The Arctic Lifestyle Magazine – summer 2016 eng

THE ARCTIC LIFEST YLE MAGAZINE

SwedishLapland s u m m e r โ ข w w w. s w e d i s h l a p l a n d . c o m

PEOPLE / 102

Board meeting in Pattisjokki N AT U R E / 7 8

The lady of the Stream LIGHT / 6

White Nights DESIGN / 26

Equally cool souls TA S T E / 6 0

Slowfood in Sรกpmi C U LT U R E / 9 2

Sauna ballet

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Björkliden, photo: Marcus Alatalo

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The midnight light is fascinating. Imagine a night without darkness. Imagine how much you’d be able to experience. As Shakespeare writes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Over hill, over dale... I do wander everywhere. Swifter than the moon’s sphere”.

S:t Petersburg is known for its white nights, but the nights in Swedish Lapland are gold-rimmed — with a sun that merely nudges the horizon. Where sunset and sunrise are the same fluid movement.

A never-ending summer.

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I N T RO

MI SÁP swedaisnhd l a pl

map Swedish Lapland Sápmi Swedish Lapland represents the Swedish part of the Arctic region, shared with six other countries: USA (Alaska), Denmark (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.

W

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 archipelago. 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 indigenous 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 immemorial 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 summer 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.

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CONTENTS

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Daniel Olausson/Mediatales

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Photo: Caite Laffoon

70 Photo: Kero/Tomas Bergman

T H E A RC T IC L I F E ST Y L E M AGA Z I N E The 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: redaktionen@swedishlapland.com COVER Håkan Stenlund in a rowboat on Vindelälven in Sorsele.

Photographer Andy Anderson. More of his shots at page 78–85.

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.

www.swedishlapland.com

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

59 Phot0: Andy Anderson

Photo: Gรถran Wallin

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Photo: Massa Media / SVT

Photo Markus Alatalo

CONTENTS

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Photo: Daniel Olausson/Mediatales

Midnight light 13 WAYS OF LOVING THE LIGHT

When summer comes the ice melts. Out of the two powers that rule our destination – light and dark – the season of light is of course the liveliest one. Everything grows, new life is born, the birds sing around the clock. The season with the midnight light is around 100 days long. You play golf in the middle of the night, you take a swim when you feel like it and those who have never experienced the midnight light before wonder how they'll ever manage to sleep. But then you make your mind up not to worry about sleep and decide it's time for further adventures. Even more summer.

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23–24/5 – 18–19/7

27–28/5 – 14–15/7 KIRUNA 31/5–1/6 – 10–11/7 GÄLLIVARE

PAJALA

4–5/6 – 6–7/7 JOKKMOKK

ARCTIC CIRCLE

ÖVERKALIX 8–9/6 – 2–3/7 12–13/6 – 28–29/6

SORSELE

ÖVERTORNEÅ HAPARANDA

ARJEPLOG

BODEN

ARVIDSJAUR

ÄLVSBYN PITEÅ

KALIX LULEÅ

You can see the midnight sun in summer in nearly all of Swedish Lapland. Midnight sun means that you can see the centre of the sun when it’s local midnight. At midsummer you can see the midnight sun south of the arctic circle as well because of the way the atmosphere refracts the light.

But even if you can’t see the sun, you can see the light. Up here we have midnight light 100 days per year and the summer adventure from the Church Village in Lövånger to the Three-Country Cairn feels endless.

SKELLEFTEÅ

1. Music

festivals Summer is festival season and festival season is summer. They go hand in hand.

Within the destination Swedish Lapland festivals are organised everywhere throughout summer.

Classics such as the Kiruna Festival and PDOL are combined with events like the Folk Music Festival in Saltoluokta and the Blues Party in Flakasand.

A music festival with a pure magical backdrop is 800 MÖH (in english 800 meters above sea level).

Set on the mountain Dundret, right above Gällivare, viewing midnight sun and Laponia and great music.

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Photo: Bodens Golfklubb / Per Bergbom

MIDNIGHT SUN

Photo: Graeme Richardson

2. Tee time

in the night

According to Golf Digest, Boden GK:s course S채vast is 'best in the north of Sweden'. The course has held this ranking since 2013. To play this course in the middle of night, in summer, certainly makes it feel that way. www.bodensgk.se

3. Floating dreams M/S Floataway in Liehittej채 is your chance to experience the life of Walden, but with a bit more comfort. Liehittej채 allegedly means seductive in old Finnish, by the way.

It's not difficult to understand why.

Photo: Anna-Karin Nordvall

www.huuvahideaway.se

4. Saddle up Between the 3rd and 12th of July you can experience horseback riding in the midnight sunlight. Galgbackens Icelandic Horse Centre in Sakaj채rvi. www.galgbacken.com

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Photo: Fredrik Broman/humanspectra.com

MIDNIGHT SUN

6. Night shift in the corral

Photo: Carl.Johan Utsi

Every spring the reindeer move back up to the mountains and home to the calving land. The calves are branded in the middle of summer, under the midnight light: a magical experience.

Ask at the Tourist Office where the different Sámi herding cooperatives do their calf branding.

5. Over the horizon

7. Off road

The Bothnian Bay archipelago is every paddler's dream. You can paddle 24/7 for one hundred days.

This lone paddler outside Haparanda Sandskär salutes the idea.

The beach Skvalpen in the Luleå archipelago is a wonderful place to go for a swim, and if you bring your fatbike that's another adventure waiting for you. www.brandogruppen.se and www.guide-natura.com provide boat taxis. In Luleå you can rent a bike at www.cykelstallet.com or

Photo: Olov Stenlund/bikelifeinswedishlapland.com

facebook.com/ouroboroslulea.

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MIDNIGHT SUN

8. Nightlife I drink, therefore I am. No, we're not going to glorify drinking culture – but it's difficult to ignore the facts. During the last couple of years lots of interesting micro breweries have appeared here in our region. Give your nightlife a tasty touch of local produce.

www.ssbcbeer.com • www.naustabryggeri.se www.bottenvikensbryggeri.se • www.tjersbryggeri.se skellefteabryggeri.se • www.pitebryggeri.se

9. Where Eagles Dare 1999 Conny Lundström was awarded first prize in Wildlife Photographer of the Year with a close-up shot of a golden eagle. Since then he's won a lot more prizes. But more importantly he's taken photo enthusiasts out in the forest, or out on one of his floating hide-outs. To come across an eagle is a bonus in summer, but ospreys are common. The osprey hasn't changed in 56 million years, according to studies at Yale University. It means it hasn't shared its genetic tree with anyone for a long time. The oldest bird in that sense is the South American oilbird. It hasn't shared genes with other birds since dinosaurs walked the earth 73 million years ago.

Photo: Fredrik Broman/humanspectra.com

www.connylundstrom.com

10. A bird’s-eye view Live like a bird among the tree tops at Treehotel in Harads. There’s even a room called the Bird’s Nest. And the classic Mirror Cube nearly makes you invisible as the cube reflects its surroundings. Treehotel in Harads is the perfect retreat for a couple of days in the warmth of the midnight sun. www.treehotel.se

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Photo: Markus Alatalo

MIDNIGHT SUN

Photo: Håkan Stenlund

11. A lift to the sky Aurora Sky Station is the best place in the world to experience the northern lights phenomenon, according to Lonely Planet.

Partly because Abisko is in a rain shadow, making it less cloudy here than in other places.

So it follows that it's also the best place to experience the midnight sun. And while you're at it you can have a nice meal, too. www.auroraskystation.se

12. Luxury cruise From the 5th of July to the 7th of August you can go on a midnight cruise from Piteå to Luleå.

The boat departs at 22:15 and arrives in Luleå at 02:00. Don't worry about the midnight snack, it's included in the price. Other evening cruises include the classic prawn cruises and the Wednesday cruise to Brändöskär. www.laponia.se

Photo: Laponia

13. Biting nights There's no way around it – fly fishing is best at night. A salmon fisher in Råstrand who has waited four days in a row, a grayling catcher

by Juktån, or a mountain angler who all of a sudden sees how the large arctic charr start their biting frenzy. www.sorselefisket.se

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Days in the archipelago What happens when a father and son decide to go island hopping in the Bay of Bothnia for a few days? Well, first the father has to convince the son's best friend to come along. Then, he barely sees them again. There is so much to discover.

T E XT & P H OTO H Å K A N ST E N LU N D

The rocks of Brändöskär.

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S

ummer break, vacation and archipelago.

Three words that awaken that joyous, liberating summer feeling in each of us.

Like everyone knows, island life is synonymous with summer, sun and freedom.

An oasis where stress can never touch you. So, a Sunday morning in July. I run down the streets of Luleå with a bag called the Black Hole slung over my shoulder. The Black Hole has swallowed everything my son and I could possibly need for our four remaining days of island hopping in the archipelago of the Bay of Bothnia. The Black Hole is weighing me down. I ask my son to run on ahead. He must make sure the ferry doesn't cast off before I arrive. Once there, the lad, whose name is Måns, looks worried.

– Where is Edvin?

– I don't know. Isn't he here? You'd better call.

While I pay the fare for the three of us, I hear Måns ringing his best friend. Hanging up, he says: – Dad, It's okay, he's in the parking lot.

– Yes, well, the boat is about to leave. Like now.

– Take it easy, we still have two minutes. He'll make it.

Of course.

– Everything's cool. It's summer break, says Junior, logging in to Snapchat. an old idea. Don't let me jump the gun here, but the whole idea of island hopping in the archipelago wasn't my son's. It was mine. It all started with the old adage, "like father – like son". The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and Senior and Junior should do things together. And preferably just like Senior did, back in the day.

– Is there network coverage?

That was the young lad's first question when I pitched my vacation plans at the breakfast table.

Remembering the week before, when he and I were in the mountains and there was no cell coverage, I suppose he just wants to be sure.

– I think so.

– Can I bring Edvin?

– Well... I thought that you and I...

– You can forget it if Edvin can't come along.

What am I going to do out there with you?

– I thought that we could...

– Forget it!

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"A warm, smooth rock surface against the skin and that feeling of my feet leaving the ground as I dive into the sea.

Freedom and refreshment; life as it should be."

Photo: Göran Wallin

So, let's face it. Sometimes a father who wants to spend time with his sixteenyear-old son simply has to accept that the playing field has changed over the years. The kid has a will of his own and it's best to stay on his good side. So, a grinning Edvin is now standing there, completely oblivious to a middle-aged man's stress symptoms. God almighty, the boat is leaving in one minute. Not to worry, we have plenty of time. pite-rönnskär. We started in Piteå

yesterday, or rather, we started at the marina in Kinnbäck the day before that.

A tour boat out to the newly renovated hostel on the island of Pite-Rönnskär.

A landmark since the early 1900s, when a Heidenstam lighthouse was moved from Skåne to the island to guide mariners into the harbour.

The 37-metre-tall iron lighthouse is the tallest of its kind and, in fact, the tallest lighthouse on the Swedish coast.

Gustaf von Heidenstam designed these lighthouses. His idea was to make a portable lighthouse, one that could be shipped out to small islands, even in bad weather. Incidentally, Gustaf was the son of Swedish Academy member Verner von Heidenstam, one of the famous Nordic 'nineties' figures. He who wrote: "It is fairer to listen to the string that broke than to never strain a bow". Well worth remembering when you're running with a Black Hole bag on your back.

But let's leave Heidenstam; we might get lost. Instead, we'll head for the idyllic Pite-Rönnskär. The new café, in the old pilothouse dining room, is a gathering place. Many visitors also choose to stay at the newly renovated hostel.

round-the-clock island hopping.

Island hopping has long been a tried 14

The islands of the Bay of Bothnia make up for a great playground of summer fun.

A retreat for good folks, seals and souls.

and tested source of recreation in the Greek islands, as it has in Stockholm's archipelago. And in Sweden's northernmost destination, Swedish Lapland, it is definitely doable. But you have to consult the timetables and bus schedules for Skellefteå, Piteå, Luleå, Kalix and Haparanda. And it takes a bit of planning, but it works.

The five towns are, in and of themselves, quite delightful summer destinations. Island hopping in Greece became popular back in the '70s. In the 1980s many young Swedes fell in love with this mode of travel, after journeying through the continent on a Eurail pass. And people have island hopped in Stockholm's archipelago for decades. But I'm not sure the experience even comes close to this.

Where else but in Swedish Lapland is it bright and sunny 24-7? Swimming in your own secluded bay in the middle of the night, but in broad daylight, is a rather special feeling. And you can really experience a lot, since you have so much time and light.

We wake up in the morning, ready for our next adventure. From Pite-Rönnskär we take the boat to Piteå and on Saturday night we hop aboard M/S Laponia for a midnight cruise from Piteå to Luleå. the outermost idyll. On Sundays

M/S Symfoni sails for the outermost idyll, Brändöskär. Once upon a time this was the Brändö residents' summer pasture and fishing camp. Nowadays it is a T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

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M/S Symfoni is heading out into the big blue work of the Bay of Bothnia.

summer idyll in the outermost part of Luleå's archipelago. After Brändöskär, Finland. We stay in one of Luleå's five municipally-managed rental cabins on Brändöskär, a newly built cabin called Harren. It is simple, comfortable and easily sleeps four in bunk beds.

I make a mental note to remember that, next year, when the cabins are available for booking, I'll try to be on my toes and book a couple of extra nights, at least. A propane stove, beds, outhouse and a pump where you can fetch freshwater. We have more than enough of everything we need. After a while, it sounds like this: – Dad, there's pretty good 4G coverage out near the dock.

In other words, the peace is preserved.

But it would have been anyway; the sun is blazing down from a clear blue sky and the warm, rocky outcrops north of the camp are beckoning.

From the rock, we dive straight out into the sea when it gets too hot.

You almost feel like a choice cut of steak sizzling on a stone grill. It is indescribably delightful. And, one day when I'm sitting at the office trying to settle down to work, I'll recall this day.

A warm, smooth rock surface against the skin and that feeling of my feet leaving the ground as I dive into the sea. Freedom and refreshment; life as it should be. jopikgården. On Tuesday we travel

back to Hindersön. We arrive just af-

facts

The Bay of Bothnia archipelago offers several accommodation alternatives.

Sweden's right of common also allows you to camp just about anywhere, as long as you keep a respectable distance from people's homes and gardens.

For more information: www.destinationskelleftea.se www.pitea.se www.lulea.nu www.heartoflapland.com www. bottenvikensskargard

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ter lunch and are immediately seated.

Our meal is ordered and a cold beer for father's nerves and colas for the youngsters are served straight away.

Jopikgården is busy today. What may be the finest day of the year will soon give way to a wonderful summer evening. Sometimes, we don't really need much to get ourselves out of the cocoon – a bit of sun and time to enjoy a beer with friends, and we can forget that "must-do list". That's island living at its best. In the evening we're back at Jopikgården. We enjoy a starter of chèvre on toast with blueberry honey. While the boys tuck into a souvas-filled schnitzel, I eat the fish cakes. No one is disappointed.

The schnitzels vanish so quickly that I begin to doubt whether Junior even ate lunch.

Afterwards, while Måns and Edvin take rental bikes out for a ride to survey the island, I remain seated and savour a Calvados. It's been quite a while since I really sat down. I feel I need to. After all, this is archipelago living. the nearest idyll. If Brändöskär is

the outermost idyll, then Klubbvikens havsbad is perhaps the nearest.

Transfer boats depart from Luleå

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islands in the stream The Bothnian Bay archipelago is unique. The land elevation, the brackish water, the endemic plants and the mix of biotopes make it special.

The uplift rate is nine millimetre per year, or one metre per one hundred years, and it affects the landscape dramatically.

New land is continuously formed and this new land – the beach meadows – host plants such as Euphrasia bottnica (an endemic eyebright) and Deschampsia bottnica (tufted hairgrass).

They only like it here and can't be found anywhere else in the world. The archipelago is also unique with brackish water that has a salinity of just 0.2%, and fresh-water fish share the space with saltwater fish.

Forest birds and sea birds alike colonise the islands.

During summer parts of the archipelago can be reached by regular boat traffic. There are cabins for rent and piers for those visiting by boat. Many of the islands have barbecue areas and saunas. www.bottenvikensskargard.se

morning and evening during the summer. But the larger tour boats also call at Klubbviken. There, not only can you swim, sunbathe and laze about in the sand, you can also stay overnight.

Do so, and you'll realize how different Klubbviken can be from day to night.

When the last tour boat has left, what was a lively playa under the sun during the day suddenly becomes an intimate little island retreat. That evening in the restaurant we eat a wellhung rib eye before retiring to one of Klubbviken's cabins for the night.

Tomorrow we head back to town but, since the weather is perfect, we opt to stay until evening. We'll take one of the last tour boats. I really enjoy our coastal towns; the outdoor cafés fill up quickly on sunny days.

I relax at a bar while the boys go out on the town. Although I'm not at all up-to-date, I know they have their own plans. They are at that age – when they have to get away from their parents. For an adolescent, it is probably more obvious than it is for a parent.

But tonight it seems only natural that they should have their own plans and their own lives. That's what summer nights by the sea are for. Letting go and living life to the full.

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The Gold of the Sea Photo: Magnus Skoglöf

The Bothnian Bay archipelago doesn't just invite to recreation and adventure. This is also the setting for a smorgasbord filled with the flavours of summer.

The Silver of the Sea

Photo: Magnus Skoglöf

That's what we call the vendace roe from Kalix – well, even the Red Gold of the Sea. The Bothnian Bay archipelago stretches from Haparanda to Skellefteå and the brackish water is the perfect environment for the vendace that provides us with these small, precious pearls of roe. Kalix vendace roe is Sweden's first delicacy to be EU-certified as a product with Protected Designation of Origin. This exclusive club features famous members such as Stilton cheese, Parmesan ham and sparkling Champagne. These days vendace roe from Kalix is a given ingredient at the Nobel Banquet, but also on your very own luxurious breakfast toast.

Salmon, not steel, laid the foundation of the town Luleå. This Silver of the Sea was so abundant that when it was no longer possible to sail in to the Gammelstad World Heritage, because of the land elevation, the whole town moved. This transformation took place a long time before iron ore made its appearance. These days the story about the salmon of the Baltic Sea is a happy one with more and more salmon returning to our wild salmon rivers. Even if pregnant women and children should avoid eating too much of the fatty Baltic salmon it's not a proper summer without some cured, smoked or fresh salmon.

It tastes best when bought straight from the fishing boat, of course.

Fermented Baltic Herring – Surströmming Photo: Medvedev /CC BY-SA 3.0

The Gold of the Sea

Yes, fermented herring does smell.

Especially when you open the first tin.

But don't let it frighten you off; it's a magnificent, grand flavour to savour.

One way of getting used to the classic northern flavour is to try it on local thin bread – tunnbröd – with fresh almond potatoes, skin left on, some onion and crème fraîche. To enjoy with a beer from one of the many local breweries in Swedish Lapland, of course.

On Land Whitefish and Perch Whitefish is a fish you can eat as much as you like with a clean conscience, as it's not affected by toxic substances or overfishing.

Accompanied with new potatoes, Béchamel sauce and chives it's Swedish summer at its best. You can buy whitefish in almost every village or town along the coast, smoked or fresh.

Vendace, its 'cousin', is a classic fish for us living in the Bothnian Bay archipelago: salted and grilled over an open fire. But ask a chef, or archipelago resident, what their favourite fish is and chances are they'll reply perch. Fillets fried in butter, boiled whole, or cold-smoked – the perch is the classic summer fish.

The summer smorgasbord of flavours isn't just based on products from the sea. There are plenty of exciting flavours available on land, out on the archipelago islands. The arctic bramble flower is North Bothnia's county symbol and the berries are exquisite. Chanterelles, sea-buckthorn and wild raspberries grow here too, and you're welcome to help yourself to everything, thanks to the right of public access. Of course you wouldn't dream of abusing this right, so please respect people's privacy when looking for these delicacies. The archipelago residents are nice and friendly, but they still won't tell you where all the best spots are. Not that it hurts to try.

Arctic bramble

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Photo: Klaus Langguth

Into the water

Swedish Lapland is Sweden’s northernmost destination. It’s also more than a quarter of Sweden. This gives us a fair few unique geographical spots, so of course we can also offer some of the most interesting swimming experiences around.

Photo: Kaj Törnberg

Three-Country Cairn

Photo: Ann-Sofi Boman

1926 a cement block was erected ten metres out in lake Koltajaure. In Swedish it’s known as Treriksröset, the Norwegians call it Treriksrøyset and in Finland it’s called Kolmen valtakunnan pyykki. The Sámi, the indigenous people who live in the cross-border area known as Sápmi, call it Golmma riikka uurna. If you swim clockwise you visit Finland, Sweden and Norway.

If you swim counter-clockwise you visit Finland, Norway and Sweden. It’s not every day you go for a swim in three countries.

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Lake Hornavan

Stenskär

Not even Austrian Herbert Nitsch with a world record in freediving, 214 metres, can reach the bottom of Lake Hornavan. Start from Höghedet

by Svartberget on the lake for a swim you can feel.

But not in the sense of feeling the bottom. There are 221 metres between surface and bottom in Sweden’s deepest lake, so the feeling you get swimming around here is slightly vertiginous.

