Alone in the White-out
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09-10/2/19
Solo ski-camping trip to the north of Storlien, Sweden. Whiteout conditions on day two and poor visibility on day one made this an extra challenging trip. When the tips of my skis and my hands were the only things I could see, I was forced to rely fully on my GPS and compass.
For the first few km, until a little after Åhlenstuan I followed the Swedish route markers - red crosses on tall poles, but before long left the track to make my own route over Hästryggarna and Flatrun. Before the time I got to camp on the Norwegian-Swedish boarder, the visibility (which had been poor all day) had reduced to a few 10 s of meters, and then got dark.
I awoke to lovely conditions, with a great view, but within 15 min of starting skiing fog had arrived and for most of the rest of the day I was left in whiteout conditions. I often had zero points of reference in a pure grey world, which made for a tough day of skiing. I was very glad to reach the Swedish boarder, where the bold route markers re-started! The climb up Skurdalshöjden was cold and windy, and the top did not reward me with a view any different to the white of the rest of the day! The ski back down to Storlien was nice as I left the fog and got some nice views south.
I found a bar to get a very welcome burger before getting the train back to Trondheim.
