• Ski and camp on frozen lakes ✅
  • Haul your gear for a week on a sled ✅
  • Try to spot seven musk ox in a mountainous national park ✅

Sounds like a perfect winter holiday!

Isaac and I recently returned from another trip organised by Do The North, this time ski-camping in the Rogen Nature Reserve in Jämtland County on the Swedish/Norwegian border. 

I flew into Stockholm’s Arlanda airport on Saturday, waited impatiently to clear passport control before catching the Arlanda Express into Stockholm. The next morning we were up early, had a quick Semla for breakfast, and then back to the airport for minibus pickup and a long drive north to our first night’s accommodation near Funäsdalen. On arrival we reviewed and sorted the gear we would need for a week unaided in the snowy wilderness: 1x Keron 3 GT tent per couple, MSR stove, fuel, 4 season sleeping bag, cross-country skis, boots, headlamps, batteries, shovel, cooking kit, pre-cooked frozen food, etc.

We soon got to know our fellow explorers: seven customers and three guides, Germans, Irish, English, Finnish, Swedish… very different people, but all with a shared love for the wilderness and adventure.

The kit sorted and packed into our sleds we rose early for a trail head to the East of Rogen lake. The skiing started easy, following a snowmobile trail towards the lake. After lunch however things got much more challenging, picking our way through the Rogen moraine, often having to detour or haul the sleds up and over small inclines that separated the meandering lake. We skied until nightfall (about 4pm) pitching our tents short of our target destination, but happy and tired after our first day.

The second day we made better progress, with fewer moraine to cross, and we started to find our rhythm on the skis.

Conditions were challenging, 3 or 4 degrees centigrade during the day and then dropping to -10 at night. The freeze/thaw meant that keeping boots and kit dry was a challenge, with wet boots freezing solid in the night. Snow conditions were also very variable, from heavy wet snow that stuck to the skins on the bottom of our skis to hard ice. In places the snow was very thin, but under the trees the snow was heavy and 30 cm deep, making breaking trail hard work for those in front.

The comparatively warm weather also made the tents very humid, making us feel much colder at night. A steady -10 degrees centigrade would have been much easier to deal with!

The next night we stayed in a walking hut, thankfully open for the winter. No electricity or running water, but tables, chairs, beds and a wood burner to keep us warm. We were able to dry some of our wet gear, eat together, and get to know one another.

The next morning we struck out without sleds, exploring the nearby mountain ranges, scanning the hillsides for the elusive Musk Ox. The nature reserve is huge and Musk Ox are pretty stationary animals. We didn’t spy any with our spotting scopes and binoculars, and I’m not sure we would have spotted one at 50 metres either!

In the afternoon we began to head back southwards, with some tricky navigation required to get us back to the lakes and faster progress.

We skied into the night, lighting hypnotic circles with our head lamps, focused on the person in front and the regular hiss, crunch, hiss, crunch of our skis moving through the brilliant snow. With a good distance covered we set camp, and I was very thankful for it! Isaac did most of the hard work that night; melting snow for water and preparing the food. My feet were blocks of ice and I huddled in the sleeping bag to thaw them out.

Throughout the trip we were dazzled by the most amazing skies, with polar stratospheric clouds glowing white, green, red and blue; truly looking like mother of pearl. We did not see another single human while we were out on the skis, with the only signs of life being some snowmobile tracks and lights in a far off walking cabin. Truly a wonderful wilderness experience.

On the day that Isaac and I took our turn navigating we started by following the lake and then cut inland, following a river. As the river narrowed the ice became unstable and we had to improvise a new route along the river banks and through the iced over marshland. The end of the day was spent weaving around myriad islands on the lake, before a final land crossing and a good camp spot on another lake. A successful day with map and compass and just a few kilometres more to our pick-up point.

Returning to the trailhead we then visited the Myskoxcentrum, a research and breeding centre for Musk Ox, where we finally got to see the “beasts” up close and had a informative tour of the centre; they explained the work they do, the challenges they face and we peppered them with questions about the animals. For the record, they don’t produce musk and they aren’t ox…

In the evening, back at our luxurious accommodation (beds, running water, electricity, showers!), we cleaned our kit, downed a few bottles, swapped trail stories, and decompressed; preparing ourselves to return to the hustle and bustle of the world.

The next day we drove back to Mora to catch the train to Stockholm, followed by a great meal (and a few whiskeys) for Isaac and I at the Ardbeg Embassy in Gamla stan.

Thank you Do The North for organising another great trip, it won’t be the last!