Today it will be about having good habits. When it comes to outdoor it is a good thing to have habits that supports you. So here come the first thing; surround you with good people that supports you. The biggest doubter is yourself, and if the people around you doesn’t support your dreams you will get stuck. And think of this; Time is spend, it is the moment that is crucial.

Ok so that was the philosophical part, now we move into the hardware. When it comes to the outdoor area there are small and bigger habits that matters. So let start like this; In the service(Army) I’ve learned a lot of good habits that I have kept. One is to always bring a spoon in a pocket close to me. This means if food is showing up I can eat. Today I have it in the top lid of the backpack. Next thing is the first aid kit. I always have that as well in the top lid, and I am telling everyone on the tour that it is there. Now everyone got it. Another habit I’ve learned as a professional guide is to start the day with a risk analyze. I think everyone in the mountain area should do that. Just a short over thinking of what can happen and what is my mental preparation for it? And if you bear in mind a sort of three step thinking(another good habit I learned in the army) . How will this decision affect me in the next step? Ok so now I am ready for the hike, what will be my next good habit? Well while hiking do not step on the stones or obstacles, better to step over or behind. This will save your effort. Heat, never get sweat. So adept your clothing to the temperature. When you have come to the lunch, secure you will have extra clothing close to hand, and also a beanie. When it is time for the camp or cabin get structure or your steps. Make dinner and warming up water for the thermos. If it is winter secure you got snow near to garb and melt in the morning. Before you got to bed, do (ready for a new day of hiking/climbing? Do the good habit) the  hygiene routine and check the WBWS: Warm water bottle, Check the Boots(were to store them during night, and so they are ok) Check if you got any Wounds, especially on hands and feet’s. And at last put your Soles into the sleeping bag(or dry them) Put on the beanie and go to sleep. In the morning you got the Thermos ready and snow/water to boil for the lunch. Now you are ready for the next day of hike/climb. 

Here you can get inspiration for X-mas gifts for the mountaineerer.

https://fjelltopp.com/sv/

See ya tomorrow…

Today we open door fourteen and today I will give you a guides advice. First of all I would like to talk about skills. To become a good outdoorer you always need to develop your skills. For being able to do that, you need to understand from were you are going. So start with a inventory about your level in navigation, river crossing, first aid, weather, bivouac technic, clothing. Also add winter skills such as avalanche, bivouacking and winter tenting, frost injuries, skiing. Add your physical level to it and you now have a schedule to work on.

Guides advice about equipment; You pay for what you get, I have seldom regret things I bought for expensive money. But I’ve sworn over bad equipment which has broken. But it all becomes from the activity and area you are in, as well as how often you are doing it. I look into details and features. If there are pockets at the right place etc. This will tell me if the brand knowing what they are doing. But if you are a top freak, then is should be as stripes as possible. So you cant go for that advice always. But boots, backpack and shell layer is the place to be carful with. And of course tent, this will you live with for at least 15 years.

Ok, so now you got the area you want to develop, and you got the right gear. What’s next? Now its time for planning. So next advise will be; make a plan. Defined a plan for what you will develop and explore. A rough plan will be good enough. To detailed planning only means that as fast as its done it will be out of date so to say.

Ok, so now its time for the developing of your skills. How to do that? Now the guides suggestion will be a…..guide. Why? Because she/he will help you out with becoming better. This advise also included guides. See and learn. It is always good to see and hear someone else to describe an area. So hire a guide at lest for a day to get better knowledge.

Now we have come to the last step, now you will find out your own needs of equipment and what to bring. I always carry at least three things in my pack. First a wind shelter, then a saw and of course a first aid kit. Then I am prepared for the most. Also a compass and a map, but that is basic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD2irAdMzIw

See ya tomorrow..

At door two I was writing about weather from a holistic perspective, today I will talk more specific about the mountain weather. I’ve been talking with Klas Kempe and Hakan Hultberg both meteorologist with deep competence in this area. When it comes to mountain weather, the prognosis maintained a high quality. The first advice will be to listen/read to the latest report. And one very important fact, never ever ignore a warning. Prognosis is a fresh product, so be sure you always got the absolute latest version. Today we normally got the technical condition for being able to do that. 

