 Poster: A snowHead
|
Having had fun documenting our two month stint in Aosta, thought I'd do similar for our current month in Åre. For starters - I'll mainly be doing it on my phone so it's going to have to be Are for the duration, fat thumbs and twitchy touchscreen makes the accents difficult! For seconds, a month of wittering every day about the same resort might become dull for everyone so I'll just update if anything new or exciting (!) happens.
We arrived on Friday, 6th Jan, having travelled from Bucharest via Warsaw on Lot, and then SAS to Ostersund after a night in the Radisson Blu at snowy Arlanda (perfectly decent, rooms a bit dated, good breakfast). We got a taxi from Ostersund over to our accommodation (many thanks to theCramps for the Topps Taxi reco, we rang to book and it was much cheaper than the price quoted by Flygtaxi). Sometimes dropping the money on the convenient option needs to happen - had we got the train or bus over we'd have got in really late, but as it is we had the chance to go to the supermarket (note - Google maps is a bit ropey round here if you are not on the main roads) for supplies.
Accommodation we booked through airbnb - bearing in mind our searches were bringing up things in the £4000-7000 per month ball park, we are extremely pleased to be paying £1,700 for the month for a very smart flat with its own sauna.  We're a five minute walk from the bottom of the Bjornenliften, a long T-bar up to the Bjornen sector of Are resort. Apparently we can ski back (not on a piste!) but we've not tried yet. It's a bit away from any of the main bits but that's ok for us, we are used to walking to get to shops etc. You'd want a car if you didn't have the luxury of time, or didn't fancy the missions!
Today (Saturday) we took it very easy after some long days and travelling. We have hired skis from Are Skidcentar - alpine skis and a full cross-country kit - which has cost us £415 per person for the month. We emailed them while they had a discount on and sorted it upfront. Very easy pick up for the alpine skis at 12 o'clock when we finally got our back bottoms out. We have chosen to try the locally made skis: Extrem are made in Are, for Are snow apparently, what could be better?! Anyway, the Project 90 write up sounded fun (had it in my head that they might ski a bit like the Nordica Santa Ana) so why not, wanted to try something a little wider after my piste nightmares last season. 
Ski pass - there is a season pass but not worth it for a month. Slightly cheaper is two 14 day passes for £325 a pop (and a couple of days off!). The ski bus running between the main lift hubs of Bjornen, Are and Duved is free and runs around every half hour. Note - if you want it to stop somewhere that's not a skibus stop, it will but you have to ask! Otherwise you'll find yourself sailing past the stop... I did it so you didn't have to! The driver today also dropped some people at the end of their drive so I suspect anything goes...
The weather - it was windy but snowing yesterday when we got here, just lightly but enough to look magical.  Today was clear at around minus 7 but little wind; merino underlings and fleecy buff were required but not a balaclava day (they sell balaclavas all over the place in case of need!) The weather is forecast to get a little warmer over the next few days, but a bit more snow is on the way also. Everything - roofs, roads, trees - is white and lovely. The lake looks awesome, totally frozen and snow covered!
Anyway, next up will be first impressions of the alpine area and the cross country tracks. Stay tuned for ice, bumps, accidental black runs and staring into the abyss... 
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 9-01-23 17:01; edited 1 time in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Excellent @ElzP, looking forward to your TR almost as much as you're probably looking forward to your month ahead!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
@denfinella, almost as much as I'm looking forward to your next trip report!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
The last couple of days have allowed us to get a flavour of the area. On Saturday, after a relaxed morning and picking up our skis at about midday, we headed out in Bjornen, down blue 112 which was very pleasant with a bit of gradient to get the ski legs back, and up B40 T bar - this run and lift are used for night skiing on a Monday and Thursday so we'll give that a go at some point. Then down green 111 which takes you over to the Sadelexpress lift (37), where we did a couple of laps of red 108 - a lovely long run (it's all relative!) with a steep section about half way down which caught a few people out. Then back up and over to the main Are sector via red 102 and over to red 74 to the bottom of the Kabinbanan.
