 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi - I'm hoping to squeeze in a late-season trip to the Rikgransen/Narvik area towards the end of April.
I can find some super-cheap flights to Stockholm (about £50 return) but getting from there up to the north seems to be pretty expensive (over £200 for a return flight to Kiruna- train looks to be about the same).
Anyone got any tips for making the journey a little more cheaply?
One idea I had was fly from UK to Oslo, and then head north. Although you can also get to Oslo for £50 return, again it becomes very expensive and time-consuming to get to the northern end of the country.
Any suggestions much appreciated.
Thanks.
Neil Neige
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Oslo-Narvik or Stockholm-Narvik are both about 1400km by road - for comparison, Oslo-Munich is only another 100km further and a whole lot quicker - so getting to Oslo (or Stockholm) is only the start of your journey.
That said, Norwegian fly from Oslo to Harstad/Narvik and have tickets from about £45 each way - www.norwegian.com See also Visitnorway.com
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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?
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Neil Neige, Im surprised about the price you got for the train,, but the swedish price system for train is a little lets say complicate,, there is with a little work chances to have alot cheaper tickets,, and the airport Narvik/Harstad is far from Narvik on the island Lofoten so from there you will need transport to Narvik and from there the train to Riksgränsen, the train from Stockholm is night train where you sleep in a cabin and wake up the next morning at Riksgränsen station 300m from the hotel and lifts, can it be more easy, Nice trip however you get there 
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Unless the conditions are stellar then I'd look elsewhere.
Narvik is a great hill but I was quite underwhelmed by Riks.
I've heard that Abisko is better.
Great touring in that area though.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks for these responses.
Freeheelskier, yes, train does come down a bit in price for my precise dates but is still around £200 unless you just take the reclining seat (made that mistake on recent trip from Paris to the Pyrenees!).
I did actually make the journey by train to Riks about 6 or 7 years ago. It was fun but a bit of a slog (plus our sleep was ruined by some pesky kids in the berth next door!). I was there in early June last time so only Riks was open (with just a couple of runs). In late April, I'm hoping Narvik will still be open, Riks will be fully open, and Bjorkliden will be worth a visit too.
Thanks for the Norwegian airlines tip, Quinton. I did just check the site, though, and it seems it's close to £200 return from Oslo for when I'm going.
The Kayak site has return flights from London to Kiruna for about £260 so that might be the best bet.
Mike, where would you suggest as an alternative in late April? I've been to the highest bits of the Alps (Zermatt, 3 Valleys) around then before, and it's just been a sun and slush fest...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I'm not saying don't go up north, just be aware that if the snow is not great then it's pretty limited. And expensive.
I had an excellent trip to Narvik last Spring but also had a couple of down days of grey and rain.
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1788310#1788310
I've been fortunate to ski powder in Montgenevre, La Grave and Les Deux Alpes in late April.
And Engelberg and Chamonix in mid-May - on separate trips.
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=64389
If you're not dead set on going north then the Alps gives you more choice and more chance of getting good snow.
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| Quote: |
Narvik is a great hill but I was quite underwhelmed by Riks.
I've heard that Abisko is better.
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Narvik is a Great place with one of the best wiew in Europe from the top, open to the 1th May
Björkliden is also good,, Use to be open 2 weeks in May,,
Abisko is the best place, but only liftservice offpist but a little late to go there in late april
Riksgrânsen is great to be in scandinavia,, but as Mike Pow say, a little limited,,
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How's Stranda looking please freeheelskier?
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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.
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A quick thing which might be useful (in case I forget to mention it elsewhere):
We just flew to and from Norway using SAS and they let us have 23kg main luggage, a ski bag and a boot bag each, for no charge. Just in case that helps in working out the relative costs.
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Thanks, all, for these extra responses. Mike, those photos from Narvik look utterly amazing! Did you have a professional photographer with you? If I just got an hour of decent snow and blue sky above Narvik, the whole trip will be worthwhile!
I've done quite a bit of Alpine stuff in late April/early May. Sometimes there's been good snow higher up but it's always been boiling hot down in the resort (over 20 degs) which just feels ... wrong!
Last year in early May, Bjorkliden was 0-5 degs, with tons of fresh snow, so you still got that winter wonderland feeling (which I'd love to experience in May).
I also like the exoticness (a word?) and remoteness of being in the far Arctic north.
I've now found a return air fare of £220 at decent flight times (leave Gatwick after 9am, return around 7pm), and there seems to be a pretty regular shuttle bus from Narvik airport (expect the journey would be nice).
Ap 96 - thanks for the SAS tip. Interesting stuff altho I tend to travel pretty light (hiring equipment at the resort).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for the kind words Neil Neige, all my own work.
The light and views are fabulous up there.
The bus journey takes about 90 mins if memory serves with wonderful views.
Have a great time and if you bump into Kaj say hi from me please.
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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.
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Mike Pow, Stranda can be fantastic, they closed in end of april, the 28th I think, they report a snowdeep today are around 250cm and they had 40 cm of fresh powder yesterday, and there will coming more the next days, the climate in this area can be a little difficult, bigdumps can get over in heavy rain very quick, but to go there in february/Mars and ski down to the sea from the top its fantastic 1230m of vertical drop, the liftservise area have a vertical drop of 800m, I can realy recomended Stranda, but take care about the weather,,
and to Neil Neige, have a nice trip
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Great, thanksfreeheelskier.
Been to Stranda and loved it. Was just curious how this season had been.
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