Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Autumn and Winter Experiences in Norway
Left: GLØD Explorer guides you across Norway’s largest plateau, Finnmarksvidda. You will be sleeping in mountain cabins and in a shared tent along the way. Photo: Per Arne Askeland. Right: GLØD Explorer’s skiing expeditions across Finnmarksvidda are ranked among the world’s top five ski treks by Forbes Travel Guide. Photo: Trygve Nygård / www.glodexplorer.no
Skiing across Finnmarksvidda
– Europe’s last wilderness Picture yourself arriving at a mountain cabin to a nice dinner prepared with local ingredients such as king crab or reindeer, a glass of wine and a sauna after skiing for a whole day in pristine snow. With the help of GLØD Explorer’s passionate guides, you can ski across Norway’s largest plateau and hunt the northern lights. By Eirik Elvevold
The Norwegian word ’glød’ is synonymous with the English word ’glow’. For the experienced guides working at GLØD Explorer, the word represents both the vibrant northern lights, dancing in the sky above them, and their inner passion for nature-based adventures. In 2007, GLØD was the first company in the Alta region of Finnmark to hunt down the northern lights together with tourists. The pioneers are now operating out of the modern GLØD headquarters right outside Alta, where they head out on all types of arctic adventures, including skiing and fatbiking, on Norway’s largest plateau of Finnmarksvidda. “In my opinion, crossing Finnmarksvidda on cross-country skis is the most exotic skiing experence in Norway. I get goosebumps just thinking about how it feels to ascend a ridge and see a Sami 72 | Issue 92 | September 2016
family herding their reindeer on the vast, snow-covered plains,” says Trygve Nygård, general manager and owner of GLØD Explorer. Like the other guides in his company, Nygård has grown up with a close relationship to nature. “Alta opens the gate to Finnmarksvidda with all its opportunities. The stable climate, which creates optimal conditions for seeing the northern lights, makes the city an oasis in Finnmark, in Norway and the world,” Nygård says. GLØD Explorer’s skiing expeditions on Finnmarksvidda, ranked among the world’s top five ski treks by Forbes Travel Guide, last between four and 11 days. You should know how to ski before signing up, but the expeditions are far from uncompromising. The equipment is top of the line, the huskies pulling your sledge are well trained and the guides
are what Nygård likes to call “empathetic experts”. The shortest expedition lasts four days, while the longest stretches from the Finnish border town of Kilpisjärvi in the east to the Barents Sea out west. “On our tours, you’ll be staying both in mountain cabins – with a sauna – and in a shared tent. Regardless, we like to eat and drink well. The feeling you get when you crawl into the warm tent and enjoy a good meal, maybe even something nice in the glass – the contrast makes it all so much better,” Nygård concludes. TYPICAL GLØD ADVENTURES ARE: - Ski expeditions: four, six, eight or 11 days - Hunting for the northern lights - Fatbike tours - Snowshoeing including moose safari - Mountain biking - Canoeing and kayaking
For more information, please visit: www.glodexplorer.no or send an email to post@glodexplorer.no