Call me daft but for some reason I'd assumed that Are would be a bit like Trysil - very straightforward reds, not steep! - but for me the reds here feel like reds, each one has something steep, or a sustained decent gradient, or some camber. The snow on the runs is thin but decent, and the pistes very well maintained. But, there are actually not many pistes open, especially the blues, though all the connecting tracks (dotted on the piste map) are open. This caught us out when we decided to go up the Kabinbanan to Are Topp Plata because we knew it didn't open all the time and the weather was perfect - blue skies, light winds. When I looked at the app in the morning it just said it was open... when I looked again having gone up there and come down again in a heap, it said the lift was open with only the black route available off the top.  Oh well, my dreams of a nice slide down red 60 were ruined, and instead we joined the hordes on the one way down - wind scoured, bumps of windblown snow, carnage. One section on black 59 in particular was full of victims including me, being just a long patch of ice - I slid elegantly along, my skis having disappeared from underneath me, closely followed by a snow boarder and several small children. It was an experience! The moral of the story is, check the app if you don't want to brave the chaos, that is not an easy way down and more people were struggling than not. It was worth it for the views alone, and who knows, we may never get a super clear day again. Hopefully some of the other runs open as time goes on and we get more snow. After that little interlude (it took me a long old time to get down due to several stops to contemplate my life choices, by which time it was already getting dark) we bailed out over to the bus stop, across blue 47 and down red 72 to the bus.
Having left our shoes in Bjornen when we picked up the skis, we head over there and grabbed a couple of beers and some food in Carins Krog as a reward for surviving - about £6.50 for not-a-pint of beer, and about £15 a pop for venison meatballs and mash (delicious) or a burger. I could have had a Moscow Mule for about £12. I've paid more in pubs in Brighton, and certainly London, and had worse quality so was quite pleasantly surprised.
On Sunday we did mean to go for a quick ski but didn't quite get round to it. However, we did have a cross country lesson in the early evening from Areguiderna (Skistar don't offer cross country lessons in Are). A tad expensive maybe at £60 each for one and a half hours, but the quality was high - we've only tried xc once before, and by the end of out lesson with Axel we felt confident on a fair amount of the shorter tracks in Are Bjornen and had skied with head torches though the snow covered trees under the full moon. Absolute bliss. For anyone who might want to try it under their own steam, apparently the only really hard sections are at the beginning and end of the tracks where they join up and there are relatively steep hills to watch out for. However, there are easier bail out routes on and off the main tracks from the 1km learner track (blue on the map), just keep an eye out for the signs saying something including 'latt vag' or similar.
As a side note, if you wanted touring or off-piste guides, Areguiderna offer that as well, as well as snow-mobile hire.
I like alpine skiing but the reality is I'll probably never be super confident at it, but xc felt really good. Can't wait to do more, we have the kit so can head up there any time! Won't be bailing on the alpine though - we did more of that on Monday, mainly lapping the red runs off chair lifts A22 (at the race arena) and A31 (at Are By). Taking a bit of time to get used to these wider skis but they are lots of fun when you relax and actually ski rather than pick your way down. When you find a patch of deeper snow they are fab. And more snow is hopefully what will appear, we have some forecast tomorrow.
All in all, and unintentional black runs of doom aside, I think we're going to like it here. It's friendly, the skiing is just the kind of challenging that we need at our level, and we can try a bit of everything snow related.
Topp Plata
The view down... the sun low in the sky...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Thought I'd pop some more photos in here as we had some wonderful light today - magic. But apologies - the photos and captions are together on my phone, but on my laptop they look mangled and I have no idea how to fix that!
Top of the t-bar B44 in Bjornen, very long but relatively easy.
The light at the top of B44! So beautiful!
Lovely blue runs down to the bottom of B44.
View up red 108 from the Sadelexpresen chair.
Down blue 106 from the top of the chair.
View across to a pink Areskutan from near the top of Sadelexpresen.