The island Stenskär outside Piteå is part of the nature reserve Bondöfjärden, a Natura 2000 area. The reserve is 55 square kilometres, but only two of them above the surface. On those two you’ll find a lagoon-like natural harbour, ancient labyrinths and one of the nicest beaches in the Bothnian Bay archipelago. If you go for a swim here you’re actually swimming at the farthest end of the inland ice that once stretched all the way from the mountains. A boat tour departs from Västra Kajen via Pite Havsbad, see www.guide-natura.com.

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Photo: Marcel Köppe/Servingmind

Lake Trollsjön Poor Trollsjön – if it had been a little bit deeper than its 36 metres the measured visibility would probably have been more than 36 metres too, because the water is so clear. If you go for a swim here it’s a good thing that you’ve first had to walk along at a brisk pace from Låkta station, uphills through beautiful Kärkevagge – the water is meltwater from surrounding glaciers and not very warm. In Sámi the name of the lake is Rissájávri, which translates to something like the lake that gleams like fire.

Photo: Jens Thoms Ivarsson

Storforsen rapids The largest unregulated rapids in Sweden: Storforsen outside Älvsbyn. We’re not recommending you go for a swim in the free-flowing rapids, but next to them, in the part that was rendered more or less dry when it was cleared for log-driving, commonly known as ’the Dead Fall’, there are a number of spectacular pools and canyons that turn this area into a perfect, natural waterpark. The cliffs around Storforsen also lend themselves to sunbathing and the area is adapted to persons with reduced mobility and well-equipped with lots of picnic areas. There’s a hotel nearby if you feel like staying the night and have another swim in the morning.

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Where there are no roads Álggajávrre, 756 metres above sea level in Sarek national park, is just north of Sweden’s most inaccessible point N67 23.199, E17 05.989 (SWEREF 99). Another alternative could be N67 19.118 E17 09.919 ( RT 90) and then the most inaccessible point would be the north-eastern shore of Lulep Rissájávree around 900 metres above sea level. The most inaccessible point means the location furthest from a road. Both these spots are around 50 kilometres from the nearest road.

Lulep Rissájávrre is located in Padjelanta national park.

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Norrmejerier make a wonderful summer fil (curdled milk), tangy and creamy and made with real birch sap.

Spring tea with birch and Goddess tea made of dwarf birch from Viddernas Hus in Jokkmokk.

Birch

betula

one of our most common trees is the birch. There are around 35 different varieties of birch, betula, in the northern hemisphere, but only three of them are found in Sweden: silver birch, white birch and dwarf birch. The white birch has the shiniest bark – we call it näver – and the mountain birch has developed from it. Vindelfjällen nature reserve, Sweden’s largest with its 560,000 hectares, was protected partly because it contains one of the world’s few large, continuous mountain-birch forests, making up more than a quarter of the total area. Birch is used for timber and firewood, as a detergent and for dyeing, but also as a flavour experience and for it’s lovely scent.

< The birch is good for getting the sauna warm and boughs are used to ’scrub’ each other’s tired backs. But in the actual construction of a sauna, other woods are better. > To make syrup from birch requires two things: a large pot and patience.

Two hundred litres of sap is boiled down to two cups of syrup. You can also buy syrup made from leaves from Jokkmokksbär.

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Photo: ShopinLapland

Birch-bud salt from Essense of Lapland.

An axe handle made of birch bur adorns this beautiful handicraft axe from Karesuandokniven.

Handmade bracelet ’Birch’ made in sterling silver, designed by Camilla Mustikka, camillamustikka.se

Photo: Camilla Mustikka Photo: ShopinLapland

Pick your own birch leaves, let them dry and then use for seasoning of your schnapps or lemonade.

Beautiful bowl made of birch shavings from Shop in Lapland.

Design Owe Eriksson.

< SAXOPHONE BIRCHES Short and stooped, wind-shaped mountain birches. They are popularly known as ’saxophone birches’, because of their shape.

Saxophone birches on the mountain slopes is a sure sign that you’re far north, on high altitude.

Photo: Göran Wallin

Birch-bark handicraft is an old tradition in Arctic homes. In the shape of coffee boxes, sugar bowls or jewellery boxes.

> The birch’s inner bark is very useful. These hard-bread sticks from Essense of Lapland are also very tasty.

Product photos: Carl-Johan Utsi

Birch scrub, perfect for a sauna, from c/o Gerd.

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Photo: Kero/Tomas Bergman

High quality and new design. Kero in Sattajärvi have improved on their classic products and used traditional methods since the company was founded in 1929.

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A travel in traditions The tradition and geography of Sweden’s northernmost destination is reflected in the wide range of handicraft, duodji and art.

The inspiration often comes from nature and culture – midnight sun, flashing northern lights, white expanses and large rivers.

Photo: Göran Wallin

swedish lapland is a rich, varied area with unique nature and culture.

The global guest and other visitors often appreciate local culture where duodji and handicraft such as knives, jewellery, glass dishes with northern-light patterns, knitted mittens, pewter bracelets and utility goods form an important part of the experience.

Jewellery-making using materials such as silver, leather, pewter thread, roots, wood and antlers is a strong tradition.

Handicraft has developed a lot during recent years. The inspiration comes from traditional patterns and cultural inheritance being developed into new shapes and new forms.

The range of handicraft and duodji is an exciting ’formfest’ (Swedish for something like ’an explosion of design’)

Maud Ån, handicraft consultant in Norrbotten, together with Mari-Ann Nutti, director of Sámi Duodji — the Foundation for Sámi Handicraft.

from the high mountains to the islands of the Bothnian Bay. Maud Ån works as a handicraft consultant in the county Norrbotten.

– The work as a county handicraft consultant is based on the goals set in the culture plan for Norrbotten. The aim is to nurture and develop handicraft, both as an expression of culture and a business.

– I work with artisans, artists and colleagues in many different ways, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

It’s a varied and exciting task, Maud tells us.

– Handicraft is such a wide notion: knowledge about materials, techniques and shape. There’s great interest to ’make it yourself ’ but together with others and to share the knowledge. Enjoy and let yourself be inspired by the beauty and knowledge that resides within our artisans and artists! the exhibition next level craft was inaugurated in Jokkmokk at Ájtte, the Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum.

Next Level Craft is a ”modern exhibition between fantasy and reality”. The handicraft tradition and magnificent nature in the northern counties become a starting point for a handicraft fairytale with a difference. The travelling exhibition has drawn a lot of attention and had its premiere in Umeå at the European

The duodji sign The beautiful duodji sign is an authenticity certificate.

The brand guarantees consumers that the handicraft they buy is real Sámi handicraft. It also protects Sámi artisans from trade mark infringements, plagiarism and unfair competition.

Duodji Katarina Spiik Skum, with a master’s degree in Sámi handicraft, explains duodji like this: Duodji are handicraft items made by Sámi artisans. The items have their own artistic expression and background in Sámi traditions and way of life. Duodji often has a practical function.

Wikipedia also states that the materials used are normally what can be found in nature or provided by the reindeer. Duodji is an important part of Sámi culture. Souvenirs with no practical function can never bear the duodji sign, for example.

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Capital of Culture 2014 and since then it’s been presented in Östersund, Härnösand, Jokkmokk and Washington D.C. The handicraft consultants of the northern counties took the initiative to and are responsible for Next Level Craft and the exhibition management is an example of cooperation across county borders.

Nordic Knitting Symposium in Kiruna, the week after midsummer, is another event where the handicraft consultant activity cooperated with the Handicraft Association of Norrbotten and Gavstrik, the Danish association that runs the knitting symposium. More than 100 participants from around the globe come to Kiruna to develop their knowledge through courses and lectures, as well as experience the Arctic and the midnight sun. the handicraft consultants cooperate with the Foundation for Sámi Handicraft: Sámi Duodji.

Sámi Duodji has a national mandate to work with duodji, which is the Sámi name for Samí handicraft. The Foundation for Sámi Handicraft Sámi Duodji has chosen to place its main office in Jokkmokk, because Jokkmokk is a central location in Swedish Sápmi.

The Foundation for Sámi Handicraft Sámi Duodji also runs a shop and an art gallery there.

Sámi Duodji’s task is to increase and deepen the knowledge around the Sámi cultural heritage duodji. By disseminating knowledge about duodji they ensure that the cultural heritage is developing.

It’s also a way of protecting duodji against a rapidly growing plagiarism market. Mari-Ann Nutti is the director for Sámi Duodji.

– Duodji is the Sámi name for hand-made Sámi items such as clothes, utensils, tools and decorations, she says.

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

DESIGN

From burr to bowl. There’s a lot of work between finding and collecting a birch burr and presenting a perfect guksi.

Duodji has a long tradition and it presents itself in many different ways.

Duodji is the handicraft and the art made by Sámi using Sámi traditions, shapes, material, patterns and colours as starting points. The foundation of Sámi handicraft is still mainly natural materials. Within duodji, importance is also placed on the item being beautiful, functional and practical.

– Every individual Sámi has a relationship with duodji, even if they grew up in Stockholm.

For Sámi artisans the year begins and finishes with the fair in Jokkmokk. The fair is very important for Sámi handicraft and a main cultural event.

– Eighty per cent of the sales and orders are made during the fair, Mari-Ann Nutti says.

The extensive sales and exhibition of duodji, handicraft and art during the Jokkmokk Market is proof of how important tourism is to handicraft. But, it also points to a symbiotic relationship where handicraft needs tourism and tourism needs handicraft.

– Northern culture, art, design, handicraft and duodji being presented at exhibitions, in lectures and sales, turns the Jokkmokk Market into a kind of large display window, both Mari-Ann Nutti and Maud Ån agree.

Mari-Ann also tells us about the ÁRBI exhibition that runs at the North Bothnian Museum in Luleå during spring and summer. Young Sámi artisans hold the exhibition under the theme ’Traditional Knowledge in Modern Time’. and you don’t have to travel to gather northern traditions. ’Formfest i norr’ is the name of a web-based guide that gathers and presents handicraft and art from the area. Traditional material and techniques are mixed with new designs T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Göran Wallin

DESIGN

and upcycling. But handicraft is always best when you can hold it and smell it.

We travel on.

The Nordanå culture area in Skellefteå is worth a visit. There you’ll find the oldest wooden building in Sweden, Nyborg, a cultural heritage, as well as durable handicraft in ’Handens Hus’.

Artisans and artists who have incorporated high quality and new design are represented at Nordanå Café and Shop like Rune Jonsson a birch-bark artisan who makes canisters with chip-carving designs. Rune is one of Sweden’s birchbark artisans chosen to receive a grant from the Swedish Handicrafts Association and he’s had exhibitions at the Nordic Museum.

Kerstin Schmidt from Träskholm combines hand woven materials and embroidery in church textiles and public decoration with traditional textiles and modern designs. Margaretha Holmlund, from Hjoggböle, is a ceramist who creates both everyday household items and art for public spaces in her workshop.

Maud Ån appreciates the genuine knowledge we find among people working with handicrafts in Swedish

Classic Torne Valley painting with repeating colours, shapes and patterns. The knitting patterns for the mittens are different though, here you can see mittens from Arjeplog, Kiruna/Jukkasjärvi and Karesuando.

Lapland. Cultural heritage and everyday handicraft provide an important foundation for development and new design.

There’s also a will to share the knowledge about techniques and materials.

The joy and satisfaction in being able to create your own is found in all stages of creation. Just like back in the old days you have to find a crooked birch to use to make a ladle, or an axe handle. The shapes and colours in nature are often a source of inspiration for the designs.

Artisans find inspiration in phenomena such as the northern lights and the history of the region.

– Thanks to the presence of enthusiastic and skilled artisans in the county we can arrange different events, for example Handicraft Week in Överkalix and Nordic Knitting Symposium.

– The breadth of knowledge and enthusiasm is found everywhere: from professional artisans to the various non-profit amateur groups and many others, says Maud.

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DESIGN

â&#x20AC;?I believe that the harsh climate has affected the people here making them strong, patient, stubborn and wise.â&#x20AC;?

Photo: Fredrik Broman

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Photo: Helen McGougan

DESIGN

Re-cover, Luleå 1.

It started with a shortage; she found her wardrobe lacking.

Nowadays Paula Fahlander’s own design — a blend of American Western and Norrbotten soil — has managed to fill that void with her business ‘Re-cover’.

2.

where do you find inspiration? Primarily my inspiration comes from the materials I find and opt to use for designs.

But it is also true that what I do and experience in my life such as training, hunting, biking, nature exploits, fresh air and birdsong also inspire to passionate designing processes. what materials do you use? I use only natural materi-

als, wool and leather predominantly, but also some linen, hemp and cotton. The materials must by necessity be of high quality; the quality is of the highest essence to me.

Photo: Viveka Österman

designs: Clothes and products with a Nordic, unique idiom.

1. Arctic Skua — the original that the Re-cover brand sprung from.

Knitted in Shetland wool with leather details.

2. Embla — a delightful flagrance inspired by North Swedish nature.

For the strong and proud woman.

3. Henny — a wonderful double woven quality in pure linen. High quality with an attitude.

4. Georg — Limited Edition Leather Collection.

View more of the collection at www.recover.se

what would you like your design to convey?

One part of our philosophy is to make clothes that must be felt and touched. We are also consciously working on adding to the customers’ individual character and self-confidence; for them to find their uniqueness, to care, nurture and enjoy. We make clothes and other products that we and other people take comfort in wearing.

what are your personal expressions? Clothes with

3.

Photo: Helen McGougan

what does the arctic way of life mean to you? I love spending time outdoors in all the seasons of the year and I believe that the harsh climate has affected the people here making them strong, patient, stubborn and wise. I really want to exploit nature even more, to source energy and inspiration and I use nature to some extent to mould my own lifestyle.

4.

Photo: Helen McGougan

a subtle elegance, with good functionality, far from the short lifespans of present days’ shopping patterns.

what’s the next step, the future? Our vision entails to grow to a strong brand perceived in the market as an obvious token of the proud and confident primitive force. We will achieve this by primarily strengthening our own channels such as the web, social media and meetings in real life. Our ambition is that everyone wearing clothes from Re-cover will feel strong, proud and attractive. And confident in that.

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DESIGN

Stoorstålka, Jokkmokk Designer duo Stoorstålka make everything together. The pair, Lotta W Stoor and Per Niila Stålka run a Sámi design shop displaying their own products.

designs: Sámi accessories, primarily shoes and garments,

home decoration details, tools for inkle weaving bands, and yarn. But we design other things as well and constantly look for new ideas.

Photo: Stoorstålka

where do you find inspiration? In modern Sámi lifestyle; in the Sámi daily life and our lives in the middle of Sápmi, in Jåhkåmåhkke. We find lots of inspiration from all our Sámi customers and the current trends in Sápmi at each point in time. There is tremendous activity in Sápmi now, all very exciting. what materials do you use? We design in all kinds of

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Ullo-Liidni, a traditional, warm woollen scarf that comes in two sizes and many colours.

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Stoorstålka offers several home furnishing ranges with trays, cutting boards, glass coasters and tea towels.

Sweaters, hats and scarfs with a print shaped as the Sámi brooch Risku, and other traditional patterns. www.stoorstalka.com

materials, depending on which works best for each respective product. We run a design business. We create unique Sámi products which are produced in larger quantities elsewhere; a lot of it in plastics, fabrics and ceramics.

what would you like your design to convey? We think our slogan says it all: “Design by Sámis for Sámi people, and equally cool souls”. what are your personal expressions? We are

driven by our love for beautiful Sámi everyday products and utensils in practical materials, using an artistic idiom based in Sámi aesthetic and design traditions. In short it’s lots of love and an equal portion of respect.

what does the arctic way of life mean to you?

It means being able to go to the neighbour to buy a freshly slaughtered reindeer that you bring home on the kick-sled and cut up the meat on the kitchen table. It also means fresh and delicious water, foraging for cloudberries, blueberries and lingonberries, stunning scenery and easily accessed nature. Our main hobby is shovelling snow; we adore the light, wonderful summer nights and also the spectacular and dark winters.

We also cherish Sápmi and the strong feeling of togetherness amongst Sámi people from all corners of the world.

what’s the next step, the future? We base our business on Sámi needs and desires and these will continue as our leading theme into the next phase. We have an incessant amount of ideas on how to widen our portfolio and expand our presence throughout Sápmi.

T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

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”Design by Sámis for Sámi people, and equally cool souls.”

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

DESIGN

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

> Traditional reindeer-fur shoes in new designs, all including insulating, softened shoe hay. The shoes are made using reindeer-leg skin.

Katarina’s concept in her master’s degree thesis in Duodji was ‘goahte/ kåtan’ (the traditional tent) and home furnishings from sustainable materials. The magazine Hemslöjd (Handicraft) featured a long story about Katarina and her work — bench, armchair, fur rug, pillows, tables, wall decorations and more.

> Root craft was one of the educational tasks.

Katarina shaped her design using a stone and added tin thread and woollen cloth as decoration.

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

DESIGN

” Rather than ceasing to use a duodje since we are not nomads to the same extent nowadays, I want to design the products and utensils so that they match modern requirements.”

Katarina Spiik-Skum, Jokkmokk Holding a Master’s degree in ‘duodje’ — the design of the Sámi idiom handicraft based on Sámi traditions — Katarina Spiik Skum certainly knows what she wishes for the craft: to promote further development.

what would you like your design to convey? I want everything I design to breathe duodje. It shall be obvious that the pieces have been designed by a Sámi with a background in traditional duodje albeit with a modern expression.

designs: Duodje. I hold a Master’s degree in duodje and my

what are your personal expressions? All my de-

master project covers interior decoration made of sustainable materials. The project theme is the ‘goahte’, the traditional Sámi tipi, an environment that I have transformed into products for present day homes.

where do you find inspiration? The first source of

inspiration is obviously the Sámi culture, the traditions and way of life, in the old days as well in modern times. Secondly, the adaptation of the duodje to our daily lives. Rather than ceasing to use a duodje since we are not nomads to the same extent nowadays, I want to design the products and utensils so that they match modern requirements. I want to present Sámi traditions in a different way to attract a growing audience.

what materials do you use? I use the traditional Sámi

materials in duodje, such as tanned reindeer hides, broadcloth, frieze, pewter wire, birch tree roots and yarns. I also use other textiles, and new kinds of pearls etcetera.

signer projects are based in Luleå Sámi tradition. I mainly use traditional materials but aim to add a modern expression.

what does the arctic way of life mean to you?

The Arctic lifestyle to me is Sámi culture. That’s where I source my materials and my inspiration. Many of the objects I design are necessary to cope with the Arctic climate. The Arctic lifestyle is our adaptation to the varying seasons of the year.

In duodje this means that you use certain materials during a specific time of the year. You source the material during the season when it is easiest and that knowledge has been passed on for generations.

what’s the next step, the future? My next step is to find the channels to market my designs and to achieve continuity in my creative processes.

Note: Katarina uses the word ’duodje’ spelt with an e, because she uses Lule Sámi. ’Duodji’ is Northern Sámi.

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Photo: Kero

DESIGN

”We are no large-scale producers; each of our Kero products is unique and springs from our handicraft tradition passed on from one generation to the next.”

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Photo: Tomas Bergman

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Emma och Erik Kero, Sattajärvi In the early years of the 2000s, the handicraft company Kero was within half an hour of bankruptcy, literally. This was the time when the third generation, Emma and Erik Kero were about to take over the family business. Now, 15 years later it is obvious that the company is a strong natural force in the Tornedalen valley.

designs: Leather goods such as peaked shoes and bags. where do you find inspiration? The encounters with our customers are major sources of inspiration. Our customer relationships are based on a long space of time and in our dialogues with them we find prospects for good evolution.

We certainly also have a strong heritage from our local area where we live and prosper. The people here know how good products should feel and look. what materials do you use? We make products in

leather, in naturally tanned hides from reindeer and cattle.

what would you like your design to convey?

We offer a sustainable and classic product to be used by the customer over a long period of time. We want to enhance our tradition, having since 1929 manufactured the same basic products as we do presently. We are no large-scale producers; each of our Kero products is unique and springs from our handicraft tradition passed on from one generation to the next. We take high pride in our heritage and are committed to maintaining it well into the future.

what are your personal expressions? To live in

accordance with the existing conditions here; neither more nor less. Sustainability and tradition are essential to us as individuals and also as a business concept.

what does the arctic way of life mean to you?

Living and working in our part of the country is tremendous.

All the seasons of the year are important for us; particularly the serenity of a cold winter’s morning; the sound as the ice covering the lake cracks on a sunny spring day. The fact that we use raw materials from our immediate surroundings also matters to us.

The bag Totte and the city peaked shoe are modern classics.

KERO use naturally-tanned leather and the shoes are produced in Sattajärvi shoemaking. At Kero the skins are tanned using plant substances, a method known since ancient times and also the most environmentally friendly. The family rucksack is an all-round pack for everyday life as well as excursions.

See more of the collection at www.kero.se

what’s the next step, the future? The ecological trend is very strong and we believe that natural materials in products designed out of longstanding traditions will always be appreciated by our customers. Meanwhile we must check out new trends and keep up in our product development while going on offering our characteristic classic products.