One important thing to understand about the mountain prognosis is that  prognosis Modell must be slightly smoothed for computational reasons (model resolution). You can not include all tops e.g. and Sarek. The Sarek massif will be a leveled mountain massif with an altitude of 1200-1400 meters and slightly above. This also applies to Kebnekaise. Local effects can therefore be worse than what is said in forecast. This is also important to understand.

Katabatic winds is another phenomena you have to have in mind in the mountain areas.   Katabatic wind is sometimes also called falling wind, but the latter can also be downward wind from Cumulonimbus clouds (village clouds / thunder clouds). A variant of catabatic wind is when cold air that has stagnated on a high plateau is suddenly set in motion. Stagnant air in winter in high pressure can, over snow surfaces, become very cold. In valleys severe cold but on bare scales and peaks never as cold. If the high pressure weakens and breaks down, the wind can increase and set the cold air in motion. This really heavy air (high density) accelerates due to the gravitational force, down slopes and ravines. The wind can then reach storm strength (25 m / s), extremely even hurricane (33m / s), at least in the wind gusts. If the air has a temperature of -15 degrees, the perceived temperature in a storm or hurricane will be below -30 degrees with a high risk of freezing or if you are unprotected for a long time also cooling, which is very dangerous (Anaris). Often the increase in wind comes quickly. There is a warning sign. If you travel in calm and nice mountain weather but see a snow drift from the peaks (the peaks are smoking) or you hear how the wind higher up ”thunders”. Then you should be prepared to seek protection. In addition to Anaris, strong katabatic winds can hit the Riksgränsen and Torne Träsk area when cold stagnant air from Kebnekaise is set in motion by strong south winds. This of course also applies to other areas with similar conditions. We often have a much more modest variant of katabatic wind at night when cooled air flows down slopes. Then it’s about someone or a few m / s.

Lay wind.

Waves form in the air when passing a mountain range and under certain conditions. The flow should be perpendicular to the mountain range with a deviation of about 30 degrees. Westerly winds (270 degrees) are common in the mountains, favorable then 240 degrees to 300 degrees. Another condition is that the wind increases with height, which is most common. A third condition is that the air at the passage of the top or ridge is stably temperature-layered (explained in book and course), which means that the air is forced over the mountain (against its will) and returns as quickly as possible to its original position (equilibrium position). This stability gets the air gets the air by flowing over cold snow. Especially if the reading side is steep, the air rushes down to the equilibrium position and can accelerate sharply. There is thus no shelter on the reading side, it blows much more than on the windward side. There may be a storm or hurricane, at least in the wind gusts. A typical example is the steep reading side of Helagsfjället (winter) at these wind directions. A reading side that is not steep, slopes slowly, never gets as strong a gust of wind. The increase in wind can come quickly and very unexpectedly. 10/1 2019, the wind was westerly over Helagsfjället. At 07.00 in the morning, an average wind of 3 m / s was measured with 7 m / s in the wind gusts. 10 minutes later the average wind was 4 m / s with 19 m / s in the wind gusts and 10 minutes later 13 m / s and 28 m / s (storm gusts). The highest village wind speed at Helags so far is 52 m / s (hurricane villages are 33 m / s). Here it is enough to travel a bit north towards Sylarna or south towards Ramundberget to avoid the worst winds. Another example of strong winds is Stekenjokk. Here it blows most winter time in the sector north via west to southwest. The air then flows over the snow surfaces on BØrgefjellet. At the Swedish border (the stable temperature-layered air) the air falls between 300 and 400 meters and accelerates. The highest average wind speed is 48 m / s, in the wind gusts it was then over 60 m / s. The wind at Stekenjokk can be considered extreme, but it also affects the mountains nearby, such as Borgafjällen and Marsfjället, as well as the towns of Kittelfjäll and Klimpfjäll.

Venture effects.