Beautiful, fun, relaxed skiing on lovely chalky pistes over Bjornen side today. Super.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
@ElzP, looks amazing. It is an area I would love to visit but since they stopped the direct flight from UK (to the closest airport) I have shied away from.
Your pictures and making me think I must research other travel options further
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@NickyJ, it's very gorgeous.  The SAS flight up to Ostersund wasn't cheap - but Arlanda is a nice airport to transfer through or stay over at so if you can hold your nose on flight costs/travel time it's worth it I think. But it's a bit of a bind spending a whole day travelling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
An update on the cross country tracks - I mentioned the 'easy out' sign which allows you to avoid the steeper hills at the start and end by using part of the learner track I got the wording wrong. This is what you're looking for.
We went out last night and used the lit tracks - fun, painful, lots of practice needed! It's so accessible and friendly though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
| ElzP wrote: |
| @NickyJ, it's very gorgeous. The SAS flight up to Ostersund wasn't cheap - but Arlanda is a nice airport to transfer through or stay over at so if you can hold your nose on flight costs/travel time it's worth it I think. But it's a bit of a bind spending a whole day travelling. |
Thankyou, I will research further.
The other one is to go back to Salen. Out of all the places we have taken our girls, that is the one my 16yr old has asked about specifically going back to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is bringing back happy memories of our truncated trip just as Covid restrictions came in. We combined it with two nights in Stockholm and then took the sleeper train to Are - trip report somewhere on Snowheads - good, fun way to do it. Definitely going back next season - researching midweek flights and they are reasonable. Just found the link: https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=3565667&highlight=sleeper#3565667
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
@NickyJ, I have my eye on Salen! It looks brilliant. I think I just like places that are at a low altitude - less effort! If you want to know anything while we're here that would help your research let me know.
@LOTA, I remember reading that at the time, we'd just got back from a trip to Garmisch around the same time after my other half broke his shoulder... crazy. Out of interest, can you remember the name of your instructor? I could, as usual, do with a good lesson or two while we're here. Agree with everything you say in your report - it's just a really nice set up. Being used to awful narrow connecting tracks in Austria etc, the connecting runs here are like motorways. Also agree about drink prices, far less painful than I'd assumed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
@ElzP, Afraid not, two young ladies who both spoke immaculate English. Can't for the life of me remember their names! Arranged through the SkiStar office, of course.
Meanwhile, enjoy your trip and keep the updates coming!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After a couple of days of fairly mild weather - plus 2-ish during the afternoon - the temperature has dropped today; minus 6 , and windy so apparently 'feels like' minus 16! It's also snowed all day which is great as the snow depth is still a bit thin so the warm weather has made some icy or brown patches. Quite a few runs still to open as well - fingers crossed we'll get a couple open up top if the snow continues and the wind drops.
Having now been here over a week, and managed 6 times alpine and 3 times cross country, here's a few observations...
People:
During the week there aren't many! It's so quiet that the weekenders feel like hundreds, but can't be as the longest wait we had for a lift today was all of a minute. I LOVE the empty pistes!
Lifts:
The lifts up to the Topp Plata haven't been open much so glad we got up there last weekend. The wind sometimes closes A32 as well.
The drags are all fine (solo t-bar use is a revelation!) except for A19 over at Rokullen where the track is bumpy and rutted and generally unpleasant. B40, our 'home' lift, has a bit of a steep section which could be off putting if you're nervous on drags - looks like a wall as you're coming up to it!
Runs:
Everything is a bit wind blown above the tree line, which makes anything steeper a bit icy and dicey. The freshen-up today made everything in the trees absolutely lovely. Pick of the runs from the last few days are red 42, off the A19 drag unfortunately but fun and a bit varied (from an open area down into trees) and red 102/103 which runs the length of lift A34, seems to hold good snow and few people. Blue 108/106 down to Bjornen is great for getting a relaxing rhythm going and doesn't have the steep spots that some of the other blues have.