The Sámi beak is soft and supple with shafts made of smooth naturally-tanned reindeer skin and lacing that’s tied around the shoe. The shoe has been around for a long time, and has found new life with the current generation.

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Some of the shops where you can find handicraft, Sámi duodji and art artists with their own shops can tell you more about materials, technique and beautiful, well-made items for every-day use and special occasions.

In Kiruna you have Ateljénord; Made in Kalix with friends is in Kalix; Tornedal & C:o represents the entire Torne Valley and is found in the Jalahouse building in Haparanda; Rabarber in Piteå and Gamla Apoteket in Jokkmokk. In Ammarnäs Margareta Grahn can show you traditional Sámi root craft.

1 AMMARNÄS

Margareta Grahn, +46 (0)70-683 30 24 2 ARJEPLOG

Norrskensglas (Northern Lights Glass), www.norrskensglas.se

Silvermuseet (the Silver Museum), www.silvermuseet.se

Gunnar Edholm, Tundra Art, handicraft and art, www.tundra.nu

3 ARVIDSJAUR

Anna-Lisa’s Souvenir Shop, www.presentbutiken.se

Lindmarks Handicraft & Carpentry, matslindmark.blogspot.se

Studio Nymånen, www.nymanen.se 4 BODEN

Tenntrådssmyckeriet Snåret (pewter-thread jewellery), www.tenntradssmyckeriet.se

Irka’s Tennsmycken (pewter-thread jewellery), www.tennsmycken.se

Mattias Styrefors – Norrsmide, www.styrefors.com

Treehotel, www.treehotel.com

Arctic Design, www.arctic-design.se

Kåsa/Guksi, design Per Ola Utsi.

There are lots of shops representing the artisans as well: Sámi Duodji in Jokkmokk, Storforsen Shop by the Storforsen rapids in Älvsbyn, Shop in Lapland in the World Heritage Gammelstad Church Village, Lapland Heartwork in central Luleå, Carl Wennberg’s Sámi Handicraft in Kiruna, Anna-Lisas Souvenir Shop in Arvidsjaur and Nordanå Café and Shop in Skellefteå (West Bothnian Museum).

Also see the list for other shops available.

5 GÄLLIVARE

Gällivare Museum, www.gellivare.se/museum/

Gällivare Tourist Centre, www.gellivarelapland.se 6 HAPARANDA

Tornedal & Co, www.tornedalandcompany.com 7 JOKKMOKK

StoorStålka, www.stoorstalka.com

Hantverksbutiken (handicraft), +46(0)70-346 71 29

Systrarna Viltok’s galleri och butik (the Viltok sister’s Gallery and Shop), www.miaviltok.com Lena Sandberg Johansson, www.lsj.se Jokkmokks Tenn, www.jokkmokkstenn.se

Gamla Apoteket, www.gamla-apoteket.se

Ájtte, www.ajtte.com

Saámi Doudji, www.sameslojdstiftelsen.com/butiken 8 KALIX

Made in Kalix with friends, www.madeinkalix.se 9 KIRUNA

Icehotel shop, www.icehotel.com

Ateljénord, www.ateljenord.com

Sven Hörnell AB, www.svenhornell.se

Carl Wennbergs Sameslöjd (Sámi handicraft), www.wennberg.com

Camilla Mustikka, www.camillamustikka.se

10 LULEÅ

Stol & Fiol, www.stolochfiol.se

Eva Gunnarsdotter Björk, www.evabjork.com

Pia Schmaltz, www.piaschmaltz.se

Inger Thurfjell, www.inger.thurfjell.se

Museum of North Bothnia, www.norrbottensmuseum.se

Avans Gårdsbutik, www.avansgardsbutik.se

Lapland Heartwork, www.laplandheartwork.se ShopinLapland, www.shopinlapland.com 11 PAJALA

Inkku Tamma, www.inkkutamma.se 12 PITEÅ

Piteå Museum, www.piteamuseum.se

Karinas viltbutik (game produce), www.karinasviltbutik.se

Heta Hyttan, www.hetahyttan.se

Rabarber, www.rabarberkonsthantverk.se

Hantverksmacken (handicraft), www.hantverksmacken.se 13 SKELLEFTEÅ

Nordanå Café and Shop, www.skelleftea.se/nordana

Skellefteå Tourist Information, www.visitskelleftea.se 14 SORSELE

Eldmark, www.eldmark.se 15 ÄLVSBYN

Storforsen Shop, www.storforsenshop.com

The Tourist Offices have a lot of information and can help you find local shops and activities. Keep an eye out for signs along the road, presenting studios, workshops, temporary summer exhibitions and events.

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Illustration: Anssi Lassila/OOPEA

Photo: Göran Wallin

An Art House on the Border

FLIGHT HOPPING IN THE SUN

www.arcticairlink.se

D UIDAR

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the taste of

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färd k upptäckts smakerna gastronomis Guide: prova de lokala en hemma och dag var na Läm arktiska livsstil smaka på vår

Kalix

löjrom

n från Botte nvike till finrum men

Passionerade ier: mikrobrygger

Hantverk och rent vatten!

THE TASTE Discover and indulge in the food culture of Sweden’s northernmost destination.

For inspiration and recipes the cloudberry is your guide to culinary gems. issuu.com/swedishlapland

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more than 40 years ago Gunhild Stensmyr left the Torne Valley for a different life. Little did she know back then that she’d return one day to help create an internationally renown art hall where she grew up. But that’s actually what’s about to happen.

– The vision, or the dream, is to create a meeting space for people, culture and nature, says Gunhild.

– It’s no secret that my inspiration is taken from the famous art institution Louisiana. I even think that the amazing view in Vitsaniemi, across the Torne Valley towards Finland, is similar to the view Louisiana has towards Helsingör at Öresund, she says with a laugh.

Laughing is something Gunhild does a lot.

She feels like a positive force or nature. Someone who can move a mountain, or at least put a spade to the ground. Her project Torne Valley Guesthouse is just one example of many. Old, abandoned houses in Vitsaniemi, the village

where she grew up, have been given new life through Gunhild and now welcome guests. In these houses that were on the verge of being reclaimed by the Torne Valley nature you can now enjoy art and design and have a good rest before going bird watching in the morning.

The designer of the Torne Valley Art Hall is the prize-winning architect Anssi Lassila and the Finnish architectural firm OOPEA. The board motivated its decision by writing, among other things: “The spiritual threshold of the entrance is the same as that of a neighbour’s kitchen; it’s familiar and welcoming”.

What this means is that the building gives visitors space to kick the snow off their boots as they enter, an opportunity to meet both the northern lights and the midnight sun during the visit, at the same time as exciting art speaks to them in peace and quiet. It’s an overwhelming experience, by the banks of the mighty Torne River.

The Seventh Suite

Photo: Eric Borg

the easy way of experiencing the many faces of the Arctic is the airline Arctic Airlink. The route connects Oulu in Finland, Luleå in Sweden and Tromsø in Norway.

It’s an important link for the three universities and other businesses, but the route also creates possibilities for visitors. It’s easy to travel horizontally in Arctic Europe – the international name for the northern part of Scandinavia.

Oulu has Finland’s best bike lanes in and the AirGuitar World Championships. In Luleå you’ve got the islands of the Bothnian Bay, as well as a World Heritage. Tromsø, formerly known as the Arctic Ocean Harbour is now a popular university city. And in summer it’s never dark, making it easy to find your way home in a city boasting the highest number of bars per capita in Europe.

the new room at treehotel in Harads is called The 7th Room. As with all other rooms at Treehotel a famous architect came up with the winning concept: Jenny Osuldsen, at the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta, designed the tree house that consists of two suites, a bathroom and a generous balcony.

– I visited Treehouse in 2012, Jenny tells us. I loved the idea of living among the trees.

Since then I’ve been discussing the possibility of designing a new room with Britta and Kent.

– Yes, we’re very proud and happy to be working with Snøhetta, one of Scandinavia’s most prestigious architectural firms, says Kent Lindvall.

– Exactly what it’ll look like is a bit of a secret, but we’ll make it easy for our guests to experience the northern lights they are so eager to see.

Other rooms at Treehotel are designed by, among others: Bertil Harström, Cyrén & Cyrén, Tham & Videgård, SandellSandberg and Sami Rintala. Other famous projects signed Snøhetta are for example the Oslo Opera House, the extension to MoMa in San Francisco, a library in Philadelphia, the classic library in Alexandria and now this house among the tree tops in Harads. www.treehotel.se

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visit for travellers around the world for more than 25 years. But it’s only been available half the year, when it’s winter in Jukkasjärvi. Yngve Berqvist and his colleagues now offer ICEHOTEL 365, a project that will provide guests with an experience of winter and ice 365 days a year. But why?

– We have guests from the entire world who would like to experience ICEHOTEL in summer, and this project lets us make their wish come true.

– And imagine it: midnight sun and accommodation in a suite made of ice.

The midnight sun is a big part of the project. Not just as an attraction, but more as a necessity. Solar panels will provide ICEHOTEL 365 with enough energy to keep the rooms frozen in summer. ICEHOTEL 365 is meant to be a sustainable project; in the future it could be even better than carbon neutral.

The architect and sustainability expert Hans Eek – sometimes known as ‘the father of passive housing’ – is part of the

project, and the hotel will use the same principles that heat passive housing to keep the house cold instead.

The idea is to build 10 luxury suites with private bathrooms as well as 12 art suites. There will of course also be an art gallery and an ICEBAR in the 2,200 square-metre building.

– But don’t you worry about losing winter guests this way?

– No, definitely not. Jukkasjärvi and ICEHOTEL will still be something really special during winter, under the northern lights. This way there’ll be an additional 37 rooms offering stunning design during the winter season.

– The world is a big market. But not everyone is able, or have the urge, to visit the Arctic during the winter. This way they get a chance to visit us during the summer season as well, Yngve Bergqvist concludes.

ICEHOTEL 365 is being built during summer 2016 and will open on November the 1st 2016.

www.icehotel.com

Illustration: PinPinStudio

icehotel has been an iconic place to

Photo: ICEHOTEL/Asaf Kliger

A house of ice all year round

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Trail running at the King’s Trail The most common way to experience Kungsleden is walking or skiing in a comfortable pace. But there are other ways to — come along on an up-tempo journey through the scenic mountains of Swedish Lapland with world class trail runners Krissy Moehl and Luke Nelson.

T E X T K R I S SY M O E H L | P H O T O F R E D R I K M A R M S ÄT E R

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ltrarunners Krissy Moehl, Luke Nelson and Fredrik Marmsäter ran from Vakkotavare to Abisko via Kebnekaise Mountain Station. Fredrik is a Swedish photographer while Krissy and Luke are two of the world’s most elite trail runners. krissy’s first report from the trail.

Two spectacular days on the trail leading up to our warm welcome at Kebnekaise.

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We were, kindly hosted on our arrival in Kiruna and transported to our start in Vakkotavare by Göran Wallin. We were in a bit of disbelief as we took off on our first couple of strides along the King’s Trail. So much anticipation up to this point, and now we were finally running in Sweden! At every turn we’re filled with awe and amazement in the beauty that surrounds and swallows us.

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glaciers that carved through thousands of years ago. The hearty bushes of blueberry, moss and scrubby “ris” cover the landscape as far as the eye can see adding color, texture and depth. The trail underfoot is surprisingly and continuously rocky making it crucial to watch your step while hopping rock to rock or on the precious dirt filling the gaps. It is easy to be drawn in for a break by the red leaves of the Blueberry plants illuminated in any light. We stain our fingers

as we stop to indulge in the perfect blue orbs. The local, but unfamiliar to us, Lingonberries also dot the landscape and offer a simple flavor.

Trail running is an amazing way to experience the King’s trail. With minimal packs our lighter loads and quick movement allow us to cover ground quickly, give time for pause and opportunity to take in the expanse.

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weight. It is possible to stay light with good gear but also having the ability to frequently resupply with the ample food options at the STF huts. These frequent huts also offer a kitchen to cook and bunks to sleep, only requiring a sleeping bag liner to supplement the provided blanket and pillow. A well fed and well rested runner starts each day excited for the next adventure.

In addition to the option of running the King’s trail point to point there are countless side adventures to explore.

On our second day we departed the main valley for the option to explore Mt Kebnekaise and summit, the highest mountain in Sweden, which will occupy tomorrow morning inspite of the ensuing weather. after starting our run in Vakkotavare on Sunday morning, we arrived at Kebnekaise fjällstation on Tuesday afternoon. We relaxed, refueled and took advantage of the chance to connect

In the evening our fingers trace paths on the map. Our fantasy takes us on new adventures.

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with friends and family back home. To post social media updates to our extended networks before disappearing into the wilderness again for our final four days on the trail. The alarm rang early on Wednesday in hopes of beating the weather looming over Kebnekaise peak.

Despite the forecasted high winds and rain, we hoped for a lull in the storm to summit Sweden’s highest peak. But we were unfortunately turned around by the gusts and wet roughly 300 m below the summit. Traveling with minimal gear narrows margin of error and our experiences told us to return to the comfort of the Kebnekaise station – including a sauna and the amazing food at Elsa’s kitchen.

That night, tracing the map with our finger, we found that the natural weaknesses in topography typically also hosted a marked but sparsely dotted trail.

This brought up the possibly of running the Kings Trail with many other sideroute experiences. Kungsleden serves as a major thoroughfare and resupply point. From there we created a variety of loops off the main trail and reconnected further along the trail, often near a fjällstuga (hut) for dinner, three comfortable beds and a hot sauna. The terrain varied from blueberry and lingonberry “ris” covered tundra to large scree and snowfields, low birch forests and high alpine glaciers and lakes depending on our chosen adventure. The options seem endless from the reliable Kungsleden.

One can count on the well-worn trail, marked with red X’s in the valleys. The off trail routes are more adventurous and solitary, and offer remote summits, glaciers and ridgelines.

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”

We pause to enjoy the quiet. Pause to enjoy being unplugged from the world, yet deeply connected to the moment.

ble times as we moved through the days and miles. Our reluctance to leave the trail stemmed mostly from the simple way of life trail time creates. It is hard to leave such a beautiful landscape. Long days of moving through the mountains and the comfortable easy evenings cooking meals in the huts, building fires to dry clothes and deep sleep to recover for the next day of running. reluctance and excitement filled the space between our trio as we crossed under the Kungsleden gate Sunday afternoon. Our shortest day of running was met with light legs, quick feet and the best weather we had experienced since we started seven days earlier. Light in spirit and body we moved well and clicked off the first 5 miles of our day before realizing we were sprinting away our final moments on the trail. With strength growing in our legs after seven days dancing over rocks, fording streams,

hiking through passes and enjoying a few off trail adventures, the smooth final miles leading into Abisko pulled us along quickly to find our finish. But our reluctance kicked in and we called for pause.

Pause to enjoy the quiet. Pause to enjoy being unplugged from the world, yet deeply connected to the moment. Pause to remain in the silly, goofy, carefree state that is easily found when bounding through wild spaces or standing on a rivers edge. Breathe. Presence. The ancient and knarled fjällbjörk (mountain birch tree) showing their autumn colors while lining the lakes and rivers and pouring down the valleys reminded me that the final steps of this trip also marked summer turning to fall and the end of another season of running and exploring. A year of travel that included Dholavira, India to run the Rann, La Palma, Spain to run the volcano, Juneau to run Alaska’s snowy peaks, California’s 41

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An area filled with wild and domesticated animals. Always respect them and don’t disturb the reindeer during calving season.

Photo: Göran Wallin

High Sierra to run the John Muir Trail and now Abisko to run the Kings Trail in Sweden. One year in a 14-year career that has taken me around the globe to experience the world through the lens of running. A new stamp in the passport and the Kings trail opened my eyes to all that Sweden has to offer multi-day running and how accessible amazing trail running is above the Arctic Circle.

Fredrik Marmsäter, Krissy Mohl and Luke Nelson.

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in my running pack: • Backpack Ultraspire Titan Pack (Luke & Krissy) eller Ultraspire FastPack (Fred) • Handheld water bottle • Dry bags (variety of sizes) • Toothbrush (broken in half) & mini toothpaste • Earplugs • Pocket knife • Black Diamond Spot headlamp • ID & Passport • Cash • Sunglasses • Buffs (1 wool, 1 half) • Writing journal • Pencil • Silk sleeping bag liner • Emergency bivy • Trail Food: Trail Butter, Clif Bloks, Clif Builder Bars, Luna Bars • 3 pair Patagonia Lightweight Merino ankle socks • 2 hats • Wool glove liners • Waterproof mittens • 2 sport bras • 2 pair of shorts • All-Weather Tights • Patagonia Houdini Pants • Patagonia Houdini Jacket • Hooded down Jacket • Running jacket • 2 merino t-shirts, layer 1 • 1 merino long sleeve zip, layer 2 • 1 merino long sleeve zip, layer 3 • Supplements & vitamins

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The mountains are not SoHo

When you hike in the mountains you have to be able to trust yourself, your skills and your choices. The Swedish mountain rescue is excellent, but should only be engaged in cases of extreme emergency.

The weather is extreme in the sense that one moment it can be nice and sunny and the next it’s windy and snowing. When you hike in the mountains you have to be able to deal with all kinds of weather.

It’s important that someone knows your planned route and when you expect to be back.

Adapt your hike to current weather conditions

The weather can change quickly in the mountains. Check local weather forecasts via the radio, the web or the phone service provided by the Mountain Safety Council of Sweden and the Swedish Meteorological Institute on +46 (0)771 23 11 23. Always respect mountain weather warning notifications.

The cabin hosts often have access to current weather forecasts.

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Fog and snow on a September hike.

Keep to marked trails

Photo: Göran Wallin

Make your route and estimated return known

There are thousands of kilometres of marked trails in the mountains with, among other things, distance indicators, overnight cabins and emergency phones.

It’s wise to keep to the marked trails.

Remember that winter trails are marked with a red cross and are not always suitable for summer hikes. The King’s Trail and the Padjelanta Trail are good introductory trails.

Be careful when you wade

Along the large trails there aren’t many places where you need to wade. If you have to wade: • Never take risks • Never wade without shoes: use sandals or trainers • Use a walking pole for support and move one foot at the time • Only wade in water that reaches higher than your knees in slow-flowing waters • It’s often shallowest where the stream is at its widest • During the early hours there’s less water flowing through • Walk diagonally upstreams • Unfasten the hip belt of your rucksack

People who often spend time in the mountains can offer important information. Get in touch with locals, the cabin hosts, those who work for STF and ask them about choice of trail, water levels, bridges and other things that help you plan. There are also mountain safety committees with a great deal of knowledge about the mountains in the surrounding areas.

You can find contact information on the Swedish Mountain Safety Council web page: www.fjallsakerhetsradet.se.

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Get advice from others with mountain experience

Always bring a map and compass

Always bring an updated map and a compass.

But using a map and a compass requires knowledge: learn how it works and practise, practise and practise again. When you really need the map and compass there’ll be no instruction book available. Practise following your route on the map so you always know your position.

A GPS is a helpful tool, but keep in mind that batteries run out quickly, and even quicker when it’s cold. Using a GPS is the same as with a map and a compass – you need to practise, practise and practise.

It might be an idea to navigate using a map and compass but use a GPS every now and then to check how you navigate – am I on the right course, how much further is it, and so on.

Safety

Call 112 in case of an emergency, if possible, unless there’s a shelter or a mountain cabin with an emergency phone nearby. But be aware that there is no mobile phone coverage in most mountain areas.

The main equipment tips • Get familiar with your equipment before the tour • Try out your boots in the field • Try which equipment/clothing combinations suit you best • Get to know your kitchen, cook and figure out how much fuel is needed • Learn how your map and compass work together • If you have GPS, consider the map function and waypionts • Set up your tent before the tour, preferably in strong wind

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Photo: STF/Gösta Fries

Suggested tours along the King’s Trail Abisko–Nikkaluokta distance 105 km days 5–7 number of stf cabins 5 along the

King’s Trail and 7 nearby provisioning Abisko, Abiskojaure, Alesjaure, Kebnekaise, Sälka, Vistas and Unna Allakas sauna Abisko, Abiskojaure, Alesjaure, Kebnekaise, Sälka, Unna Allakas, Vistas At the Singi cabins you can veer off the King’s Trail and head towards Nikkaluokta via Kebnekaise mountain station, or keep going south towards Vakkotavare. To follow the King’s trail south from Vakkotavare you take a bus to the pier at Kebnats and a boat across to STF Saltoluokta mountain station.

Kebnekaise–Saltoluokta distance 52 km (bus from Vakkota-

vare to Kebnatsbryggan/Saltoluokta)

days 4–6 number of stf cabins 4 provisioning Kaitumjaure, Kebnekaise, Saltoluokta and Vakkotavare

sauna Kebnekaise, Saltoluokta, Teusajaure,

Kaiutumjaure

Saltoluokta–Kvikkjokk distance 73 km days 4–6 number of stf cabins 3 provisioning Saltoluokta, Kvikkjokk, Aktse sauna Saltoluokta, Kvikkjokk Boats are available to borrow where you need to cross lakes, or you can ask for a lift.

