, but mostly Americans living in the UK. The conversation was great and we were warm, which was not a small thing, considering that the nighttime temperature outside was -30*C and by the frozen river where we were was closer to -45*C (no wind chill figured in there!) On the snowmobiles the guide would regularly stop us to check for frostbite - yikes!

Our guide had stopped us on the way to the cabin to show us what he thought were the Northern Lights, but he wasn't absolutely sure. We were talking about it at dinner, when suddenly our guide told us all to go outside. To our amazement, the Northern Lights were now out and shining brightly. Our guide said that we were really lucky and that this was a great viewing that not many folks get to see. It was a simply amazing sight! The light comes in waves across the sky and almost shimmers in places. I could not take my eyes off of them, and I was one of the last to head back in to warm up by the fire. Despite investing in a new lens and hauling all our camera equipment with us, we didn't get any shots of the lights, it was just too cold and we really didn't have time to set up. But we saw them, and that was pretty cool (no pun intended).

After breakfast we decided to join an excursion called 'Saab Ice Driving'. It was very cool. For half a day you are taken out to an ice track (to get there we actually drove right down the runway our plane had landed on the day before) and learned all about how to drive on the ice. First we went through a few maneuvering exercises to get us used to our ABS and Traction Control. I have to admit I took out more than a couple cones, but it was great fun. They had us drive faster and faster, until the last time when they switched off both the ABS & TC, without telling us. One by one we all went spinning out into the snow bank. The instructors said they wanted to make all of us crash to "know what it feels like". After getting towed out of the snow bank, we were ready for the track, which was about 3/4 of a mile around. It was awesome! I had so much fun!! While G outdid me in the exercises, I kicked his butt on the track. All those years of ambulance driving paid off. :)

That afternoon I was still on high from the morning and we were gearing up for our next excursion... dog-sledding. We were in a group of 12 people which they split up between three sleds. We were paired up with a couple from Australia who we ended up seeing here and there for the rest of our trip. We were taken across the frozen river and out to a wilderness camp far from the hotel where we had coffee and lingonberry cake. The dogs were really excited and seemed to be having a great time. Our sled had 11 dogs and we were told that they may be a bit tired, considering they haven't had a day off in 4 days or so. But when we were passed by another sled, they went crazy and did everything they could to stay ahead of the pack. Those dogs just love to run!

That night was our "cold accommodations" night in the actual Icehotel. In the evening we went to a traditional Saami concert of jojk singing (the Saami are the indigenous people of Lapland). Our Australian friends were there too. After dinner (which was delicious), we headed over to the Icebar. The Icebar is sponsored by Absolut and serves some very yummy drinks. They play music from a sound system that is kept in a refrigerator, since it is warmer in there. We met a really nice couple from New York and toasted our ice glasses to a great trip. The funny thing is, you are paying all this money to stay in this amazing hotel, but you can't really hang out in your room until you go to bed... it is just too cold!

Since there are no doors or locks in the Icehotel your stuff is housed in a different building called "The Luggage House". When you check into your "cold accommodations" you get issued a little locked changing room to keep your things. This is also where the bathrooms are. When you are ready for bed all you are supposed to wear is long underwear and a thin layer over that, boots (for the walk), and a hat. You are issued a sub-zero sleeping bag and then you have to go OUTSIDE to get to the entrance of the hotel. The walk isn't long, but at -30*C nighttime temperatures, the hotel, at -5*C, seems warm. Everything is relative!

The beds are made of ice, but there is a pad, reindeer hides, and of course your sleeping bag. It was actually very comfortable and I really wasn't as cold as I thought I would be. The only problem was that I had to make a trip to the bathroom in the night, which involves a trip back outside to The Luggage House. But soon I was back in my bag and back to sleep. In the morning we were awoken by a friendly "good morning" and hot lingonberry juice. There are showers and even a sauna in an adjacent building, so they make it easy to warm up again.

We didn't have much time to spare though; we were soon off to one more excursion before we left. We went snowshoeing up to a lookout point on Mount Puimonen with a really fun group of people. We had no trouble staying warm on this hike! At the top we built a little camp-fire and had fresh coffee and lingonberry cake (very popular up there). After all that hard work to get up to the lookout, the fun was yet to come. We slid down natural snow slides most of the way down, which was a blast.

We only had a little more time before heading back to the airport. It was a short trip, but I can easily say one of my favorite so far! The Icehotel is so unique and set in such a stunningly beautiful place that you cannot help but spend the whole time just taking it all in and saying "I can't believe we're here!" It's hard to imagine that the hotel will be gone in May, when it melts back into the Torne River, only to be built again next year.


Landing at the Kiruna airport


Dogsled parking


Local transportation in Lapland


Icesuite


In the Main Hall


Snowmobiling in the Lapland wilderness, in search of the Northern Lights


At the excursion meeting spot


Ice driving


Dog-sledding


Happy dogs


Lights at the hotel


In bed in our Icesuite


Snowshoeing group


The church in the village of Jukkasjärvi


Absolut Icebar