Food/prices:
We had a cracking dinner at Broken, as recommended on here, burgers and wings both delicious and the local lager went alongside very well. 2 x 8 wings, 2 x burger and chips, 6 beers, £83. Lots of quality food, plenty booze (about £40 of the total was on booze), could be worse. Well worth getting a drink and waiting for a table.
2 x hot chocolates and 2 x nice blueberry muffins at Platakatan (on red 102) was £14, not bad at all.
A good lunch of elk chilli and beer at Lilla Tyrolen off blue 119 on Bjornen side today was £45 for the two of us. Very cosy place on a snowy day, and this little area off drag lift B42 is so nice, absolutely quiet and chilled out. Bit of a hidden gem I reckon, everyone wants to ski the big runs on the Are By side and don't bother coming over to Bjornen. I could quite easily spend the afternoon pootling around over there, through the trees and the little kids run (talking bears!) and down the blues, fill my face at Lilla's and be very happy indeed.
Skis:
Am enjoying the Extrem Project 90w, they do what they are made to do which is cope with ice and snow as needed. Very stable so perfect for me to have the guts to do bigger turns and let them run, but also not difficult to turn (though at 165 the ones I have are a bit long for me so very short turns are more difficult - I'll take the stability thanks!) After the confidence dive last season, these feel like a boost, I can enjoy myself!
Altitude:
On the subject of enjoying myself... last season I really suffered from shortness of breath/panic, worse up high. Nearly passed out up the Monte Bianco Skyway, tend to get nosebleeds when we're in the mountains... Haven't had that problem here at all, even when I've been uncomfortable on a run/fallen. I think it's altitude, and wondered if anyone has any tips? I can't always ski in lower places - though thinking about it, the most fun I've had skiing has been Garmisch, Ski-welt... places that top out under or bo much over 2000m...
Anyway, back to watching the skiing on Eurosport, and contemplating a sauna - own private sauna is the biggest luxury I've ever known! I think they call this 'hygge'...
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
@ElzP, the skiing sounds a bit like Scotland, but with more trees. And fewer queues. And better snow. Actually it doesn't sound much like Scotland at all...
I often get nosebleeds while I'm in the Alps too. Not sure if it's altitude, cold, dry air or a combination of the above. I don't suffer from shortness of breath / altitude sickness though so I'm not sure they're related. As for panic - could that be to do with proximity to big drops / cliffs? The Skiwelt doesn't have many of those (not sure about Garmisch).
Enjoy the sauna.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| ElzP wrote: |
Am enjoying the Extrem Project 90w |
They're good solid all mountain skis. The factory is just down the road from where you are (literally - about 1 km south). They usually have demo centre set up in Åre centre.
| LOTA wrote: |
| We combined it with two nights in Stockholm and then took the sleeper train to Are |
This is a great way to get to Åre, especially if you're staying in the main centre - just walk from the station to your accommodation. The train leaves Stockholm quite late, so you could probably fly from the UK and get on the train the same day without difficulty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
Been a while, not a great deal to report on the skiing side - it's been rather hard and icey and no extra runs have opened, but today the temps have risen and it's slush-tastic; wet, sludgy snow. Which was just perfect for my lesson, booked specifically to address skiing on ice. Still, it was good and improvement was made so all worth it. We have a couple of days of this weather then back to minus numbers and more snow.
Had a rather disappointing lunch at Kastrullen on red 108 earlier. They have a sausage menu, and those sausages are very tasty. Unfortunately they serve them in an odd crispy bread hole with accompanying sauces squeezed in, meaning you're guaranteed a last mouthful of hot mustard and little else. Just odd! Though for 15 quid each including a drink and some fries, relatively cheap at least! It's a nice spot so maybe better for a goulash-soup and a beer.
Husband's birthday last weekend brought a break from skiing and on Saturday we went for a husky sled ride at River Lodge. It was gorgeous - sled ride around the frozen lake, fika in a tipi with a fire and some marshmallows to roast, and loads of lovely, happy pooches being adorable. Highly recommended. If you're so inclined (I'd have loved it, husband not so much!) they have a sauna next to the lake and a hole in the lake that you can book for an evening...