There’s information on the internet, so do a search for ‘STF boats in the mountains’. Keep in mind that certain parts of the trail have no mobile coverage, so call ahead to book.

Kvikkjokk–Ammarnäs distance 157 km days 7–10 number of stf cabins 0 provisioning Kvikkjokk, Jäkkvik, Adolfström and Ammarnäs

sauna Kvikkjokk, Ammarnäs The King’s Trail between Kvikkjokk and Ammarnäs is more demanding than other parts of the trail. This part of the King’s Trail is not equipped with cabins and shelters, so you need to bring a tent and other necessary equipment.

Ammarnäs–Hemavan provisioning All cabins. Aigert, Serve, Tärnasjö, distance 78 km Syter, Viterskalet, Ammarnäs and Hemavan days 5–7 number of stf cabins 5 sauna Ammarnäs, Aigert, Tärnasjö, Hemavan the king’s trail stations and mountain cabins makes The first section from Kvikkjokk to Abisko was marked in the 1920s and hiking easy and fun, in summer as well as winter. nowadays the King’s Trail is around You can stay the night in cabins 430 kilometres long from Abisko in run by the Swedish Tourism Associathe north to Hemavan in the south. tion along the main part of the trail.

A well-planned system of mountain Read more: www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/kungsleden

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The Sámi call it Badjelánnda — the Higher Land. It’s part of Laponia and a favourite location for those who want to be on their own for a bit.

In the beginning of autumn our co-worker Håkan Stenlund sets his sights on Consul Persson’s cabin. A lonesome trek back.

Badjelánnda

Photo: Göran Wallin

THE HIGHER LAND

Lake Virihaure right in the heart of Laponia World Heritage.

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“ – one of those who has had the desert for a pillow and called a star his brother. Alone.

But loneliness can be a communion.” the wind is a bit chilly in the shadow

cast by the Sulitelma massif. I’ve put my tent up by the shores of Lake Sårjåsjaure, even if there’s space in the house I’ve actually come here to visit. I’m not overly fond of houses.

What I’d really like to do is sleep outside, underneath the sky, but the weather won’t allow it today. The snow falling on the peaks around me has transformed into a drizzle down here, 860 metres above sea.

The house I’m referring to, is ‘Consul Persson’s Cabin’ at Sårjåsjaure – on the map it’s called ‘Sårjåsjaure Cabin’ – along the North Calotte Trail. The Cabin is a classic in the Swedish mountains. Dag Hammarskjöld, the former Secretary-General of the UN, used to come to Sårjåsjaure with his friends.

His book, ‘Markings’, is the company I allow myself on this trek. So even if I walk on my own, I’m not truly alone.

I catch some trout by the Sårjåsjaure outflow with my fly fishing rod. One of them becomes a late dinner. The rest of them I release again. The trout are biting distinctively at the flies I cast as bait. You can tell autumn is around the corner. Fish, like people, get less picky in autumn.

“Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.”

at the cabins in staddajåkkå Ylva Pavval is the hostess. She’s spent her summers in Staloluokta before. Well, actually her entire childhood.

– I thought it was high time to spend some time apart from them, from the family I mean, she laughs.

I interrupt Ylva in the middle of the morning dishes, which I think she almost welcomes. We talk for a bit. The water in the sink goes cold.

Three Sámi villages, Jåhkågasska, Sirkas and Tourpon, share the rich reindeer grazing 47

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Photo: Håkan Stenlund

’Consul Persson’s Cabin’ at Sårjåsjaure is located along the North Calotte Trail.

lands here. Padejalanta became a National Park in 1963 after the author Sten Selander had suggested that the area be made into a National Park. The reason being that the terrain is located high above sea level, giving the area a unique flora for a mountain region.

Today Badjelánnda is a part of the Laponia World Heritage. The word Badjelándda, the high land, is self explanatory. Out of the total park surface, 1,984 km2, there’s as much glacier as mountain-birch forest, 14 km2 of each. The two large lake systems: Virihaure and Vastenjaure brings the area a lovely scenery: a high plateau surrounded by the alpine massifs of Sarek and Sulitelma.

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“Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.” virihaure feels almost like an

inland sea by Staloluokta. And ‘Stalo’ is a kind of hub: both the Padjelanta trek and the North Calotte trail meet here. Some helicopter in, some helicopter out.

Most trekkers I meet are on their way there. “Tonight I’m having a sauna in Staloluokta”, says a German trekker I meet by the bridge across Viejejåkkå. “I hear they sell beer too”, he continues and looks thirsty. The ‘King of Flower Power’, Carl Linnaeus, visited Virihau-

re. From what little I’ve read of his travel stories he seemed to think Staloluokta was more or less ok.

But he didn’t like the fish he was served: “... fresh, boiled arctic charr, I could not eat it, it was not salted sufficiently”. But the cheese and the dumplings made with reindeer blood he liked.

From his notes we understand that he was a bit impressed by the Sámi and he established that they had a healthy lifestyle, worth learning from. The visit to Virihaure isn’t nearly as bad as it was when Linnaeus and his guide got lost in the miserable Lyxmyran bog south od Sorsele, earlier in the trip. Then he wrote: T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

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Dag Hammarskjöld, was the UN’s second Secretary-General.

choose your own goal. You can eat when you feel like it, rest when you need to, not when someone else needs to. Even if it’s a challenge the reward is your own.

“A priest would not be able to describe hell to be worse than this... I have traipsed through the underworld.”

I meet people with audio devices connected to their ears. I always walk without sound machine in my ears. I don’t want to miss the howling wind and the rain catching me up in the valley. Nature is never completely quiet.

“The dust settles heavily, air dies, light fades in a room we are not always prepared to leave.” there are both advantages

and disadvantages to being a lone wanderer. When you camp you can’t rely on anyone else. You have to get your own water boiling, put your own tent up and talk to and with yourself. I’ve brought my large camping stove this time. I’ve also brought a sleeping bag that’s too thick and a thermal rest that takes up too much space. I make a mental note to buy some new stuff when I get back home. Since I spend so much time outdoors I think there’s nothing wrong with having good gear that weighs less, takes up less space and works better. It’s a question of comfort and efficiency.

The real advantage of hiking on your own is however that you only have to look out for yourself.

You can walk wherever you want,

“To be free, to get up and leave everything behind – without looking back. To say yes.” up until i turned 25 everything I owned could fit in a rucksack that was only a little bit bigger than the one I’ve got on my back right now, more or less. I think that was the time of my life when I was the most free. Today, I’ve amassed thousands of things and I’m more tied down. I often think about that very question: would I be able to walk away and not look back? It’s an interesting question to ponder, because it reveals what’s important in life, in every way.

Things are often just something we collect because we want to be someone else. But life is still bigger than your own reflection.

Of course I’m not talking about being irresponsible. To walk out and leave your children or your mission in life behind isn’t the same as to be prepared to “not look back”. What I’m talking about is what ties us to the place on Earth where we live. Is it because we like it there or because we’re trying to like it there? Or even worse: trying to make it look like we like it there.

If all I need fits in a rucksack. So why do I have so much other stuff ?

One evening, below the Tarrekaise cabin, where the Pearl River runs near the trail, I see a couple of arctic charr biting and I cast a fly. One of them takes the fly and I have dinner for the evening. It really doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. Or?

Stories told with names The Sámi language, from the FinnoUgric language tree, a language with many different expressions and synonyms for nature and reindeer herding.

The Sámi language can be grouped into Eastern, Southern and Central Sámi. Then further be divided into varieties and ultimately individual languages and dialects.

Sámi people in Russia speak Eastern Sámi, Central Sámi is spoken i Finland, Norway and Sweden, and Southern Sámi in Norway and Sweden.

In Sweden, the most common dialects are Northern Sámi, Lule Sámi, Arjeplog Sámi, Southern Sámi and Ume Sámi. The dissimilarities in the different varieties are not unlike differences say in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. The differences in Sámi varieties grow with geographical distances and varieties far away from each other are as diverse as say the Swedish and German language would be from each other.

If you can understand some Sámi words; names of places, mountains, rivers – you can probably paint a picture of the mapped landscape and grasp the value of the land out of a sustenance perspective.

The mountains, valleys and streams are usually named after their characteristics, they are terrain descriptive. A mountain with the last element ‘-bakti/ bakte’ is with most certainty steep, while the last element ‘-tjvadda’ is a mountain without escarpments, i.e. the opposite of -bakti.

Usually names are put together, such as Badje + lánnda = Badjelánnda (Padjelanta in Swedish), meaning the higher land.

So whether you are hiking in the Swedish Lapland mountains or just driving through the northern parts, knowing the meaning of some words might come quite handy. Road signs are usully written in both Swedish and Sámi. alep = higher. West(ern).

SOME OTHER WORDS AND THEIR MEANING:

ára/áras = land with large boulders ávrre (jávrre/hávrre) = lake dievvá = hill duottar = bare low fjell gaskka = in between jåhkå = stream, creek lulep = East(ern) njunjes = mountain spur tjåhkkå/cohkka = mountain peak vágge = glen, long valley várre = mountain, fell Ädno = river

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GIRLS NIGHT OUT TEXT ANNIKA FREDRIKSSON P H O TO C A R L - J O H A N U T S I

Arjeplog claims to have an archipelago in the middle of the mountains. They also decided that it should never be impossible to reach the highest mountain. Even if it might be difficult to spell the name of the mountain in question sometimes.

Imagine waking up in Arjeplog on a summer morning. In the middle of what they call an archipelago near the mountains. Outside the hotel Lake Hornavan

glistens and in the west mountains rise above the water. It’s adorable, and it’s attractive. It’s a day just like when you were child, waking up with only one idea in your head: ”So what do I do today?”

That’s exactly how we, a group of girls and friends, feel this morning.

There are three rivers and 8,727 lakes in Arjeplog. Among them Sweden’s deepest lakem Hornavan. So there’s an awful lot of water. Actually, there are more than two lakes per person in Arjeplog. There is a tremendous amount of water in Arjeplog. In fact every citizen could have two lakes or more to himself and that’s; simply put, why they

Day 1. We helicopter from Adolfström along the Yraft delta along Laisälven, above the Bäverholmen Inn between the mountains of Tjäksa and Svaipa until we reach Luspasjávrrie.

Day 2. We get picked up by the helicopter again, and then dropped of on the Tjäksa summit. From where we slowly walk down to the Inn at Bäverholmen.

In the mountains the water always run clear and cold. For lunch we fry the local dish ”palt” that we brought with us.

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There is almost nothing as relaxing as an open fire.

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refer to it as a ’mountain archipelago’.

If you could see Arjeplog from a bird’s perspective you’d be able to confirm it.

But since you’re no bird, only a human and bound to the ground, you have to walk up a high mountain to get the view.

Or you rent a helicopter.

We are going up the Tjäcksa mountain, not difficult to spell – or reach! In Adolfström we take the helicopter to help. Tjäcksa is 1,092 metres above sea level. On the top of the mountain we enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and make an easy brunch over the open fire. The view is magnificent. We have the River Laisan and its watershed

valley below us. In the north we can see Sulitelma and we know the presence of Salajäkna. Salajekna is Sweden’s largest glacier – a true watershed. The water runs west towards the Atlantic on the Norwegian side, north it runs into the Laponia World Heritage and in the south-east down into the Pite River system. The clear water glistering in the sun. After a while Iit’s high time to begin the light hike down towards the valley, towards the Bäverholmen Inn where we’ve ordered dinner. The walk down Tjäcksa isn’t that strenuous, but it gives a good appetite and it’s a nice feeling to sit down at a prepared table at the Inn.

It’s a guite educated guess that the Arctic char, served hot from the frying pan, is locally produced. It’s impossible not to like this place – an Inn in the middle of a landscape with absolutely no roads.

Just a trail for hikers.

Tomorrow we are supposed to take a boat transfer out. But that is tomorrow.

Right now the hostess at the Inn tell us our sauna is hot and ready.

www.fjallflygarna.se www.adolfstrom.com www.adolfstromscamping.se www.campgauto.se

Naturally we have gáhkku for lunch, then todays catch of arctic char for dinner. Fondly graizing reindeers and sunshine makes the vista even more pleasant.

From Bäverholmen we have a boat transfer back to the car parking at Adolfström.

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Hiking at a Wine Glass Distance Ammarnäs has inaugurated a new system of short hikes allowing you to experience the many faces of the Vindelfjällen mountains. This way you can enjoy good accommodation in the middle of the village and never be far from the next dinner.

TEXT HÅKAN STENLUND

Hiking in the Swedish mountains usually means carrying your house on your back like a snail and set off from A to B. The King’s Trail has been a motorway for hikers. Well-packed backpacks somehow compensating for the lack of la dolce vita. But hiking has changed, and today’s hikers look for convenience.

That’s why Destination Ammarnäs has developed a system of hikes that depart from the centre and lead back to the village in the evening. Osvald Jonsson, who came up with the idea, said: — We believe people want to hike at a wine glass distance.

The inauguration day saw many people gather in Ammarnäs. Lasse Strömgren, former nature manager for the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve, spoke

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about the unique arctic fox project and www.luvre.org, Sweden’s longest-running bird research project. Lasse loves Vindelfjällen. Once he saw three breeding spots for snowy owl, one for lesser white-fronted goose and seven arctic fox pups playing around their dens — all this just looking out from his tent.

— You understand what a unique place we’re talking about, Vindelfjällen, don’t you? Lasse said.

Ethel Åberg, Destination Ammarnäs, told us how the project started and how it has developed. And how all the short hikes are unique.

— Our goal with Destination Ammarnäs is simply to create the best hiking destination in northern Europe, Ethel said. Åsa Jonsson, local researcher and entrepreneur, talked about how the system could be developed with modern technology and exciting information.

Geocaching points in various locations interconnected with a new herbarium at the Visitor Centre (Naturum) will further develop hiking in Ammarnäs.

— Today’s youth are connected to technology and we have to offer them new experiences, Åsa said. Learning is also a very strong driving force for the modern traveller. By connecting the hikes with Naturum it becomes an informative experience.

In the Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve a unique study of the Arctic Fox runs since decades. The Arctic fox can survive -70° Celsius, is silvery white in the winter and steel blue in the summer.

Technology and visions are all well and good, but we want to get outside. A favourite destination is the bird sanctuary Marsivagge. There’s something magical about the unspoilt, not being allowed inside, just watching from the outside.

Binoculars and a bird guide should always be part of your equipment when hiking in Ammarnäs. The bird life is rich here in one of the world’s largest contiguous mountain-birch forests. A cultural walk from the area around the Potato Hill (Pärubacken) to Örnbo (4.3 km) is also a classic. Örnbo used to be a small farm. It’s been preserved to give an idea of what life used to be like.

And speaking of classics: you can hike the first part of the King’s Trail south, from Ammarnäs to Aigertstugan, in one day – 7.3 km. It’s a perfect tour that takes you through mountain herbs and mountain water meadows up above the tree line, awarding you with a marvellous view. In Aigert there’s also a very nice sauna. If you can consider postponing a nice dinner at the Inn for a day, that is. And the glass of wine.

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The Great Grinder

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

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ten thousand years ago, the Scandinavian Mountains were covered by the inland ice. Then the sea got warmer and the ice melted. The glacier moved back and forth like a kilometre-thick sandpaper, and ground the Scandinavian Mountains into soft peaks. Parts of the inland ice still remain in the highest parts of the range. Sweden’s largest glacier is called Salajäkna, near the Sulitelma peak in the Arjeplog mountains. Salajäkna’s largest part is located on the Norwegian side of the border and it’s unique in many ways; for example, it’s a watershed. Water flows west into the Atlantic Ocean. The Pite River system is drained at Pieskehaure in the south-east and the water also flows north through Laponia, into the Lule River.

Take a hike or a helicopter from Vuoggatjålme (vuoggatjalme.se), Tjärnberg (miekak.com) or Kvikkjokk (fiskflyg.se) to the STF hut at Pieskehaure.

Great sauna at a beautiful place. www.svenskaturistforeningen.se

Sweden biggest glacier Salajekna will bring you a lot of perspectives.

It’s practically been around ”forever”. When the ice melts it makes natural, and very cool, art in the lake Pieskehaure.

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Photo: Andy Anderson

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Kärkevagge – What the... Have you seen anything cooler than this, Zach?

The American photographer Andy Anderson calls out to his son Zach, and Kärkevagge is filled with echoes. But the son doesn’t answer; he seems absorbed behind his own camera.

– Zach, are you there? I’m trying to make contact.

– Umm...

– Isn’t it? Isn’t it just great?

Then Andy starts working again. Behind the camera I hear him mumble something about magic. In Sámi it’s called Geargevággi, which translates to Stone Valley in English.

But in real life, it might as well be a fairytale landscape.

When the day comes to an end and darkness descends, walking down to Torneträsk again, the award-winning photographer asks me: – How can it be that no one knows about this place?

It has to be one of the most beautiful places in Sweden.

– Yes, but there are some who know about it. I skirt around the question.

– Eh, today, have we seen more than ten people in the entire valley? I mean, if this had been the States there would at least have been a sign by the road, telling you where it is.

– I know. But sometimes I’m glad there are magical places like this that don’t feature on everyone’s bucket list.

– Hey man, I know. This was friggin’ epic.

When you’ve walked up here from Låktatjokko station you’ll understand why. Thousands of huge boulders are scattered around the wonderfully verdant valley. Traces of a retracting ice age. From the Station up to Kärkevagge it’s no more than eight kilometres and if you want to continue all the way up to Lake Rissajaure you’ve got another four kilometres to hike along an easy trail. Kärkevagge is a magical place for a photographer. To ordinary people it’s just a place to explore. A hundred times that day I catch myself thinking that I’d have liked to come here as a child. A landscape that could have sent my imagination far beyond both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Simply put: it’s a landscape entirely beyond what’s ordinary, or ‘real’.

The two Americans return to what an awesome day we’ve had. It’s easy to agree. Even for someone who have been here before. It’s a unique landscape, technically formed by an ice tongue that was separated from the main glacier and the ice then slowly melted and left these boulders behind.

Some of them large as houses. Every time I walk around here it seems that Geargevággi is more like something out of a fairytale. And in that kind of story, it’s easy to believe in the happy ever after. In the evening we enjoy dinner with Dick and Mina at the Abisko Mountain Lodge. As we’re sat out on the porch, night falls and the first visible northern light of the autumn appears. And that’s another magical spectacle. I think about the day we’ve had; thinking that perhaps the happily-ever-after fairytale is better lived in the present. And I hear Andy say: – Hey Zach, today was pretty epic.

– Yeah, it was just so great. I wish we could do it again.

– Yes, actually, Håkan: we never made it to Troll Lake.

What do you think, should we head up there in the morning?

– Yes, why not.

STF Abisko Mountain Station and the hotel in Björkliden both offer guided hikes/day trips up to Troll Lake, through Kärkevagge, in summer. If you think you can find it yourself and just want somewhere nice to stay, Abisko Mountain Lodge is always a good option.

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8 amazing viewpoints – for bon vivants and adventurers There are plenty of mountains to climb in Swedish Lapland. We’ve chosen eight peaks at very different levels, figuratively and literally speaking.

You can basically drive a car up to the top of Luppio, but Kebnekaise — Sweden’s highest mountain — takes a bit more effort. What they have in common is an amazing view. Welcome to the top!

Dundret Dundret is located in Gällivare, an easy peak to reach for those who wish to discover and experience alpine nature.

Walkers, bikers and runners share the landscape with plants and animals.

With its 820 metres above sea level, Dundret reaches high above the treeline. From the top you can see the midnight sun for an entire month, from the 5th of June to the 11th of July, weather permitting. Then you can also see Sarek and Kebnekaise from the top.

Out of the 200 plants found on Dundret 30 are true mountain species, such as alpine catchfly, Lapland lousewort, blue heath and pincushion plant. Dundret is a nature reserve.

directions: Dundret is located immediately south-west of the town Gällivare. Roads leading off route E45 take you to the reserve.

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Photo: Daniel Olausson/Mediateles

Pältsa

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Pältsan, or Pältsa, is Sweden’s northernmost alpine mountain, located by the Norwegian border in northern Lapland, west of the Three-Country Cairn. Pältsa has three peaks and the middle peak is the tallest: 1,444 metres above sea level. It’s very flat on top and consists mostly of a boulder-filled field, but the sides are more or less steep. The northernmost peak is 1,267 metres high and the southernmost 1,404 metres above sea level. The massif rises nearly 900 metres above the valley to the east. The southernmost peak is a Nunatak and rose above the ice during the latest ice age. This means it’s a very sharp peak and its west face is the only way you can get up without climbing equipment.

South of the massif lies the Pältsa cabin, Sweden’s northernmost STF mountain cabin. Several hiking trails pass this area.

The Three-Country Cairn is around 14 kilometres north-east of the Pältsa cabin.

directions: The easiest way of getting here in summer is via Norway and the valley Signaldalen (Gappo cabin 11 km), or from Kilpisjärvi on a beautiful boat tour for the first kilometres.

From the Pältsa cabin it’s about 8.5 kilometres one-way to the highest point of the southernmost peak.

