Philipp Höhn

On the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of October I went on a trip to the Laponian Mountains. Umeå University’s International Office together with IKSU frilufts had organized this trip for about 50 international students to give us the opportunity of getting to know the wonderful Swedish mountains before the winter sets in. For 1000 SEK (about 100 €) we were offered a three days trip to Borgafjäll, a small village in Swedish Lapland. The price included the 2x 320 km bus tour, the tents, some utilities like camping stoves, a hiking tour in the mountains and the support of the IKSU frilufts guides.

Our trip started on Friday at about 4 pm. We met in front of the IKSU building (European’s largest sports centre), got into the bus and had a nice 320 km trip to Borgafjäll through the Swedish countryside. In the bus we had the chance to get to know our fellow international students and enjoyed the 2006 Bond movie Casino Royal (again, with subtitles). At about 9 pm the bus stopped some hundred meters up a mountain. We took our luggage, turned on our torches and started walking into the forrest. After 20 minutes we arrived at our base camp. Some of the guides had come hear by car and had already build up most of the tents. Everything we had to do was to find ourselves a tent in groups of three people and enjoy a nice evening around the camp fire. To get warm the frilufts crew encouraged us to take part in some Swedish and Norwegian folk dances which were actually quite funny. Later on, after some time of sitting – or rather walking – around the camp fire trying to warm up most of us went to “bed”.

At 7 am we met again around the camp fire and had our breakfast. Again, the frilufts crew and a member of the International Office had already prepared the fire so we just had to get up and enjoy the nice morning in the middle of a forest. As I found out, I wasn’t the only one who had difficulties finding sleep. Quite a few of us only managed to sleep for a few hours, if at all. Having camped before I didn’t expect any problems finding sleep. But yet, the rather cold climate of Lapland with a temperature of -5° C during the night managed to put my former camping experience into a new perspective . Still, some cold feet were nothing that a hot tee and a breakfast couldn’t deal with.

After the breakfast we divided into groups of nine including one guide each. Warmly clothed we started our way up the nearby mountains on a wonderful sunny day. Starting inside a forest we reached wide spaces of snow and almost no vegetation after less than an hour. With the peaks of two mountains on our left hand side, wide snowy spaces in front of us as well as on our right hand side, we were all enjoying the impressive scenery of Swedish nature. Meter by meter we reached even further into the mountain scenery of Borgafjäll and enjoyed the view over the woods and the beautiful Borgasjön (the lake named after the small village – or did the lake give the name to the village?).

As time went by we reached a wonderful plateau being framed by different mountainsides, covered with snow and crossed by small streams. On one end of this plateau our guide surprised us with a small cabin giving us the chance for a little break. Heading inside and taking of our back packs our guide whispered something that made us all come out again. Between two mountains a group of seven or eight reindeer crossed the plateau. Having noticed our presence they first stopped and starred into our direction. Being more than a hundred meters away we apparently didn’t scare them too much as they soon moved along calmly and quietly. Hardly understanding the luck we’ve had meeting these animals on our hiking trip, we all enjoyed this great moment with big smiles on our faces.

After a break inside the cabin we decided to move on. Together with the other groups that had arrived at the cabin we decided to divide into two big groups for either the way home or the way up to the peak of one of the mountains. I was in the group trying to get up to the peak. After a few hundred meters we found out about the difference between an easygoing walk in the mountains and the attempt of actually standing on top of one of them. As we were going up the weather seemed to change. Clouds had started to conceal the peaks of the mountains. Hoping to find a clear sky above these clouds we were proven wrong as time went by. On a small plateau the guides decided to turn around and head back to our base camp. Having hoped for a nice view from the top of the mountain it was obvious that this decision was right. On this second plateau you could hardly see anything but your nearest surroundings. Still, on our way down we had a great view over the first plateau and later on over the valley.

Between two and three hours later we arrived at our base camp and had a happy night sitting around the fire and talking about our great hiking trip. This night many of us finally found some sleep. More or less awake we spent our Sunday morning cleaning the base camp and enjoying our last hours in Lapland with some games. Mostly, each game was about moving and getting warm as on Sunday we woke up to a snow-covered and cold base camp. At about 1 pm we got into the bus again and headed towards Umeå. As it seems to be the standard in Sweden we were asked to fill out feed back forms for IKSU frilufts to evaluate and improve their services. As far as it concerns me, there wasn’t much to improve. The guides and the International Office both did a great job and obviously enjoyed what they were doing. They were eager to help and provided us with a great weekend of hiking and camping in the mountains of Lapland.

For those of you who would like to see some more pictures I have taken during the trip, feel free to contact me as there is a whole gallery waiting for you. Also if you have any questions about the trip or things you would like to point out, I’m always happy to receive your responses either via one of the ways mentioned in the about section or just by leaving a comment.

Tags: Borgafjäll, IKSU, Umeå