We went to the Asian Post Office in Are for a celebration dinner and it was delicious, great cocktails, tasty food, you get what you pay for. The young DJ later on played Beyonce and it all got a bit surreal - though perhaps that was the cocktails...
We have a couple more 'experience' type things happening this week so will report back on them. Definitely needs to snow again!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
That husky sled ride photo is absolutely stunning!
But I'll give the "crispy bread hole" a miss
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| ElzP wrote: |
an odd crispy bread hole
|
Ah, yes, the delectable fransk korvbröd. Never before seen in France (a bit like pizza salad, which is definitely not Italian). Best avoided.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
It's been a wet few days here, the temperature rise I mentioned lasted and it rained... and rained... and then the temperature dropped and it froze... Result was minimal open alpine pistes and a warning on the x-country pistes (effectively 'we've not set it so if you break yourself, tough') Since my lesson on Tuesday, we tried to ski that evening but the bus didn't turn up due to ice, then we chose not to ski at all until Saturday. Ce la vie. Can't control the weather!
Luckily I'd booked the husband another birthday treat so on Thursday we were picked up to go for a nighttime snow shoe mission to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I sorted it through Deep Wild Scandinavia, run by Markus Nyman, and it was absolutely brilliant. Markus took us to Edsasdalen, a little village about half an hour from Are, where it's old school - a few drags and runs, lots of tree runs for cross country, apparently nothing has changed since the 70s. From here you snow shoe up for a couple of hours or more in the dark (amazing how you don't need light!), a stop for coffee and smoked reindeer heart... it was easy through the trees but the last half hour in sideways wind and icey whatever was rough, felt intrepid! The restaurant, Vita Rennen, does booked nights with a set menu; the Arctic char, moose and sour cream panna cotta were all ridiculously good, top top stuff, and the atmosphere lovely. After dinner you get a snow mobile sled down to the village which was cracking fun. The whole evening was perfect. I highly recommend Markus as a guide - he talked about some of the more extreme stuff he does, hut to hut touring, ski mountaineering, ice climbing etc, so if anyone wants some of that rather than our civilised potter plus food, get in touch with him.
Too icey windy to get a photo!
Saturday it snowed and was super windy so the connecting lift from Bjornen to Are were shut - we went out and pootled around the Bjornen side, where they'd opened the Hogasliften drag (B36) in place of the B37 chair. Bit of a dicey drag with a couple of steep sections - first time round I bailed half way, then managed to get all the way up at second time of asking singing to myself.. (Sunshine.. wooo... moonlight... yeah!) The runs down were half ice, half snow, not amazing but good considering the days of rain! Back over at drag B44 it was interesting underfoot - there is nothing good about sheet ice on a drag. Still, we got out before the wind was at its worst! Back to Carins Krog for a delicious burger and beer as a reward for bothering.
Top of B36, pretty!
Today it snowed all day (until it rained, wtf is going on with this weather?!) and we had a cracker. Let me introduce you to Duved and Tegefjall, the hidden gem of the Are ski area. Except everyone knows about it... but still nobody goes...  Somehow we'd not got here before and we regret it, this is where you want to be on a weekend. We skied over from Bjornen in the morning, plenty of people around and the pistes over Are side were cut up and ice, to get the ski bus to Tegefjall. Up the D9 chair and lapped 14 and 15, the reds off the chair. Unfortunately the blues to the right with their drag were not open - presumably too little snow - but the reds were lovely, and basically empty. Not too steep, not too shallow, few people - my kinda place!
14 red from D9.
We then headed towards Duved, down a long blue (12) which felt like a rare 'valley' run - really pleasant - and ended at the D6 drag which fairly gently takes you up to the red 9 and towards the D3 chair in Duved. No Jackson 5 required...
Looking up the lovely run 12.