The mountain Luppio is known for its beautiful restaurant, and perhaps also from the TV-series the Sauna Ballet, a story about men from the Torney Valley who were taught ballet in the sauna.

There’s a road up to the Uteblick restaurant, open in summer.

Luppio is 193 metres above sea level and treats visitors to a lovely view of large parts of the Torne Valley.

directions: Signposts from route 99 just south

of Övertorneå.

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Photo: Restaurang Utbilck/Fredrik Broman

Luppio

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Photo: STF/Marcus Westerberg

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4 Kebnekaise/Giemegáisi is Sweden’s highest mountain. The mountain massif consists of two peaks — the South Peak is the highest these days, the North Peak only slightly lower.

How to climb the highest mountain in Sweden: take the West Trail from Kebnekaise mountain station, via the valley Kitteldalen and Vierranvárri to the top. After Kitteldalen the terrain turns into high alpine stony ground with snow fields.

Follow the marked trail both up and down. From the top of Vierranvárri the trail descends some 200 vertical metres to the valley Kaffedalen.

From Kaffedalen it ascends around 400 vertical metres up to the top cabin. From there it’s approximately 200 vertical metres to the top. The trail ends at a peak cairn just underneath the glacier-clad top.

You’ll need crampons to walk up to the top, because the peak is a glacier and there’s often no snow. Both sides of the peak are steep.

To climb Kebnekaise is challenging. It’s around 9 kilometres oneway to the top and the total rise from the mountain station is more or less 1,800 vertical metres. So you have to plan for 10–14 hours in total.

The weather can change quickly and you have to be prepared for rain, snow and wind combined with low visibility. Bad weather makes it easy to lose the trail, which can be dangerous. Children need to be at least 10–12 years old to cope with the conditions and enjoy the climb.

Since the glacier on the South Peak has melted during the last years the North Peak is almost as high as the South Peak. To walk between the peaks you need to be a competent alpine climber.

directions: From Nikkaluokta it’s an 18 kilometres’ walk (there’s a 5-kilometre boat transport available) to TEXT HÅKAN STENLUND Kebnekaise mountain station. The climb starts from the mountain station.

Photo: Nenne Åman

Kebnekaise/ Giebmegáisi

5 Top of Arjeplog This year Top of Arjeplog celebrates its 5-year anniversary by adding 5 bonus peaks to the card.

Perhaps it’s true what they say, that the mountains Áhkális, Nuortabuouda, Bårggå, Veälbmábuov a, Stiephaltjåhkkå, Gibdnotjåhkkå, Gautoberget, Alep Iksják, Stor-Ståhkkhe, Dádjábakkte, Årjep Sávllo, Svájppá, Stájggà, Tjidtjákgájsse and Strajtastjåhkkå are more difficult to spell than climb. topofarjeplog.blogspot.se

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Photo: Fredrik Bromn/humanspectra.com

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Skierfe

Jan-Svensamössan

Skierfe is a spectacular peak on the north side of the Rapa Delta. The view of the Sarek National Park and other parts of this mountain region is fantastic.

The easiest way to reach Skierfe is a path that runs from the King’s Trail just north of Aktse. If you’re walking into Sarek you can continue and find a way down into the Rapa Valley past Skierfe.

From the Aktse cabin to the top of Skierfe it’s 7.5 kilometres one way and around 770 vertical metres. Skierfe is located on the border of Sarek National Park.

Jan-Svensamössan is visible from far away. It’s a high cliff near Avaviken, by the southernmost part of lake Storavan between Arvidsjaur and Slagnäs. The Sámi name for the mountain is Suddale, which means ‘ice-free early’, or ‘thaw’. From the top you get a breathtaking view of Lapland forests, low mountains, marshes and lakes.

The path to the top takes you past pines that are several hundreds of years old. On the north side of the mountain and nearer the top there’s a primeval fir forest. The top itself is almost bare and features proper mountain plants, like mountain bearberry and alpine azalea.

The name Jan-Svensa’s Hat is allegedly derived from a story about the settler Jan Svensson in Avaviken, who left his sheepskin hat on top of the mountain in the beginning of the 19th century. Jan-Svensa’s Hat is a nature reserve.

directions: Take a detour from the King’s Trail. You reach Aktse from the King’s Trail or from the bridge Sitoälvsbron – walk to the boat landing and go by boat from there to the cabin, or walk along the path around the lake.

Photo: Steve Sandström

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directions: Signposts from route 45, around two kilometres west of Avaviken. Then a path to the top.

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Bjuröklubb The island Bjuröklubb rose from the sea 4,000 years ago and consists of smooth rocks and large pebble fields. Windshaped, gnarly pines and firs grow between the rocks and the beaches are alder fringed. The lovely nature on the Bjurön peninsula is the perfect spot for watching migratory birds.

Sand dunes, beaches, cliffs and the open sea at Bjuröklubb in many ways remind me of the open landscape on a mountain meadow. Rare great yellow bumblebees enjoy sea peas in bloom. The ancient forest, the beach scrubland and the large sand dunes within the nature reserve are all worth a visit.

On Bjuröklubb there are many ancient remains. There’s also a lighthouse that was built in 1859 and manned up until 1970.

The lighthouse keeper provided weather observations, heard on the shipping forecast since 1924. Bjuröklubb also used to be an important pilot station. The old pilot harbour now serves as a guest harbour for visiting boats. A wooden ramp leads from the parking to the lighthouse. Along the ramp signs tell the story about the interesting nature and history found within the reserve. There’s a summer café by the parking.

directions: From the E4, follow signs from e.g. Lövånger.

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Photo: David Larsson

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Photo: Markus Alatalo

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Challenge yourself Photo: Laponia Triathlon

or a friend this summer

bamm — björkliden arctic mountain marathon Scottish KIMM, Karrimor International Mountain Marathon. Class 50 and 70 entrants carry all the equipment they need to survive two tough days and a night on the mountain. BAMM 30 runners are given a fairly light rucksack, and their tents and sleeping bags are transported by the organiser to the night camp. www.bamm.nu

Photo: Kiruna Extreme

BAMM involves two-day mountain orienteering for two-man teams, spending the night on the mountain. The distances are 30 km, 50 km and 70 km over two days, and the routes pass through beautiful and breathtaking mountain terrain. This competition was organised for the first time in 1994 by Swedish multisport pioneer Erik Ahlström and was based on the

kiruna extreme Kiruna Extreme has quickly become a favourite among mountain runners.

Three classes: medium, large and extreme, for teams of two. From osier-filled valleys to peaks covered in glaciers, this is a true challenge.

laponia triathlon 67° Laponia Triathlon will let you experience something different. How many triathlons post warnings for animals on the road, rather than traffic? Swim, cycle and run under the midnight sun.

www.kirunaextreme.se

Photo: Fjällräven/Håkan Wike

www.laponiatriathlon.com

fjällräven classic 110 km of adventure from Nikkaluokta to Abisko, combining mountain hiking with a festival. This route follows one of the most popular hiking trails in the Swedish mountains.

The trail passes Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden, before continuing on through green mountain valleys and over crystal clear waters to the finish line at STF Abisko Mountain Station, where wilderness pub Trekkers Inn will tempt you in with refreshing drinks, great company and – later in the evening – a live band. The organiser makes this hike more accessible by offering organised logistics, checkpoints and support along the route.

Fjällräven Classic is aimed at everyone: Young and old, people who like to stroll and people who prefer to get a move on, experienced mountain hikers and beginners full of anticipation. An unforgettable experience – welcome! www.fjallraven.se/classic

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With a taste of sunshine TEXT HÅKAN STENLUND P H OTO C A R L - J O H A N U T S I

tv chef tareq taylor has curious tastebuds and he loves to travel. And it makes no difference if it’s a journey to faraway lands and cultures or a walk down to a patch of weeds in his own garden. Testing and tasting are part of the traveller’s repertoire. Knowing that plants like angelica and dandelions make excellent ingredients in the kitchen is life-enriching. And that’s what makes Tareq want to travel. He wants to keep challenging and training his taste buds. Tareq has visited Swedish Lapland several times. Naturally, he likes what he tastes.

– Generally, the farther south you travel in Sweden or in the Nordics, the sweeter the food; conversely, the farther north you go, the saltier.

– But there’s nothing odd about that.

Here in the north, to be preserved and stored for the winter, meat had to be salted, fermented, dried and smoked.

On TV we’ve seen Tareq in Kiruna, in Luleå, on a trip through Tornedalen 60

and at Storforsen. He also visited Jokkmokk. In the introduction to Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery he writes of his meeting with Greta Huuva at Viddernas Café in Jokkmokk. “Above all, she gave me an insight into the way of life of the Sámi, in symbiosis with nature, and of our interdependence with nature.”

Perhaps that’s why, some years back, Tareq decided to leave the hectic world of fine dining and run a café in Slottsträdgården in Malmö instead. But we’ll get back to that later.

The cookery book was inspired by the TV-series with the same name.

”Greta Huuva gave me an insight into the way of life of the Sámi, in symbiosis with nature, and of our interdependence with nature.”

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Tareq tasted the local favourite in all categories — Pitepalt (traditional potato dumpling) — when Britta Lindvall Jonsson at Brittas Pensionat/Treehotel made her version using a recipe she inherited from her aunt.

Gurpi, easy to bring when you’re out and about, slice and fry directly on the murikka. .

Of course the coffee the film team was invited to is the regional Lemmel Coffe — the world’s first dark-roast, coarsely-ground coffee.

Made directly over an open fire.

A happy chef immortalizes his first gurpi from Utsi Ren, with stomped potato, Shiitake mushrooms from Luleå, crème fraîche from mountain cows at Skabram and lingonberries flavoured with fir-shoot syrup.

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Yummy! Tareq makes an Arctic Kebab with elk mince, chiliand-cloudberry sauce, lettuce and Skabram cheese on a freshlymade gáhkku for Kent Lindvall at Treehotel.

< Reindeer herder Nila Jannok from the Sámi herding cooperative Luokta Mavas tells Tareq how to make traditional Sámi gurpi. Minced, salted and spiced reindeer meat is wrapped in the fat membrane from the reindeer stomach and then lightly smoked over raw birch logs.

for tareq taylor the desire to test

new flavours comes naturally. It was simply programmed into his genetic code. His father, Seif, came from Palestine to Sweden, where he met Tareq’s mother, Annie. Annie’s father, whose father’s name was Taylor, was British Consul and lived in a house on Limhamnsvägen in Malmö. Dignitaries and celebrities attended dinners at the Taylor’s, events at which the young Tareq was never present. But he did see pictures of both Ronnie Petterson and Margaret Thatcher at his grandpar-

ents’. Tareq’s parents separated after a few years, but Tareq and little brother Zafer had frequent contact with their father, who was a florist. This gives you some idea of the context in which Tareq Taylor grew up: a mother with an inclination to the hippy movement, grandparents who observed the tradition of afternoon tea, and a father raised on low-and-slow Middle Eastern cooking. At father Seif ’s home, traditional Middle Eastern fare was served.

Classics like makalobi, a meat and rice dish that is a bit like Indian biriani, or 63

After meeting Greta Huvva, writing in his Nordic cookery book, he says, ”I felt as though I had suddenly gained an insight into my place on Earth and how everything we do can be boiled down to a single, simple act of respect.

Respect for nature, respect for one another.”

bamia, a tomato and bean or okra stew prepared with lamb or veal, were two of Tareq’s favourites. Tareq explains: – I was fortunate enough to grow up in a context where culinary cultures merged. For me, a blend of Middle Eastern, Swedish and British in the kitchen was natural.

– Of course, this has inspired my own cooking. You have to dare to combine different styles a little. that tareq would one day become a TV chef, or a professional chef for that 64

matter, was never self-evident. But is anything ever self-evident when you’re growing up? However, he definitely wanted to cook. And he loved to cook.

That’s what he did when he came home from school. He’d play a Pink Floyd record and cook with his mother and brother. Tareq tells us that his school days were far from idyllic. At times, he was bullied and it was not until ninth grade that he began to gain his self-confidence. Eventually, he began to train to be a chef and, in his second year of high school, he worked part-time at a pizzeria

”Greta brewed tea made from herbs that tasted like sunshine smells.”

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Eva Gunnare, from Essense of Lapland, reveals traditional knowledge about Arctic herbs and berries to Tareq in the episode from Jokkmokk.

Gunda Åstot at Ájtte Restaurant, taught Tareq how to make a gáhkku — the traditional Sámi flatbread that can easily be baked in a skillet over an open fire, or on the griddle.

near Lilla Torg in Malmö. His culinary career continued and after many years of hard work he turned an eatery called Trappaner, in Malmö, into a gourmet restaurant. Now, however, he is a famous TV chef who has settled into a new role. In an interview in Helsingborgs Dagblad he says: – I had to get back down to earth. In the gourmet business you have to refine what you do and take it to ever greater extremes. After nearly a decade in the business I felt like I had almost lost touch with my patrons. So, I jumped for

joy when I was given the café contract.

– Slottsparken is an oasis, a garden right in the middle of the city. Arriving here in the morning, hearing the birds sing, you feel great. You simply go straight to the garden and grab some asparagus, herbs, garlic, rhubarb, cabbage, artichokes, marigolds... in recent years he has developed a growing interest in plants and greens.

In many ways, this is a result of his participation in the TV series Trädgårdsfredag (Garden Friday), where he has

In Skabram, Hans de Wards from the Netherlands bought some endangered mountain cows, started a dairy, and developed a unique Gouda made from non-pasteurised milk. Tareq has used the cheese in many of his recipes for Nordic Cookery.

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Marcus Jönsson Åberg at Camp Ripan reveals how to pluck a grouse, deep-fry reindeer moss and grow mushrooms in the ironore mine Kirunavaara, a hundred metres underground.

In the episode from Kiruna Tareq tried fishing for whitefish in an ark on Duortnosjávri/ Torneträsk, then brought the catch up to the Nuolja mountain and made Arctic whitefish sushi at the Aurora Sky Station restaurant.

been compelled to learn more about gardening. First of all, he didn’t have time for gardening, since he lived in the city and threw everything into running a restaurant with high standards. Then, he and the family moved to a house with a fantastic garden which, under his care (or lack thereof ), fell into disrepair.

Slowly but surely, with renewed zest for growing things, he is resurrecting the garden to its former glory. Tareq says that he simply can’t live without turnips.

At Greta Huvva’s in Jokkmokk he made a dish called gompa. Angelica and mountain sorrel are boiled in water before reindeer milk is added. This is a classic pickled vegetable dish that high-country folk once ate to keep scurvy away after a long winter of too much protein. Traditionally, gompa was made during the summer and preserved in inside-out reindeer stomachs until the following summer. This gave the Sámi a vegetable component in their diet until they returned to the mountains and the calving grounds again. In another part of Tareq’s Nordic cookery book he writes: “Greta also introduced me to a combination of angelica and meringue, and brewed tea made from herbs that tasted like sunshine smells.” What a description – a taste of sunshine.

Having ‘retreated’ to a more downto-earth lifestyle, Tareq shows no hesitation in saying what he thinks about the 66

” I like expressions of tradition and culture in the food we eat.”

facts:

Name: Tareq Taylor Age: Born 1969 in Malmö Family: Wife, children, dog Current work: TV chef and cookbook author

on location:

Four episodes of Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery were filmed in Destination Swedish Lapland — Tornedalen, Jokkmokk, Kiruna, Luleå-HaradsStorforsen. Four episodes that capture in beautiful detail the region’s bold and exciting culinary traditions.

global spridning:

Nordic Cookery has been aired in over 130 countries via BBC Worldwide, Fox International and Asian Food channel and several other, smaller channels — and has reached more than 80 million households.

current state of cooking.

– That bloody microwave should be banned. It makes food taste like people do when they’ve been under a sunlamp.

He thinks the food industry cares more about what the packaging looks like than how the contents taste. Only the appearance of the packaging matters if we never get to smell or feel food in the shop.

– You know, when it says ‘mediumaged’ on a package of cheese. But what does that mean?

He also cooks many cuts of meat and he appreciates the fact that we in Swedish Lapland have always praised wholebeast cooking. Nose to tail – everything should be used. In the interview in Helsingborgs Dagblad he also says: – You have to dare to try something other than sirloin, but you can never buy the best cuts at the shop. It’s as if animals were born without legs, necks or stomachs.

Tareq likes low-and-slow, he likes new flavours and he likes expressions of tradition and culture in the food we eat.

It’s in his genes. After meeting Greta Huvva, writing in his Nordic cookery book, he says, “I felt as though I had suddenly gained an insight into my place on Earth and how everything we do can be boiled down to a single, simple act of respect. Respect for nature, respect for one another.”

T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

Photo: Nordic Cookery

Bear is a very strongflavoured meat and requires the right mix of intense ingredients on the plate.

Here the meat is served with beetroot in blueberry juice and angelica to get the right balance.

Gáhkku, suovas & lingonberries 4 PEOPLE GÁHKKU, 10 PIECES: 0.5 L MILK OR WATER 100 ML MELTED BUTTER OR OIL 25 G YEAST 50 ML SYRUP 1 TSP SALT 100 ML RYE FLOUR APPR. 1 L WHEAT-FLOUR 700 G SUOVAS (SALTED AND LIGHTLY SMOKED REINDEER MEAT) 1 WHITE ONION 10 JUNIPER BERRIES 2 TBSP BUTTER OR OIL 1 TSP CHOPPED, FRESH THYME 3 TBSP SOFT WHEY CHEESE SALT GARNISH WITH: RED ONION 1 DL SUGARED LINGONBERRIES

cooking instructions:

Heat milk and butter to 37 degrees C. Pour into a bowl and add yeast. Stir in syrup, salt and rye flour. Add wheatflour until it becomes a paste, about 5-10 minutes. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for around 30 minutes.

Knead the dough and shape 10 flat ’pancakes’, around 35 cm in diameter. Mark them with a fork and bake on both sides in a dry skillet over medium-high heat.

Slice the meat and the white onion. Crush the juniper berries. Brown the onion with the meat in butter in a large skillet. Add juniper berries, thyme and whey cheese.

Add salt.

Put the warm meat on the gáhkku. Garnish with red onion and sugared lingonberries.

Photo: Nordic Cookery

Mountain fast food.

Reindeer heart with cloudberries

Roe from whitefish and bleak with smoked and fried bleak served on clear ice from the Torne River brings food and origin together.

4 PEOPLE 1 REINDEER HEART 2 TBSP RAPESEED OIL 2 LARGE CARROTS 1/2 SWEDE 1/2 RED ONION SALT DRESSING: 1/2 RED ONION 1/2 SWEDE 1 TSP ANGELICA SEEDS 3 TBSP RAPESEED OIL 100 ML APPLE-CIDER VINEGAR 1 TBSP HONEY 100 ML CLOUDBERRIES

cooking instructions: Clean tendons and veins around the heart and fry it in 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes. It should be medium done. Salt to taste, set aside and leave to stand for about 5 minutes. Slice thinly.

Peel carrots and swede.

Slice carrots, swede and red onion thinly.

Dressing: chop red onion and swede. Fry Angelica seeds, swede and onion in 3 tablespoons rapeseed oil until they soften. Add vinegar, honey and at the end cloudberries.

Mix the thinly sliced vegetables with the dressing and serve with the reindeer heart and some blueberries or crowberries.

Bear with beetroot & Angelica 4 PEOPLE 400 G POTATOES 200 G SWEDE 400 G BEETROOT 1 YELLOW ONION 700 G BEAR FILLET 3 TBSP BUTTER DRIED ANGELICA 200 ML BLUEBERRY JUICE OR RED WINE SALT AND PEPPER SERVE WITH: 4 TBSP CLOUDBERRY JAM

cooking instructions:

Slice the potatoes. Peel and dice swede, beetroot and onion. Fry potatoes and swede with the bear fillet in two tablespoons butter over high heat until the meat is medium-rare. Salt and pepper and leave the meat to stand for at least 5 minutes.

Sauté beetroot and onion in 1 tablespoon butter in a separate pan. Add Angelica, blueberry juice or red wine and sauté until soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the sliced bear fillet with warm root vegetables and a dollop of cloudberry jam.

2 x whitefish with whitefish & vendace roe 4 PEOPLE 200 G SMOKED WHITEFISH 4 WHITEFISH FILLETS 1 TBSP OIL SALT 100 G VENDACE ROE 100 G WHITEFISH ROE 150 ML CRÈME FRAÎCHE 1 RED ONION 100 G SMOKED WHITEFISH SERVE WITH: FRESH DILL 1 LEMON 12 SMALL BLINIS

cooking instructions: Fry the whitefish fillets until crisp. Add a little salt.

Shape vendace roe, whitefish roe and crème fraîche into small eggs, using two spoons. Put on a serving platter with pieces of the smoked whitefish.

Finely chop the red onion.

Add onion, smoked and fried fish to the serving platter.

Garnish with dill and lemon wedges, serve with small blinis.

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Sugar-dried cloudberries from Jokkmokksbär – we call them ’cloudberry raisins’ – are exclusive and tasty. www.jokkmokksbar.se

Cloudberry jam, marmalade and syrup made by Jokkmokksbär can be found in wellstocked delis.