The D3 chair is relatively long, and consequently the reds off the top feel like you go some distance, and they are quite varied. 2 and 3 red are great fast runs, and blue 5 off red 2 has some fun jumps and rollers. The piste was cold up top, getting a bit slushy and sticky on the lower sections - perfect for me, I was motoring after my lesson (get forward, knees, trust your ski edge..), husband found the stickyness unpleasant. We both agreed however that this us obviously the best bit of Are. And there are so few people here. If I come here again, this is where I'll be every weekend. The condition of slopes and chilled atmosphere is chalk and cheese with the main slopes of Are. Loved it.
Looking up red 3 (right), blue 5 (left) - so busy.
We leave on Thursday, desperately hoping the x-country tracks are better before then, but right now it's raining again. Little snow dance going on!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Entertaining and informative report, @ElzP, enjoyed reading it. Must go back to your Aosta report as I'm heading there with daughter at the end of February.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
@pam w, oh fab - are you staying in Aosta itself? Let me know if you need any tips or info! Re-read @denfinella report about Aosta as well, potentially (definitely) more informative about some things.
I hope you enjoy it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Our last few days in Are were not particularly exciting - we didn't ski much after the second lot of rain, but got out for one decent day on the Are and Bjornen lifts (snow condition was decent to icy - very hard everywhere) which reinforced my personal view that the best bits of the resorts are the lifts at the side, and the middle bit above Are is a touch up-and-down and repetitive and get all the traffic and wind (all relative since we were there for four weeks - it's absolutely fine for a week!). The best runs across the resort are in Duved and Bjornen, and the runs from the Sadel into the Are sector are also lovely. However, I don't think judging the place on January conditions is fair - I'd love to come back in March maybe, when the slopes are warmed by some sun and the lifts are open for longer. It would be a great place for a later season, perhaps staying in Are itself if you want some fun of an evening (the food has been great with very few exceptions), or over in Duved for quiet time. Having looked at my photos again I notice how very dark they are, so some sunshine would be a bonus!
We also went for a couple more cross country outings before leaving, which were a little more exciting, and xc is probably the biggest reason I'd want to come back here. Our skills never reached any heights - it's hard! - but we managed to get around a rather icy 7.5km track of 'easy to medium' difficulty (I dread to see what hard looks like, I ploughed down all the big hills...) We had set a goal of doing a little xc ski tour over to a place called Froa for lunch (they set tracks over) but because the weather had been ropey and we hadn't got good enough to brave it, that's a mission for next time. On our last day we just pootled round the shorter xc tracks, and my husband managed to fall over onto his ski pole (first thing we were told - keep your poles out of the way!) and damage himself. A real shame as his confidence was growing though that may have been what got him into trouble!
We soothed husbands ribs with some more tasty food at Carin's Krog for a last night celebration, then headed over to Ostersund the morning after for our flights to Sofia. We are currently in Bansko though I'm not sure we'll stay as we made a big mistake with the location of our accommodation (top Bansko tip - don't stay near the lift, it may be convenient but it's not pleasant and it's extremely noisy!). We are considering re-routing to Salzburg so might be checking out the Ski Amade threads soon...
Anyway, to wrap up on Are...
Would we return - yes but in March! It's beautiful, the lifestyle is pleasant and the skiing is good.
Is it expensive - yes but no more than the bigger resorts in the Alps, and quality is generally high. Shopping is quite pricey and apparently the Ica supermarket in Are is the most expensive in Sweden!
Top tip - do some research and consider going to visit some of the other little areas nearby (spend time in Duved, go up to Edsadalen, do what the locals do!) or checking out some of the xc or ski tours to random huts for something a bit different. There's so much to do here that it almost doesn't matter if you don't ski as you can fill your days with huskys, snow shoes, exploring...
I can see the Bansko queue from my window and my mind is drifting back to the pleasant thought of empty slopes and quiet forests... 
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
Sorry to hear about your last days. Usual February in the coldest (and dark) time there.
Seem Europe is reversed at the moment.