Cloudberries rubus chamaemorus l.

of course it was linnaeus who gave the cloudberry its Latin name Rubus chamaemorus. The name comes from the Greek words khamal, meaning ’on the ground’ and moron meaning ’mulberry’. But all is not what it seems. Because even if we refer to the golden-red and sweetly flavoured cloudberry as a berry, it’s a collection of drupes. In Swedish Lapland cloudberries are sought after as jam, sweets and just the way they are. The white flowers are sensitive to frost, but some summers turn into great cloudberry years.

1966 was such a cloudberry year when it’s estimated that we picked 1,200,000 kilos of cloudberries to serve warm with vanilla ice-cream.

Mylta is the name for raw or boiled cloudberries mashed together. But cloudberry jam is the most common product – a true delicacy that goes well with vanilla ice-cream, parfait and desserts, e.g. coffee cheese.

you need:

300 g cloudberries around 1.5 dl granulated sugar Stir cloudberries and sugar until the sugar has melted. Variations include flavouring the mylta with vanilla pods or cloudberry liqueur.

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Natural sweets: a chewy belt full of flavour, made of dried cloudberries and a bit of ecological sugar. www.eolapland.se

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Photo: Isa Form Photo Göran Wallin

Cloudberries are really tasty used as flavouring in sweets and toffee. www.luleakonfektyr.se

Piteå-based illustrator Isabelle Norman Sällström sells beautiful illustrations, like this cloudberry, at Isa Form. www.isa.nu

Waffles with cloudberry jam and whipped cream is a classic. It tastes even better when you’ve hiked up to the cosy mountain station Låktatjåkko. www.bjorkliden.com

Product photos: Carl-Johan Utsi

The bracelet ’Hjortron’ (cloudberry) is handmade in sterling silver by Camilla Mustikka in Kiruna. www.camillamustikka.se

Photo: Håkan Stenlund

Photo Camilla Mustikka

c/o Gerd offers exciting products for those who wish to smell like cloudberries. Shampoo, hand cream, soap and facial cream, among other things. www.careofgerd.com

If you can’t be bothered picking a cupful of cloudberries to make your own, Viddernas Café and Deli sell cloudberry chutney. It goes perfectly with reindeer fillet cooked at low temperature and dessert cheese. www.viddernashus.se

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Revolution in cloudberry land

Obviously it’s difficult to summarise Swedish Lapland. It consists of cities and countryside, archipelago islands and river rapids, sand dunes and pine needles. And the music scene is just as rich as the geographical surroundings.

TEXT MARIA BROBERG

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the magnettes’ glittery, electronic riot grrrl-punk was

born here, in Pajala. And Bo Kaspers Orkester’s jazzflavoured pop was also born here, in Piteå, once upon a time. Angry hardcore punk by Totalt Jävla Mörker comes from Skellefteå, which is also the birthplace of The Wannadies with their softly rebellious indie pop.

As you can see, a variety of genres are represented.

We can also mention hip hop, Sámi jojk, bubblegum pop, world music, melodious punk and country – because many-sidedness rules up here. And it’s going on everywhere.

Through Stockholm City in neon – punk rock, electro pop, old school hip hop / We enter from somewhere else – punk rock, electro pop, old school hip hop.

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In Jokkmokk it’s Kitok who is happening and the lyrics are from the track ‘Stockholm City’ from his debut album ‘Paradise Jokkmokk’, known by its title track. He started his music career with three indie-pop records under the name Magnus Ekelund och Stålet. Then he had enough and decided to make hip hop instead – hip hop that doesn’t sound like hip hop, but like a unique Lapland mix – using his Sámi family name.

In ‘Stockholm City’ Kitok points to yesterday’s and tomorrow’s music from Swedish Lapland. It may be categorised in the same way and called the same thing, but it’s still different. To use Kitok’s own words, it’s music that enters from somewhere else – not the city neons, but our forests, coasts, rivers and mountains.

Photo: Caite Laffoon

Acclaimed band The Magnettes latest release, Killers in a Ghosttown, is a great mix of Nashville and Pajala, English and Meänkieli.

Or, as he himself clarifies the direction in the song ‘Premium Gold’ from the same record: From up north, from below.

This ‘from below’ that Kitok speaks about means something. You can’t write about culture in any form in Sweden’s northernmost destination without touching on questions like colonisation, standards, loneliness and marginalisation. Often the feeling is that the cultural world is happening somewhere else, in glitter and neon, not in our wide-open spaces lit by the midnight sun. Not to move is a political move, says Luleå-based artist Mattias Alkberg, who angered and delighted the public for many years with the band Bear Quartet and who keeps provoking as an artist and writer.

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Photo: Jörgen Hildebrandt / CC BY 3.0 Photo: CC BY 3.0 Photo: Frankie Fouganthin / CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo: Sotarn

The Sámi artist Sofia Jannok takes a clear stand and speaks about questions related to majority and minority culture and the right to be your own person, in your own space. This is my land, this is my country / And if I’d be the queen queen you’d see that I take everyone by hand / I sing it so it’s out there / I would paint this land blue yellow red and green she sings on the single ‘This is my land’ from her fourth and latest album ‘Orda – This is my land’.

To live and work here means taking up space, showing who you are. Simply put, it takes closed fists and a DIY spirit.

Because no one is going to do it for you.

On paper they might not have much in common. We’re taking punk rock, electro pop, old school hip hop. But if you study them you can find a common theme, stretching along river valleys and coastline – straight from The Rocking Sami, the controversial but popular Sven Gösta Jonsson from Ammarnäs who rocked in his Sámi costume, to Sara Ajnnak who dug through archives and studied old recordings to be able to write her subversive music in South Sámi.

This common theme is something that manifests itself clearly in the music of Maxida Märak, Sápmi’s self-appointed music terrorist with roots in jojk and hip hop. With her latest single ‘Reverse back’ she explains that music is her weapon, and she expressed her protest against more mines being established in Jokkmokk with the album ‘Mountain Songs and Other Stories’. From jojk to bluegrass to heavy urban hip hop, but from the mountain – as an artist she incarnates northern versatility.

We also find that same common theme in Pajala. Shut up demands the Torne Valley punk band The Magnettes in ‘Ghost Town’, a tribute to their home town Pajala, and they also raise their

From the top: Bo Kaspers Orkester, Maxida Märak, Movits! and Sofia Jannok.

middle finger in melodic Meänkieli.

It’s present in Dennis Kalla’s finely-crafted musical expression, and the 80s-scented, almost hypnotic electronic sounds provided by the Boden trio The Glorias. And – why not – it’s found in the music of the rattling indie rockers Könsförrädare (Gender Traitor), with fists incorporated into the band name, so to speak, as well as with the predecessors in the hardcore band Fireside.

A quiet, soft, pop revolution was led by indie bands like Popsicle and The Wannadies. Music with attitude doesn’t have to be loud; perhaps it’s enough to make pop music your own way, on an independent record label – in this case Skellefteå-based A West Side Fabrication that also produced all fourteen albums by the Bear Quartet – and on a music scene that looks at you slightly suspiciously. But it all went well, and with time The Wannadies became one of our biggest music exports.

It’s impossible to summarise the rich music scene in Swedish Lapland in a simple way; it’s too rich and too multi-faceted. These fantastic artists from the north don’t just appear in a popular-culture vacuum where there’s a hole to fill, they appear because they’re part of a bigger picture – an amazing picture, when you start listening to it.

Perhaps our great author Sara Lidman from Missenträsk was on the right track when she wrote the famous words If you live in a village you have to care.

Wherever you look among the northern artists, the big ones and the small ones, the stubborn ones and the successful ones, they’ve all gone their own way – whether that’s along mountain paths and cloudberry marshlands, or the pedestrian streets and pavements of the city. From up north, from below, as Kitok put it.

T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

Photo: CC BY 3.0

Raised Fist

The up and coming:

The already hard at work and the legends:

Sara Ajnnak (Sorsele) – Headstrong pop in Ume Sámi.

Dennis Kalla (Pajala/Luleå) – Indiepop from North Bothnia with clapping hands, guitar and bitter-sweet synths.

The Glorias (Boden) – Glamorous, dark, electronic pop.

Haartland (Luleå) – The first track from Haartland is shimmering and powerful popmusic. A winner at the independent music awards Manifest.

Kitok (Jokkmokk) – Cocky cross-over hip hop, sometimes with a smattering of indie.

Könsförrädare (Luleå) – Introvert, intense, clever indie rock with traces of noise music.

The Magnettes (Pajala) – Bubblegumpink new wave and happy electro punk from the Torne Valley.

Maxida Märak (Jokkmokk) – Versatile multi-artist with roots in jojk and hip hop.

Pophjärtat (Piteå) – Electronic dream pop.

Them Legs (Piteå) – Slightly dirty but good-looking rock. Üni Foreman (Skellefteå) – Warped and mellow queer indie pop.

Väärt (Malmberget) – based in Umeå, but with group members from Malmberget and songs in meänkieli, the band, with a distinct post-rock sound, deserves it’s place here.

Johan Airijoki (Gällivare) – Nasal, slightly progressive, but still strong folk and pop with a clear idea.

Mattias Alkberg (Luleå) – Unique, versatile artist who sounds very different under different names.

Bear Quartet (Luleå) – Indie band that wavers between rattling rock and experimental electronica.

Bo Kaspers Orkester (Piteå) – Lounge-style jazz pop for grownups.

Brolle (Boden) – Musical artist.

Nostalgic rock with a nod to Elvis.

The Chickpeas band (Piteå) – Elegant Americana in three-part harmony with streaks of country, pop and blues.

Den rockande samen (Sorsele) – 50s rock n’ roll with mountain feeling.

Markus Fagervall (Övertorneå) – Pop singer with rock influences who had his breakthrough when he won Idol 2006.

Fireside (Luleå) – Hardcore, mostly active during the 90s.

Glesbygd’n (Arvidsjaur) – Melancholic reggae sung with Arvidsjaur accent.

Sofia Jannok – Multi-faceted solo artist who has stood up for the new generation of Sámi musicians and jojk artists.

Peter Mattei (Piteå) – World class baritone and opera singer.

Movits! (Luleå) – Stirring, jazzy hip hop in Swedish.

Roger Pontare (Slagnäs) – Tirelessly walking his own path with his characteristic, strong voice.

Popsicle (Piteå) – Fast, melodic indie pop. Created the foundation of Swedish indie pop – ‘Swindie’ – together with a group of other bands.

Raised Fist (Luleå) – Hardcore and punk with five records released.

Raubtier (Haparanda) – Rammstein in Swedish.

This Perfect Day (Skellefteå) – 90s Swindie. One of the bands that founded the Swedish indie pop breakthrough.

Totalt Jävla Mörker (Skellefteå) – D-beat hardcore punk.

Tusenbröder (Gällivare) – A charming cocktail of synthesizers from the 80’s, strings, guitars and deep post-punk.

Wannadies (Skellefteå) – Soft pop with bossa and rock tendencies. Created the foundation of Swedish indie pop – ‘Swindie’ – together with a group of other bands.

Willy Clay Band (Kiruna) – American country from the bottom of the world’s largest underground iron ore mine.

Kristofer Åström (Luleå) – Back-tobasics singer/songwriter and guitarist in Fireside.

Listen here: bit.ly/swedishlapland

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Photo: Ted Logardt

The flea markets in Folkparken in Skellefteå are a given summer activity for many upcyclers.

First and foremost second hand T E X T T E D LO G A R D T

flea markets have become a reason to travel.

Outside Sorsele, along route 363 towards Ammarnäs, there’s a sign: ‘Flea Market 34 km’. The flea market is located in Marielund in Arjeplog municipality and might be one of the most remote flea markets in Sweden. But it’s still well frequented. There’s even a tame reindeer outside.

In recent years many things have happened in the second hand scene in Skellefteå. They were once something for a select few, but flea markets and second hand shops now provide a popular summer activity.

– It used to be easier to find real bargains, says Tova, a true upcycling enthusiast. Now, those who run second hand shops know everything about the things that come in. They charge accordingly for them.

However, since many of the second hand shops are based on charitable principles, Tova feels that the rising prices are not so bad.

Flea markets on the other hand, there you can really find bargains. Especially during the summer. If you’ve ever worked in a tourist office you know that a common question from foreign visitors during summer 74

is: “What does ‘Loppis’ mean?”. They’ve been driving along Swedish roads and seen sign after sign promising ‘Loppis’, but have no idea what it means.

– First and foremost, there are the large, established flea markets. Like the one in Folkparken in Skellefteå.

It’s fantastic and draws lots of market vendors and visitors, or the one in the village, Hej. There you can almost certainly find a couple of bargains. Personally, though, I am just as happy to get in my car and drive around looking for the small, hand-painted signs letting you know that there’s a flea market nearby. You know, in summer, flea markets show up where you least expect them.

Tova explains her love for upcycling like this: – Partly, it’s good for the environment of course, but going to a flea market is also kind of like doing detective work. You’re always looking for something but you never know what you’re going to find, you will often find nothing — and sometimes you find something you had no idea that you wanted. The idea of upcycling is more about finding untapped possibilities than about finding complete, usable objects.

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Photos: Anna Lindblom

”...going to a flea market is also kind of like doing detective work. You’re always looking for something but you never know what you’re going to find.”

The coffee set Ali from Arabia, designed

by Raija Uosikkinen in 1968, and the lamp Bumling, designed by Anders Pehrson in 1968, find new homes with the new generation. If you’re lucky you might find them in mint condition, like these at Fyndhörnan in Luleå.

Fabric from the past — a symphony of patterns and colours. This is a mix of old house dresses, duvet covers, table cloths and curtains.

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Flea markets and yard sales

4 GAMMELSTAD

Kyrktorget 1 +46 (0)920-45 70 10 gammelstad@lulea.se www.lulea.se/gammelstad

11 LULEÅ

Kulturens Hus, Skeppsbrogatan 17 +46 (0)920-45 70 00 turistbyra@lulea.se www.lulea.nu 12 PAJALA www.heartoflapland.com

5 GÄLLIVARE

Centralplan 4 +46 (0)970-166 60 info@gellivarelapland.se www.gellivarelapland.se

A yard sale is something that just pops up every now and then, as well goes with some flea markets.

The best way to keep track on what occurs in the moment is to ask at the local Tourist office. They keep track on second-hand stores, yard sales as well as vintage boutiques

13 PITEÅ

Bryggargatan 14 +46 (0)911-933 90 visit@pitea.se www.visitpitea.se

6 HAPARANDATORNIO

Krannigatan 5 +46 (0)922-262 00 tourist@haparandatornio.com www.haparandatornio.com

14 SKELLEFTEÅ

Trädgårdsgatan 7 +46 (0)910-45 25 00 info@destinationskelleftea.se www.destinationskelleftea.se

7 JOKKMOKK

Stortorget 4 +46 (0)971-222 50 info@destinationjokkmokk.se www.destinationjokkmokk.se

1 ARJEPLOG Torget +46 (0)961-145 20 turist@arjeplog.se www.arjeplog.se

15 VINDELÄLVEN (SORSELE)

Stationsgatan 19 +46 (0)952-140 90 turist@sorsele.se www.visitvindelalven.org

8 JÄVRE

Jävrevägen 186 +46 (0)911-384 40 javre.turistbyra@pitea.se www.visitpitea.se

2 ARVIDSJAUR

Storgatan 14 +46 (0)960-175 00 arvidsjaurlappland@arvidsjaur.se www.arvidsjaur.se

16 ÄLVSBYN

Storgatan 27 +46 (0)929-108 60 turistinfo@alvsbyn.se www.alvsbyn.se/visit

9 KALIX www.heartoflapland.com MIDNATTSSOL UNDER SOMMAREN

3 BODEN

Enter Galleria, Färgaregatan 12 +46 (0)921-624 10 info@upplevboden.nu www.upplevboden.nu

17 ÖVERKALIX www.heartoflapland.com

10 KIRUNA

Lars Janssonsgatan 17 +46 (0)980-188 80 info@kirunalapland.se www.kirunalapland.se

18 ÖVERTORNEÅ www.heartoflapland.com

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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.

havremagasinet

Up 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 proclaimed ‘The Russians are coming’ and welcomed people to an impressive art exhibition in one of Boden’s most spectacular 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 democracy, human rights and freedom of speech.

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Norbottens museum in Luleå is the county 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 collections, art and education are carried out at the museum as well as an extensive 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.

silvermuseet

Silvermuseet 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.

Photo: Tornedalens Museum

Photo: Andreas Norin/Pantheon

Ájtte 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.

The 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 largescale 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 Museum is part of SMHA, Swedish Military Heritage, a network that consists of 26 stateowned and state-supported museums.

Photo: Försvarsmuseum

ájtte

the national defence museum

Photo: Havremagasinet

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

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.

Photo: Anna Lindblom

Museums

norrbottens museeum

tornedalens museum

Tornedalens museum – Tornionlaaakson 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 identity, language and dialects.

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The long silence

T E X T H Å K A N S T E N L U N D | P H O T O A N DY A N D E R S O N

Winter gives way to spring and a new fishing season. if a fish, or a catch, is to be a story,

the fish has to be out of the ordinary, preferably bordering on dangerous. And if the story is to become a classic, the fish should be as big as a whale or the fisherman should be a character like Captain Ahab.

But that doesn’t happen very often.

Usually, the opposite happens. Most fish are ridiculously small, hardly worth mentioning. Honestly, who wants to hear the story about when you caught a couple of char that were big enough to fill a sardine tin? That’s why all anglers are born honest, but soon get over it.

And that’s why you should take fishing stories for what they are. Even though many are worth telling, and true besides.

A while ago I went to a sixtieth birthday party. The 60-year-old’s neighbour was also there, with his arm bandaged up

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to the biceps. He went around happily greeting other guests with his left hand.

Since I’m rather reserved, I didn’t ask about the nature of the injury. I surmised that the old chap probably sustained a burn while playing with fire. Instead, when I made some discrete inquiries, I learned that the neighbour had been fishing out on the ice near his home.

The record-sized pike had taken the bait and, after a struggle, the angler had managed to pull the fish’s head up through the hole. The hole was too small and the pike was too fat. The line broke and the neighbour watched as the pike began to sink back through the ice. When the pike suddenly gaped, the old fellow thrust his right hand into its mouth, whereupon the fish did what it was programmed to do: it struck. The old man’s hand was now in the grasp of T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

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a million slimy teeth. Since the pike’s reflexes are such that it keeps a firm hold on its prey, it locked its grip and was dragged from the hole. It weighed 14.6 kilos. Well worth both a visit to the doctor and a course of penicillin.

As Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov wrote in his classic “Notes on Fishing” as early as 1847, “The pike’s greed knows no limits”.

Photo: Andy Anderson

If walls could talk. Västerbottens Sportfiskeklubb is Sweden’s second oldest fishing club. In the old club house you’ll find lots of wall hangers, a custom that isn’t practiced as much nowadays.

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fishing; what is it, really? I mean, why do we do it? And who does it?

How is it that we can spend so much time trying to outwit a creature whose brain is the size of a peanut? How can a leisure pastime claim so many great sacrifices, such that some would willingly leave house and home, lose their driver’s license, have their arm half eaten and even swear to never drink again? What is it that makes fishing irresistible, like a force of nature, a revelation, a salvation?

Although I’ve been doing this for more than 40 years I really can’t answer that question. Perhaps it really is as Thoreau wrote: “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not

fish they are after”. That is my only consolation as I once again slip away from home before anyone else is awake.

It is late April and I head for the sea.

I don’t think I’ll catch anything, but at least I’m out. And I’m casting.

There is a season for everything. A whitewater paddler I know once said, “Water is just melted snow.” Ergo, when winter turns to summer, the white powder is transformed. Of course, he was right. Just change perspectives and you can have fun all your life.

The great empty space is the time between your last cast in the autumn and your first cast in the spring. The longest silence. Everyone has their own way of getting through it. Some tie flies, others travel, some hit the bottle. Some do all three at the same time. Personally, I sink into some kind of mental hibernation.

But when spring comes, I cast for pike – just because. you can make anything, I mean abso-

lutely anything, complicated beyond reason. Even the simplest thing can be cluttered up with too many widgets. Nobody takes up fly-fishing simply because he or she wants to wear a fishing vest that weighs seven kilos. Even so, it takes no time at all before they are wearing one.

The variety of commercially available gear is inexhaustible. There is a growing pile of “could-be-good-to-have gadgets” in vest pockets, cars and cupboards.

One day, you will say “enough”.

Perhaps it will be the day when you are sorting through all of your fishing tackle and finally rediscover the long-forgotten contents of your storage shed. You decide to leave it all behind. In principle, the fly-fisherman needs little more than a rod, a line and small box of, say, five flies. In many ways, this is reminiscent of fishing as it was when you were a child.

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Photo: Håkan Stenlund

A simple rod and line, a float and a hook baited with a worm.

Although you no longer use worms, the longing and the dream of simplicity are strong. It is a dream you share with many. There has been a renaissance for the simplest form of fishing: a rod, a line and a fly. It even has a name: Tenkara.

Quite simply, this is a Japanese expression meaning “from heaven”. No, it has nothing to do with spiritual insight, but rather a kind of stealth fishing. The fly is presented to the trout in the stream with all the surprise of a lightning bolt from a clear sky.

Tenkara is the exploration of small streams, waters known only to a few.

Tenkara is for narrow brooks and streams which are so small they frighten other fly-fisherman away. Tenkara is a place where you can be alone. Where you may perhaps be struck by spiritual insight but are more likely to be simply overjoyed by getting a bite. “but why do you fish so much?”.

I am often asked this question. It fascinates me. Fly-fishing is neither

commonplace nor mainstream. Call it a marginal sport. And I wonder what “so much” implies. In any case, it is a judgement. It is a burden placed upon my shoulders, as if a fly-fishing vest and two broken marriages weren’t enough.

A hundred days per year? Two hundred? I don’t know. I only know I would like to fish even more. Every day of the year, if possible; or maybe not.

Sometimes, I might actually consider leaving the rod alone for a few days.

Simply because the water has frozen and it’s time to take advantage of fresh snow and gravity.

Powder skiing can only be described as a rush. A place we escape to when we just want to live for the moment, a time when everything else in life is placed on hold, when only now matters.

Once upon a time people who love powder skiing were called powder dogs.

A perfect name, because, just like dogs, powder skiers are total opportunists.

When opportunity presents itself, impulse control goes out the window. In powder, there are no friends.

Fly-fishing is much the same but,

The grayling is often dubbed the lady of the stream. When seeing the colors of this fish you just understand why. The lady likes her ”bling”.

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even so, quite the opposite. It’s all about being totally consumed by the moment while, at the same time, all that precedes and all that follows means just as much.

A trout rising may be the most sensual thing you’ll ever experience. But if you haven’t seen it before, you won’t understand how to position yourself so you can see it when it happens again. And when the trout takes your fly, a whole different ride begins. It’s like standing in the lift line and waiting to be carried to the peak. Here, you can be dragged right to the bottom. Believe me. descartes, the father of dualism,

wrote: “Cogito, ergo sum”. Instead, I say: “Piscato, ergo sum”. That’s how it is, quite simply. “I fish; therefore, I am”. And, if I were to devote myself to thought, or the process of thinking (cogitatio), you can bet that it would have to do with my next catch.

I am often asked the question: “When is the best time to fish?” The most straightforward reply is: “All the time”. The old T-shirt print “A bad day’s fishing is always better then a good day’s work” rings true.

Eric Clapton stayed relatively sober when he went fishing. Apparently, he chose sobriety when, in a stupor, he fell and broke one of his rods in half. A couple of friends, for whom Eric had great admiration, looked at him with such pity that he decided it was time for rehab.

Bill Schaadt, a pioneer of US west coast steelhead fishing, was on his way up the Russian River early one morning. Rounding a curve, he lost control of his vehicle, skidded off the road and rolled far into the woods. Bill climbed out of the wreck through a broken window, managed to salvage a rod that had miraculously survived the crash and went fishing. It wasn’t until that evening, 82

håkan stenlund

worked as a freelance reporter for 25 year.

He got his paychecks from New York Times, Forbes Life, Outside Go, Men’s Journal and others. Nowadays he resides at the railway station in Lomselenäs in Sorsele. The same railway station his mother used to manage 50 years ago and just 300 meters from Juktån, the river that runs through Håkan’s life.

when it was too dark to continue fishing, that he summoned a tow truck.

J.D. (this is a fictitious name, but the story is, in fact, really true) was fishing salmon on the Pinware River, in Labrador, Canada. His stomach was acting up.

Down near the neck by Seapool, people were lined up and everyone who made it down to the “biting rock” caught salmon.

Suddenly, J.D. felt his bowels turn to icewater. He turned around. Behind him were at least five others. If he went ashore to relieve himself, he would lose his place in line. When J.D. turned around again and looked back downstream, the next man hauled up a fish right before his eyes. At the same time, he felt a sharp twinge as his stomach bubbled. So, J.D. shit himself. But he got his salmon. no, i’m not saying that all anglers are prepared to take it this far. The choices in life are too many. But I believe that many fishermen who look themselves in the mirror and examine their motives are sometimes surprised at the choices they make. Fishing has that effect on us. How many have not had to make the choice?

“Me or my fishing gear?” and have saved their rods, at the last minute, before the door slams shut for good.

Although our passion for fishing can mess things up for us, it also has a way of healing the wounds from the wrong choices we have made. No, I don’t think the choice to “go fishing” is the solution to everyone’s problems. On the other hand, I do believe that if everyone went fishing, there would be considerably fewer problems. Only when you really spend time with yourself can you truly learn to know yourself. It isn’t particularly complicated. It just takes time.

“No, you’re not suicidal after all.” Those were her words, the psychiatrist I visited to find out why I was so damned dejected.

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Photo: Andy Anderson

”Although our passion for fishing can mess things up for us, it also has a way of healing the wounds from the wrong choices we have made.”

A bit of blue is always good for big trouts.

Same goes for the grayling, salmon and pike as well. So — why gamble?

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Photo: Andy Anderson

Helikopterskidåkning i midnattssolens sken är en unik upplevelse och själva åkningen imponerar på de mest erfarna skidåkare. Här är en floffa floffamaskin med 900 hästkrafter på väg att hämta upp ett gäng skidåkare i Nallo.

“No. How could I be? The mayfly nymphs are hatching.”

“Mayfly nymphs?,” said the doctor, giving me a quizzical look, “You’ll have to explain.” But how do you explain to someone who has 300 university credits that life has taken a turn for the worse and the only thing that is keeping you afloat is a mayfly whose Latin name is Ephemera vulgata. Sometimes I think it may have been cheaper if I hadn’t even bothered. and what is a fish, really? Ultimately,

fishing in

SW ED ISH LA PL AN D NMOST DESTINAT ION SWEDEN’ S NORTHER

The world’s best fishing This is why you shouldn’t miss Swedish Lapland

Supersize me

a road trip for salmon

The beauty and the beast – a salmon fisherman chasing

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pike

and

et

dåslH WRITER EDIS WAY A SW DS HIS E FIN HOM

San

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For more fishing inspiration Fishing in Swedish Lapland is available in both Swedish and English in print or at issuu.com/swedishlapland

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that is a natural question that we must ask ourselves, especially if you, like I, have spent innumerable hours trying to catch fish.

In its element, water, we perceive it as a shadow, an apparition that suddenly appears in a fleeting instant. Some maintain that the fish is the creature from which we humans have evolved.

The lungfish is often mentioned in this context. Suffice it to say that we live the first months of our lives like a fish, in the protection of our mother’s womb.

In fantasy, the fish represents our desires, like the mermaid who beckons us. But the fish can also be an image of our fear, like Captain Ahab’s struggle with the leviathan and Jonah in the

belly of the whale. In the Far East the fish is a symbol of peace, order, strength and perseverance.

The fish has sacred significance in the Jewish Passover and is an important figure in Christ’s miraculous feeding of the multitudes with only five loaves and a couple of fish. The fish as a symbol in Christianity is nearly as old as the Christian faith itself and thus a symbol for our entire western civilisation. Pisces, the fish, is the twelfth sign of the zodiac, and of the beginning and end of the astrological year. In erotic art, women have been portrayed having sex with octopuses, and penises are represented as suckerfish.

In Günter Grass’ book “The Tin Drum”, the eel is widely interpreted as a phallic symbol. The fish as both seducer and destroyer fascinated psychoanalyst Carl Jung. He thought that fish, in our dreams, could symbolize, among other things, human ambition, avarice, lechery and greed. But it also stood for religious fervour.

Others besides fly-fishermen can probably attest to the latter. In short, fish live in our fantasies, our memories and in cold water. That’s why we prepare to make one more cast – now that winter has let go.

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Grasping the catch

5 DIFFERENT FISH TO HOOK UP WITH IN SWEDISH LAPLAND SALMON (salmo salar) The University of Uppsala was partly funded by profits from the salmon fishing in Edeforsen rapids (near Harads and Treehotel) in the Lule River. The profits from salmon fishing were also used to found the city of Luleå. In fact, up until the 20th century salmon, not steel, was Luleå’s main source of income. In 1949 110 tonnes of salmon were caught in the river. These days you’ll probably want to head to the Byske, Kalix, Torne and Vindel Rivers instead, even if the fishing is good downstream from the Bodforsen rapids.

lax ARCTIC CHAR (salvelinus alpinus) (salmo salar)

gnidörlläjf

Fishing journalists often refer to the arctic char as ‘the Greta Garbo of the mountains’. Partly because of its beauty and partly because of its temperament. There’s no other fish that can make mountain fishing go from one extreme to the other the way this Lady Camellia does. One second it bites anything. The next there’s absolutely nothing you can tempt it with. Among chefs the arctic char is a sought-after table fish.

It’s a little bit fattier than other salmon species and therefore there’s less risk of it becoming ‘dry as a bone’ when you fry it.

)sunipla sunilevlas(

TROUT (salmo trutta) A sweet-water chameleon and almost every sport fisherman’s dream. The trout can adapt to all kinds of environments as long as the water quality is good. There’s the anadromous, or sea-run, kind that spends its life in the Baltic Sea and then rises up the rivers to spawn. There’s the brown trout version that stays in small bodies of water and just adapts its size to its habitat. And there’s the version that lives in lakes and runs up the rivers to spawn during autumn, and they can get as big as you’d like. The Swedish record, 17 kilos, is from a lake in Swedish Lapland.

öring GRAYLING (thymallus thymallus) (salmo trutta)

It’s said that the grayling gets its Latin name from smelling vaguely of thyme, thymos, when it’s caught. The large, shimmering dorsal fin – often known as ‘the sail’ among sport fishermen – is the grayling’s distinctive feature. And it’s also a real mood enhancer for us fishermen, because there’s always a grayling in the mood for a bite. And if you find one you’ll find several. Grayling live in shoals.

It’s present all over Swedish Lapland, from the sea to the mountains. A one-kilo grayling is a trophy, but many weighing in at over two kilos are caught every year.

rrah

Illustrations: Lisa Wallin/Meramedia

PERCH (perca fluviatilis) )sullamyht sullamyht( Perch skin was used when making coffee back in the day, and referred to as ‘sieve skin’. People used to sieve coffee through a perch skin to separate the grounds from the coffee. Enok Sarri in Nikkaluokta would predict the weather using reindeer stomachs and perch fins. Another weather teller, Jean Jönsson, remembers how all perch fins were black during autumn 1965. That winter was unusually cold. According to legend the perch got its name when Saint Peter lost his key in a lake where the perch lived. When the perch refused to bring the keys back the other fish got upset and beat the perch until stripes appeared. In reality the perch normally take the bait. The Swedish record is 3.15 kilos, but anything over a kilo is a nice trophy. The perch is also a really tasty table fish.

abborre ( p e r c a fl u v i a t i l i s )

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Photo: Jan-Åke Isaksson

Just Fly and Drive 8 great camp sites

camp frevisören, båtskärsnäs This unique, family-friendly campsite is located north of Kalix. All caravan pitches have a view of the sea and there are different categories of cabins. Camp Frevisören has all the sea and nature you can possibly wish for. www.frevisoren.se

If you want the freedom to make your own choices — choosing what road to take or when to rest, or even how far you want to travel — then camping is the way to go. almost every village in Swedish Lapland features

a camp site. And if there’s no camp site then there’s a cabin to rent or a space to park. By a lake, in silence, far from the crowds.

But of course there are some large camp sites as well, award-winning ones, offering more activities than you have time for. Camp sites with water parks and long, sandy beaches where you can stay in luxurious cabins.

You choose. That’s also part of the freedom.

If you love experiencing the landscape then driving is the way to travel. On a nice day you stay on the beach to enjoy and plan what you want to see the next day. In the afternoon, when you’re no longer tempted by the warmth of the sun, you keep driving. You’ll get far in a couple, three hours in Sweden’s northernmost destination. Roads are good, there’s not much traffic

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1 and most have already arrived and parked by the afternoon. Remember that you can plan for 24 hours of daylight. In Swedish Lapland summer is twice as long.

Summer here doesn’t come with nights.

Say you fly into Skellefteå in the afternoon. You’ve already booked a rental car and the first night at the Byske camp site is already organised. There’s even time for a nice dinner in town. Next day the sun is shining and you set your goal on Haparanda and the Torne Valley, but because the weather is nice you take a right

by Frevisören north of Kalix instead. It wouldn’t make sense to miss out on a nice day on the beach.

After a late check-out at Frevisören you drive through the lush Torne Valley. Apart from being one of the best salmon-fishing rivers in Sweden, the Torne Valley has amazingly stable weather. You have dinner at Café Utsikten before you continue along the road west. It’s always a classic idea of traveling.

Go west, young men. Go west. You pass Pajala, aiming for Rajamaa. A small island in the Muonio river where the Malmström family have been running T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

Photo: Kraja

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kraja By lake Hornavan in Arjeplog, you find Kraja.

In Sámi the word kraja means a place you’re longing for. It makes perfect sense. The farm Kraja was a timbered house built in 1896 by our Finn-Anders and our Finn-Samuel. This place has changed several times during the years. It’s been a Forest Officer villa as well as a Doctor’s villa, and a home for the infirm.

These days Kraja is a four-star hotel, inn and fully-equipped campsite. www.silverhatten.se

arctic camp in Jokkmokk is located at Notudden by the lesser Lule River, three km from the centre. The 4-star campsite has modern service buildings and 57 cabins of various sizes. If you want your own wood-fired sauna and a terrace with a view of the river, you can have it. For the children there are both water and play parks. awww.arcticcampjokkmokk.se

is in an ideal location. The famous salmon river is a stone’s throw away and you’re by the sea in the southern part of the Bothnian Bay archipelago. You can camp here all year round, or rent one of the cosy cabins to relax in. It’s no surprise that the cabins called Beach Villa offer that little extra. www.skelleftea.se/byskehavsbad

a cozy camp site for the last 30 years or so. Right before you fall a sleap, with the sound of a running river just outside your open window, you think for yourself: What will tomorrow bring. But tomorrow always brings it’s own ideas, don’t worry. In the end of the day you end up in the mining town of Kiruna. Camp Ripan, straight in the middle of the city both host an Arctic SPA retreat and a famed restaurant. As long as you have remembered you have never asked for more.

But then it gets tricky all of a sudden: where next?

Further into the mountains, or back along the coast?

You opt for the mountains and end up by the foot of Dundret. This is how it continues. A journey along Sweden’s longest cul-de-sac Ritsem before you do Jokkmokk and Arjeplog, Sorsele and Arvidsjaur, and then you’re back at Skellefteå airport. You’ve driven around Swedish Lapland. Along the way you’ve seen lots of roads you’d have liked to try. You decide that next time you’ll stay twice as long.

Find more inspiration at www.swedishlapland.com

Photo: Arctic Camp

byske havsbad och camping

Photo: PHG

Photo: Camilla Öjhammar

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5 piteå havsbad The Riviera of North Sweden, that’s what they call Pite Havsbad, and this for a good reason. The shallow beach goes on for kilometres. It’s perfect for children and therefore also for parents of small children on holiday. Pite Havsbad is a place for party, glamour and entertainment as well. The Bothnian Bay has the most hours of sunshine in Sweden, and the fivestar campsite is always mentioned in this context. www.pite-havsbad.se

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Photo: Jonas Sundberg

6 of Kiruna. These days it’s a hotel as well, but it’s being built horizontally rather than vertically, and there are 90 camping pitches too. Here you are welcomed by luxurious rooms and the restaurant is featured in the White Guide. Did we mention the relaxing SPA? Camp Ripan is high-class cabin accommodation. www.ripan.se

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Photo: Graeme Richardson

camp ripan. Camp Ripan is located in the heart

bodens camping och bad is a modern,

generous campsite. The caravan plots are up to 12 metres wide and have cable TV. Gunnard the fruit bat has moved in to the campsite to keep the children entertained. There’s a heated pool and it’s also very near Boden, with an exciting military history, exhibitions and town life. You are close to the city, with cafés and restaurants, but also near nature with perfect running tracks and fresh air. In many ways the best of several worlds.

Bodens Camping & Bad, photo: Mats Engfors, Fotographic

www.bodenscamping.se

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8 first camp in Luelå is beautifully located by the Lule River estuary in the Bothnian Bay archipelago. You’re close to nature and at the same time never far from the city. You’re also within biking distance of the nightlife and Gammelstad Church Town, a World Heritage site. You can fish in the river and the children have a great water park where they can get rid of some energy. The classic beach Niporna is nearby, offering a beautiful sand-and-water experience. www.firstcamp.se/lulea

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More camp sites in Swedish Lapland Adolfströms Handelsbod & Stugby, www.adolfstrom.com Arctic Camp Jokkmokk, Jokkmokk, www.arcticcampjokkmokk.se B Wennströms Stugby, Laisvall, www.gauto.se Björklidens Camping, Björkliden, www.bjorkliden.com Blattnicksele camping, Blattnicksele, www.blattnickselecamping.se Bodens Camping & Bad, Boden, www.bodenscamping.se Borgaruddens Camping, Norrfjärden, www.borgaruddenscamping.se Boviken Camping Havsbad, Skellefteå, www.bovikenshavsbad.se Bränna Camping, Överkalix, +46 (0)926-778 88 Bureå Camping, Bureå, www.bureacamping.se Burträsk Camping, Burträsk, www.burtraskcamping.se Byske Camping & Havsbad, Byske, www.skelleftea.se/byskehavsbad Camp Gielas, Arvidsjaur, www.gielas.se Camp Gauto, Laisvall, www.campgauto.se Camp Ladrike, Norrfjärden, www.ladrike.se Camp Polcirkeln, Jäckvik, www.camppolcirkeln.com Camp Ripan, Kiruna, www.ripan.se Camp Snickarsmedjan, Byske, www.snickarsmedjan.se EFS Sundet, Luleå, www.efs.nu/lulea Emils Fiskecamping, Kraddsele, www.emilsfiskecamping.se First Camp Luleå, Luleå, www.firstcamp.se/lulea Frevisörens Camping, Båtskärsnäs, www.frevisoren.se Fårön Stugby, Piteå, www.faronstugby.se Grytnäs Herrgård Byggnadsförening, Kalix, +46 (0)923-107 33 Gällivare Camping, Gällivare, www.gellivarecamping.com Hemlunda Camping, Piteå, www.hemlundacamping.com Holiday Village, Övertorneå, www.holidayvillage.se Hökmarks Stugby, Skellefteå, +46 (0)913-300 77 Jockfalls Fiske & Fritidsanläggning, Överkalix, www.jockfall.com Johanssons Fjällstugor, Laisvall, www.fjallflygarna.se

Jävrebodarnas Fiskecamp, Jävrebyn, www.fiskecampen.se Kalix Camping, Kalix, www.kalixcamping.com Kamlunge Husvagnscamping, Kalix, +46 (0)923–540 52

Karesuando Camping & Rekreation, Karesuando, www.karesuandocamping.blogspot.se Kukkolaforsen Turist och Konferens, Haparanda, www.kukkolaforsen.se Kraja Hotel and Camping, Arjeplog, www.silverhatten.se Lillstrand EFS Ungdomsgård, Älvsbyn, +46 (0)929-200 66 Lindbäcksstadion, Piteå, www.lindbacksstadion.se Lippi Stugby, Arjeplog, www.arjeplog-stuga-boende.se Ljusvattnets Campingplats, Bureå, +46 (0)910-78 30 28 Långforsen, Lappträsk, +46 (0)922-520 08 Lövsele – Norets Camping, Lövånger, +46 (0)910–385 64 Matkakoski Fiskecamp, Karungi, www.matkakoski.se Meja Camping, Pajala, www.mejabyar.se Mellanström Holiday Village, Arjeplog, www.mellanstromsstugby.se Mobackens Camping, Skellefteå, +46 (0)910-78 79 56 Mohems Camping, Pitsund, www.mohemscamping.se Morjärvs camping, Morjärv, www.morjarv.se Moskosel camping, Moskosel, +46 (0)960-302 00 Myrkulla, Arvidsjaur, www.myrkullla.com Nikkaluokta Sarri AB, Nikkaluokta, www.nikkaluokta.com Nilles Bar & Camping, Överkalix, www.nillesbar.se Norrstrand, Piteå, www.pitea.se Norrskensgården, Långträsk, www.norrskensgarden.se Pajala Camping, Pajala, www.pajalacamping.se Piilijärvi Camping, Gällivare, www.piilijarvi.com Piteå Golfhotell, Piteå, www.piteagolf.se Pite Havsbad, Piteå, www.pite-havsbad.se Rajamaa, Muodoslompolo, www.rajamaa.com

Rantajärvi Vildmark, Övertorneå, www.rantajarvi.se Revonsaari, Haparanda, +46 (0)922-600 07 Ristogården Camping, Lappträsk, www.ristogarden.se Rovas Motell o. Stugby, Junosuando, +46 (0)978-303 95 Rörbäcks Camping & Havsbad, Råneå, +46 (0)924-35047 Sandsjögården, Sandsjön, Sorsele, www.sandsjogarden.se Sandvikens Fjällgård, Sandviken, www.sandvikens.se Sangis camping, Sangis, www.sangiscamping.se Selholmens Camping, Älvsbyn, +46 (0)929-172 05 Seskarö Camping, Seskarö, www.seskarohavsbad.se Sidtjärns Camping, Boliden, www.nnexetboliden.se/camping Sikfors Camping & Konferens, Sikfors, www.sikforscamping.se Skabram turism och gårdsmejeri, Jokkmokk, www.skabram.se Skellefteå Camping & Stugby, www.skelleftea.se/skellefteacamping Slagnäs Camping, Slagnäs, www.slagnascamping.com Sorsele Camping, Sorsele, www.lapplandskatan.nu Storforsens Camping, Älvsbyn, www.storforsen-hotell.se Stora Sjöfallets Fjällanläggning, Gällivare, www.storasjofallet.com Storstrand, Öjebyn, www.storstrand.nu Sörby Turism, Gunnarsbyn, www.sorbyn.se Tjärnberg Cottages & Inn, Tjärnberg, +46 (0)961-615 35 Tjärns Stugor o. Camping, Skellefteå, +46 (0)910-188 26 Trollforsen, Gargnäs, www.trollforsen.de Töre Camping, Töre, www.torecamping.se Uddens Camping, Kangos, www.kangos.com V/M Byars Camping, Tärendö, +46 (0)978–250 54 Vuoggatjålme Cottages & Restaurant, www.vuoggatjolme.se Västra kajen camping och gästhamn, Piteå, www.vastrakajen.se Please note that opening hours may vary depending on season.