Down here in Val Gardena it was ÷15 C this morning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
@Hyst, we had a good time regardless - I love Sweden and Norway skiing, so much less hectic than other places, I could happily just spend hours staring out of the window at the landscape. But yes, the weather is madness and upside down at present!
@Checkflaps, just googled Hemavan, that does look extremely cold just looking at the map! You have it perfectly - it's a certain type of lifestyle and feels very relaxed. Have a fantastic time, any questions let me know. I have another random tip for Bjornen; if you do any night xc (so nice!), the cafe Idet near the slope underpass stays open time 9ish and was always happy to serve us a beer in the evening when most places seem to mainly operate as restaurants. Also - watch out for the Ica in Bjornen, it requires an app and we couldn't work out how to use it without a Swedish bank account... we may have missed something. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
@ElzP,
Good to hear, now I have my first beer on Lagazuoi!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Now we finished our deer, drunken the red wine, sipping the white wine, har our coffee and waiting for the Grappa.
Don't want to think of that price in Åre!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| ElzP wrote: |
@Hyst, we had a good time regardless - I love Sweden and Norway skiing, so much less hectic than other places, I could happily just spend hours staring out of the window at the landscape. But yes, the weather is madness and upside down at present!
@Checkflaps, just googled Hemavan, that does look extremely cold just looking at the map! You have it perfectly - it's a certain type of lifestyle and feels very relaxed. Have a fantastic time, any questions let me know. I have another random tip for Bjornen; if you do any night xc (so nice!), the cafe Idet near the slope underpass stays open time 9ish and was always happy to serve us a beer in the evening when most places seem to mainly operate as restaurants. Also - watch out for the Ica in Bjornen, it requires an app and we couldn't work out how to use it without a Swedish bank account... we may have missed something. |
Thanks for the tips. I'm assuming you are referring to the Swish App, and we got caught out with that in Gothenburg pre-Christmas. As my OH is Swedish, albeit living in the UK, I shall see if we can wangle something by the time we go. Also like the idea of a night XC and stop for coffee - I do prefer mine on the 'wobbly' side  , but we as a couple tend to drink a lot more regular coffee than anything else.
As for Hemavan, -35 was about my limit!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@Checkflaps, you need a Swedish bank account for Swish. If you have this, but not a Swedish phone number, then it depends on your bank as to whether or not you can use swish.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| ElzP wrote: |
An update on the cross country tracks - I mentioned the 'easy out' sign which allows you to avoid the steeper hills at the start and end by using part of the learner track I got the wording wrong. This is what you're looking for.
We went out last night and used the lit tracks - fun, painful, lots of practice needed! It's so accessible and friendly though.
|
Just back from the week in Are.
You were not joking about the 'easy' route. That hill up (and thus down again) before the finish line certainly tested my limited XC skills. No lasting injuries though.
We found the trail up to the old mine (Froa Gruva) was a great little 4km out and a lovely spot for some coffee and lunch.
Are is now firmly on our radar for another year as it ticked all the boxes for accessibility, type of terrain (XC an alpine), atmosphere, and additional activities - the spa at the Holiday Club next to the station was a proper nice way to end the trip, before hopping on the night train back to Stockholm. I'll try and do a post later with some of out pictures from the trip - but perfect weather and quiet slopes / tracks makes for an awesome week away.
CF
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good to read this thread, thankyou @ElzP
Skiied a week in Are in March (didn't fancy it earlier, before the higher zone was open) a long time ago, and mainly because of that we had a week's summer holiday there last year.
Cannot recommend it highly enough in summer - so much to do!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
@Checkflaps,
| Quote: |
| Just waiting for the forum hamsters to let me upload some piccies. |
Another way is to upload to Imgur, which then generates the relevant BBCode (bulletin board code) which you can copy & paste into your snowheads post - quite a few regulars posters do this (including me  )
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Checkflaps, it's not really a hamster function, more an admin task - but it now seems to have been done, so if you don't see the new status you may have to logout and back in again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