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

The Inland Line

the inland line was built between Kristinehamn and Gällivare

in the beginning of the 20th century. There had been plans to connect north and south prior to this, but they weren’t carried out until the end of the end of the 19th century, and not finished until 1937. The idea was to create a parallel main railroad through Sweden. But as people in the inland packed their bags and moved to the cities along the coast and as the road network improved and cars got faster the Inland Line found it difficult to compete in the oil economy. The line was threatened by closure during the 90s, but was saved when around ten inland municipalities along the line created the company Inlandsbanan AB. These days the Inland Line is a nice way to experience an old truth: slow down to see the world.

Retired stationmaster Leif Skoglund in Sorsele is a keen friend of the Inland Line. He works extra throughout the summer. A true character.

Travelling through Swedish summer.

Green and lush with blue skies.

What’s waiting behind the next bend?

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The Inland Line monument was erected by the station in Kåbdalis when the last part of the line was incorporated into Sweden’s state railway system SJ in 1936.

Elin, Sofia and little Selma think that the Inland Line is something you ’ought to do’. With no protests voiced from Selma.

The Inland Line Museum in Sorsele is a longer stop on the trip, when northbound and southbound traffic meet. A nice café, museum and fishing centre.

Nico from Holland and the train hostess Maria plan interesting stops where you can share local food and traditions. And where chances are best to see reindeer.

Facts

distance: 1288 km section: Kristinehamn to Gällivare stations in swedish lapland:

The bridge across the Pite River north of Moskosel is one of two combined bridges along the Inland Line, for both cars and trains.

Gällivare, Porjus, Vaikijaur, Jokkmokk, Mattisudden, Kitajaur, Kåbdalis, Varjisträsk, Piteälvsbron, Moskosel, Arvidsjaur, Avaviken, Slagnäs, Buresjön, Sorsele, Blattnicksele, Sandsjönäs, Lomselenäs along the road: The track passes more than 250 bridges but only one tunnel. runs: June 20th–August 28th, timetable on www.inlandsbanan.se

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In many ways, Tornedalen is a world in itself. Travelling along a river that meanders through two countries, three cultures and four languages there is a lot to experience and much to learn. From smoke sauna to smoked whitefish, from world heritage to world artists.

On Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

TEXT HĂ&#x2026;KAN STENLUND

The beautiful turn-of-thecentury city hotel in Haparanda, Swedenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easternmost town.

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Photo: Massa Media/SVT

the border lenin was here. Then, he went home and started a revolution. Personally, I haven’t set my sights quite so high for this trip. This evening I’ve stopped in Haparanda for a beer and a steak, perhaps with a little béarnaise and some chips, but nothing fancier.

Tomorrow I’ll continue my exploratory journey through Tornedalen. In April 1917 Vladimir Iljitj Lenin stepped off a train in Haparanda. He was some

kind of exile aboard a train, travelling on a sort of Eurail pass from Switzerland to Petrograd. Before he came to Haparanda, Lenin had been given the equivalent of ten million dollars by the Germans to return to Russia and start the revolution. tsarina maria feodorovna and many other dignitaries also came to Haparanda. At one time, Haparanda’s 93

Stadshotell, and the town itself, were the place where East and West met.

According to an article in Swedish magazine VI, in September 1916 there were more than 200 spies in the town.

And Stadshotellet exudes tradition. The grand interior suggests that, if the walls could speak, they would have many an admirable old tale to tell. And perhaps a few dishonourable ones as well. tomorrow i’m heading upstream

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

”I can promise you that no other hotel in the region has a better art collection.”

Gunhild Stensmyr, Guesthouse Tornedalen and one of the promoters of the new art hall in the Torne Valley.

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on the Torne River. I have lived close to Tornedalen all my life, I regularly cross the river to visit Finland and, as an avid angler, I know that some of the world’s largest salmon swim in its waters; even so, I know relatively little about the region.

It is sometimes called the world’s most peaceful border. The Russians haven’t been here since 1809. So, for more than two hundred years, people living on either side of the border have had nothing to fight about. On the contrary, a unique and very special culture has emerged along this river valley. One river, two countries, three cultures and four languages is the usual description.

But that is most certainly not the entire truth. The cultural melange is probably much more complex than that. The three cultures are the Swedish, Finnish and Sámi. But a fourth language, Meänkieli, is also spoken in this valley and it bears its own culture as well.

No culture without a language and no language without a culture.

Anyway, without pondering too much about the underlying factors, suffice it to say that Tornedalen is an exciting part of the world, even without spies, Lenin and tsarinas.

– You need to put up a sign, I say to Gunhild Stensmyr, proprietress of Guesthouse Tornedalen, when I meet her.

– Why? You found your way here.

And the guests who visit do, too. That’s the way I like it, says Gunnel. I want my guests to come here because they have made a concious choice to do so, not just because they have read a sign.

Gunnel Stensmyr’s dialect reveals her

roots, but it also suggests that she hadn’t intended to remain here. She was absent from Tornedalen for more than forty years, working at some of Sweden’s most famous galleries, moving even farther south until she ended up in Skåne.

When you enter the main building at the Guesthouse, you are immediately struck by the fact that the art adorning its walls is neither in the classic Hötorgetstyle, nor is it mass-produced to match the flashy wallpaper of a modern hotel. This is the real deal. It has obviously been selected by someone who knows what they’re doing. In a hall which most hotels might call their ‘conference room’ hangs a magnificent painting by Astrid Svangren.

– I can promise you that no other hotel in the region has a better art collection, says Gunnel when I pause to look at a rubber cube by Matthias van Arkel.

Here, you’ll also find works by other artists including Gittan Jönsson, Lisa Strömbeck and Ditte Ejlerskov. art is gunnel’s passion. It’s an infec-

tious passion, one that you don’t want to keep for yourself. One of the most poignant expressions of this passion is the project Konsthalltornedalen.se, which Gunnel and others like her hope to be able to launch in the near future.

– There was an incredible interest in our competition, in which a number of architects proposed designs for Konsthall Tornedalen.

– First, we considered having an open competition. Then we decided that our group wasn’t quite up to the task. Instead, we invited contributions from five fantastic up-and-coming architects. But you can’t imagine how difficult it was to choose a winner?

– Several architects have told me how disappointed they were not to have been able to compete. You know how it is. People always want to take part in creating something big.

The choice finally fell upon Finnish Architect Anssi Lassila, who has recently won several awards. If all goes T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Guesthouse Tornedalen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in the village Risudden/ Vitsaniemi you can experience village life and live in an authentic, carefully renovated Torne Valley family house: Wennberg, Anundi, or Tolonen. Naturally they come with their own Torne Valley sauna!

The traditional aitta is always found on the Torne Valley farms. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tall, narrow storage hut, often painted red and with golden-ochre doors.

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the next day I arrive at another

planned. The second season will be filmed here in the summer of 2016. Perhaps much of its success, besides the beautiful images and bold choreography, has to do with contradiction. It seems as if there is a dilemma that is shared by Tornedalen and all of Swedish Lapland. A stereotypical image of the North.

I speak with Mattias Barsk, producer of Bastubaletten. Why this love for Tornedalen?

– Perhaps you should call it love and hate. When I was 14 living in

Photo: Pia Huuva

passionate place. Café Utblick (the outlook café) on Luppioberget. The view from the hilltop is spectacular. I really love the name of the café, because the outlook certainly is fabulous. Although you might not have been here, you may have experienced some of the magic this winter, when Swedish Television aired the series Bastubaletten (the Sauna Ballet). Parts of the programme were filmed here, on the terrace. And when I sit down to enjoy mid-morning coffee, I am reminded of both the ballet and the summer. Incidentally, a continuation of the series is

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Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

The old tradition to net whitefish lives on by the Kukkola Rapids.

The fishing huts with tools and refrigerators are used for the catch collected from the Torne River, rich with whitefish and salmon.

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

according to plan, Gunhild Stensmyr’s dream will soon be fulfilled and Tornedalen will have its very own, world-class art gallery.

Henry Huuva, sauna-ballet dancer and skipper on M/S Floataway.

Tärendö I just wanted to get away.

I felt the atmosphere was very limiting. Now that I’m 40 years old I feel something have changed.

That’s what we wanted to show in the program.

– People still walk around with a frown. They toil. Work. Still they’re just longing for someone to say thank you, or give them some praise.

– But this is something we find everywhere. It’s not just in the Torne Valley we feel everyone meets what’s new with scepticism.

Many places around the world have to accept new, softer values.

But here are five men from Tornedalen who are breaking new ground. Again and again, they surprise the viewer. Not because they show off, but because they reveal who they really are and they dance well. When they’re not chopping wood, that is.

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delve a little deeper into my heritage. At the very least, I’m going to come up with my own recipe for dopp i kopp (‘dip in the cup’).

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Pia och Kurt Hulkoff’s ecological farm with accommodation and restaurant serves meat from their own Charolais cows and vegetables from their own garden. In the Torne Valley episode of Tareq Taylors Nordic Cookery he made a dish based on ingredients from the farm.

MUONIONALUSTA TO KIRUNA LAIN

i call huuva hideaway in Liehittejä and Henry Huuva (who was also in Bastuballeten) answers. I wonder whether they have a vacant hideaway. As luck would have it, they do. Their raft/houseboat, M/S Floataway, is free for the night. I go there. Liehittejä, the name of the village the Huuva family calls home, is said to mean ‘seductive’ in old Finnish. This evening, sitting on a cosy raft in the middle of “nowhere”, I can understand why. But it’s all so darned beautiful. Sipping on a cold beer I wonder how it can be that I know so little about these parts.

I think of Gunnar Ekelöf ’s poem Non Serviam: “I am a stranger in this land, but this land is no stranger in me”. Even though the poem is about something else entirely, it rings true for me. How is it that I know so little about my native stomping grounds? My grandmother hailed from these parts, just a stone’s throw across the river, but I don’t know much about her. I decide that, one day, I will

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what’s for tomorrow?

Well, a sauna is inevitable. After all, this is Tornedalen. And if sauna bathing isn’t always ballet, it’s still culture.

There is a kind of sauna museum with 13 different types of saunas. But it isn’t the kind of museum where you wander around looking at exhibits. This is the kind of museum where you get sweaty.

Don’t ever think you can just knock together a shack and put a heater in it and call it a sauna.

It’s a bit more complicated than that. You have to know a thing or two about material. For example, you can panel the walls with spruce, but you don’t want to sit on spruce. At the entrance in Kukkola, a sign reads: “The sauna is the poor man’s pharmacy”. Practically every ailment can be cured with a good sauna, or so it is said. Kalevala, the great Finnish epic, describes how Death was invited into

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the sauna. In days of old, the traditional smoke sauna was the cleanest of places in these parts, despite the soot. Women often gave birth in the sauna and the dead reposed here briefly, prior to their final journey. Personally, I intend to keep travelling for a while yet, even after the sauna.

But I needn’t travel very far.

In Korpikylä I stop once again, at Hulkoffgården. This eco-farm has been listed in the White Guide since 2008. I order my evening meal. I have a feeling it’s going to be good. haparandastadshotell.se guesthousetornedalen.se kukkolaforsen.se huuvahideaway.se hulkoff.se www.svtplay.se

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Heritage for the world

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.

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LAPONIA

Photo: Carl-Johan Utsi

The large forests, mountains, 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.

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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 The ’Snow Trap’ – Naturum Laponia, designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm Wingårdhs Arkitektkontor AB in the middle of the world heritage. It’s built to leave no trace in nature, in accordance with Sámi tradition.

There is no building like it anywhere in the world.

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 heritage is to visit the Naturum Laponia Visitor 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.

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 kilometres, a bit larger than Cyprus. www.laponia.nu

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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.

The beautiful Rapa Valley in Sarek National park.

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 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

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.

Photo: Graeme Richardson

THE CHURCH TOWN OF GAMMELSTAD

cc Bamse (CC BY-SA 30)

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 important 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.

Struve chose to follow the ’Tartu-meridian’ . 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.

– 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.

Photo: Graeme Richardson

Photo: Cody Duncan

THE STRUVE GEODETIC ARC

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angelica archangelica

Nature is full of beneficial plants and the Sámi have always gathered plants for food and medicine. Angelica is a useful plant, both tasty and rich in vitamins. It only blooms once in its lifetime and has to be picked early, before flowering. The stalk can be eaten raw, grilled or boiled. The bud can be boiled with mountain sorrel and eaten with milk.

Angelica root used to be dried and used as medicine. The dried root was always present when people came together at the market and on church weekends. It was said that chewing it prevented colds and soaked roots were used on slow-healing wounds.

Angelica leaves were used to heal burns and blisters, and against various infections and aches. You could also smoke angelica leaves mixed with tobacco against the common cold.

Children used to make pipes out of the dried angelica stalk and smoke dried angelica leaves. On the Norwegian side angelica has been cultivated by the resident population as a vegetable and herb for a long time.

Angelica might be the oldest Nordic vegetable, mentioned as early as in the Icelandic sagas.

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Several of our most difficult personalities, who have adapted to Arctic survival during millennia — glacier buttercup, sceptred lousewort and blue heath — have moved into the village.

Now you can meet them and their friends in the Alpine Botanical Garden during the summer months. You can also make acquaintance with utility plants such as angelica, butterwort and roseroot. All these herbs have healing, edible or other useful properties in a seemingly barren landscape.

You will definitely be amazed by the wealth of species that grow in the mountains.

T E X T A N N I K A F R E D R I K S S O N | P H OTO C A R L-J O H A N U T S I

Just a few hundred metres from the centre of Jokkmokk, just where Lake Talvatis turns into the rushing Kvarnbäcken, there is a delicate and dazzling gem: the Alpine Botanical Garden.

As part of the Ájtte, Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum’s activities, you’re invited to a cohesive presentation of several unique and diverse mountain environments, shaped by nature and culture. Everything from mountain tops with their extreme, windswept conditions to the lush greenery of reindeer pastures and mountain meadows are featured here.

Vegetation has also been greatly influenced by animals and culture, of course.

— Let me introduce you to the hardy characters found on the windswept mountain tops: the pincushion plant, the creeping willow and the blue heath. They survive strong winds, harsh weather, droughts and cold, and are still the first ones to wake up when nature starts warming up, says enthusiastic alpine gardener Ingrid Hellberg.

Ingrid has developed the content and presentation of the garden for many years, and every summer she launches new, inspiring and exciting initiatives. The garden consists

b e a m a z e d by t h e d i v e r s i t y o f t h e arctic flora and learn more about unique utility plants in:

The Alpine Botanical Garden in Jokkmokk of both authentic spaces with existing plants and areas where new plant beds have been carefully constructed for ongoing planting of alpine species.

— We are now creating a mountain top environment which will host the species found living in these harsh conditions and nutrientpoor environments, Ingrid reveals. We have a special authorisation that allows us to gather alpine plants and replant them here.

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In the mountain garden you can take a tour and meet some of the plants that the internationally renowned Carl Linnaeus observed.

Read Linnaeus’s own words, personal thoughts and observations on plant use and benefits.

Amanda Ögren, biologist and guide.

The glacier buttercup is adapted to Arctic climate and holds the height record for flowering plants, as it’s been found on a height of 2,055 metres on Sweden’s highest mountain: Kebnekaise.

Learn more about the benifits of Alpine plants in cooking and as medicine.

Artist: Alexander Roslin, photo: Nationalmuseum

walk in linnaeus’s footsteps

children can discover and learn: • Fairytale path with imaginative, fairy-tale creatures • ’Junior Biologist’ – activities with guides for children’s groups and schools Summer’s morning and evening programmes: www.ajtte.com Open: June–August

A mountain heath supports many species of plants and vegetation which are beautiful when they are in full bloom. However many are very small. On the mountain heath it’s windy and dangerous for plants to stick up too far.

For the plant enthusiast, getting down on your hands and knees to search for plant life on the mountain heath is worth the effort.

It’s hard not to be carried away by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides, and this isn’t just a place for flower lovers — it’s an

Alpine Botancial Garden expert Ingrid Hellberg shares interesting stories while guiding.

oasis with the soothing murmur from a small creek in the background while coffee or other refreshing beverages accompany local pastries. I buy a book and sit down in the shade to study for a while. Summer is wonderful, but sometimes it’s most beautiful in a garden, in the shade.

— We get a lot of questions about the benifits of mountain plants and how to use them, says Amanda Ögren, biologist and guide.

The trend shows that more and more consumers want organic, locally grown produce, as well as knowledge about what nature has to offer. But not much research has been done about the characteristics of these alpine herbs. The traditional knowledge we have has been passed down through generations.

Amanda believes that people have become more interested in seeking traditional knowledge about the gifts of nature — natural herbs as a cure and as an ingredient when cooking.

Besides the knowledge and experience provided by the guides, there’s also a centre at the Alpine Botanical Garden where you can find related literature. Local cookery books containing such traditional knowledge have become very popular.

Café: both indoors and outdoors In Jokkmokk you can also have a coffee or a meal at Viddernas Hus, where Greta and Linn Huuva serve food and drinks made using herbs and plants from the mountains.

They also sell different products based on mountain herbs and berries. www.viddernashus.se Eva Gunnare at Essense of Lapland organises daily activities, courses and lectures on utility plants and traditional knowledge about the natural gifts of the mountains. www.eolapland.se

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Board Meeting in Pattisjokki In the village Pattisjokki, at the outskirts of the internet, things are happening. You’ll find at least one coffee company, one production company and one event company there. As well as an award-winning film-maker and the big boss. Well, that’s about it. we meet the two inhabitants, Rolf Nylinder and

Markus Lemke, at the annual assembly on top of the firewood pile. They’re a bit worried. It hasn’t been a good year for their friends the lemmings. And with the increased demand for Lemmel Coffee the Lemmel family is important. Have you heard the story about how they started making Lemmel Coffee?

How the lemming August Lemmel once upon a time got tired of drinking tea up there, beyond the Arctic Circle, and how he got all his friends together for the first Lemmel migration. After a couple of weeks they ended up in Ethiopia and there they discovered the coffee bean and with a bean each in their mouths the Lemmel family jumped into the sea and drifted along the Gulf Stream, home to the mountains. Where the first dark-roast, coarsely-ground coffee is made and where the lemmings don’t sleep.

– What happens next?

– Well, what doesn’t happen? says Markus.

– Rolf is going to Kamchatka and Sorsele and everywhere else where you can go fishing to make a film.

– He’s also won an award and he should be making a documentary for Swedish Television. Me, I’m on tenterhooks. And even if the coffee beans from Ethiopia end up here in the north in a never-ending stream, there are lots of things we can do with Lemmel Coffee, Markus continues.

– Yes, imagine something along the lines of education, Rolf interrupts.

– There are people who still drink white coffee.

– Or tea.

– Yeah, but with milk is worse.

– By the way, why don’t you write that people get a discount if they order coffee via fax. That’s how we prefer to work here in Pattisjokki.

Fax number for Lemmel Coffee: +46 (0)970-10808

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T H E A RCT I C L I FE ST Y L E MAGAZI NE

103 Photo: Anthony Tian

www.swedishlapland.com

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ed publish r issue is t drops his te in w e o m Th re Bulm up his just befo nd Åke opens riors. a r antlers the Gälka wa café to UNED! STAY T

Photo: Martin Söderqvist

the arctic winter tends to arrive a lot sooner than you expect.

Just after the last almond potato has been dug up from the Potato Hill and the fire has died out under the tree stand in Tervavuoma, the cold starts nipping at your cheeks. In the next issue of Arctic Lifestyle Magazine we offer an in-depth study of the northern lights, shred powder at the border and teach you why Kalix vendace roe is as exclusive as Champagne grapes. Also, winter isn’t over yet. In Riksgränsen the ski lifts will operate at midsummer this year as well.

In the midst of the midnight sun.