When the air blows through a valley that is somewhat in the wind direction, the wind speed is increased. It is the same phenomenon as when water in a hose is forced to pass a constriction. Then the speed of the water increases. The increase in wind can come quickly. A good example is Stora Sjöfallet when the wind turns to the northwest (which is in the direction of the valley). The wind speed can then be moderate up at Ritsem where the valley is wide. The valley narrows considerably at Suorva and Stora Sjöfallet, which means a marked increase in wind. In strong northwesterly winds (behind a low pressure) the wind can reach storm strength, hurricane 38 m / s in average wind has been measured. The strong northwest wind then continues down towards Saltoluokta. In the entire mountain range there are valleys that are narrow and where the wind can blow more than in the forecasts. In Sarek and Kebnekaise, such valleys are very common. Further south, e.g. Syterskalet and in Jämtland / Härjedalen all valleys at Lunndörrsfjällen. If you know the wind direction and approximately how much is expected to blow in the forecast, you can assume that they will be worse in narrow valleys. Sometimes a combination of catabatic winds and the venturi effect can produce strong winds. A typical example is Sylarna by wind around the south. The air is then forced up over the slopes north of the Squirrel Pass. After passing the pass height, the air flows down towards Sylarnas mountain station, accelerates and is also affected by the surrounding high mountains (venturi effect). With a northerly wind, there will be no significant increase in wind at Sylarnas weather station. The strongest winds occur during the winter months when the low pressure activity is greatest. The air is then heavy and cold. In summer, strong winds can occur on the bare mountain, but usually for a short time, generally less than a day.

See ya tomorrow…

Today we open door twelve, and today it will be about mountain cabins. With crowded hike trails , and overfull mountains stations an alternative would be to spend the nights in a nice mountain cabin instead? Here it will be more ”airy” and more spartan. Here you have to take some more responsibility, which means to carry water and chop firewood. with its own stove in the room, the atmosphere will be cozy. However there is a risk that a middle age man will have his synthetic undershirt with a day of moister with the smell in your vicinity. But I still can remember the night me and the mountain men Jansson spend at  Stensdalen.

Sleeping in a room with 6 other wild men. But the atmosphere in the cabin, when the stove was fired up could not be mistaken. One of the other cabin I can recommend will be the Nallo cabin in Abisko/Kebnekaise area. The summit trip to Nallo is a reasonable challenge even for those who do not usually climb peaks and it is also possible to ski around Nallo mountain. In beautiful weather, a climb of Nállu is highly recommended. From the top you can see all the way to Kebnekaise’s both peaks.

The area is also fantastic for skier, here they can live out the ”white dreams” of skiing.

See ya tomorrow…

Time to open door eleven, and see if we can learn more about cold injuries and hypothermia. This is an area which we can dig much deeper in, so I will have a own blog for this topic further on. First of all is the importance of predicting work. So understanding how this type of injurie works is crucial for avoiding it. Fist we can divide this type of injuries in two areas; Frost bites without icing. This category often mention as “immersion foot”. It appears when a part of the body is exposed for long time immobilization and in combination with moisture and a temperature around 0 degrees. In Swedish this symptom is also called skyttegravsfot. The other injurie can be characterized by of icing/frostbites. This injurie often appear in strong cold, often in combination with strong winds. Sometimes persons with locally cold injuries also got low body temperature. The injurie mechanism is that the water in the tissue freezes and build up crystals which is destroying the cells structure. In this type of injuries it is important to asses the deepness of the wound. If superficial injuries without icing or if it is injuries with blisters with clear fluid. Or if it is deep injuries with blood filled blisters, or if it is full tissue wounds. This with no blisters but wax like tissue, and in the next step mummified tissue, black necrosis.

So what will be your action in this situation? First you must remove the person from the environment of coldness and moister. Remove moistened clothes, protect from the wind. You should not warm up if there is a risk for refreezing. Passive warming from body part or partner etc. Do not massage injured tissue will get hurt easy. Hot and sweet drink. High arms and legs, don’t let the patient walk on freeze feet, due to the risk of tissue injuries. (You can use Ibuprofen 400mg twice a day for the pain and reduce the inflammatory reaction)

A normal reaction that always appear is the shudder. This is involuntarily contractions from the skeletons muscles. This because of produce heat to the body. The more cold the person become and feel the more he or she will shuddering. The body reaction will increase the metabolism. What this means is that the body need energy to being able to shuddering. At the same time we freeze we crimes more energy. That why it is so important to add energy to one that is freezing. Hot drink ant food will help a lot of course. You can achieve the same effect as shuddering with physical work, you will get warmer. Do push ups etc.

But first of all, knowledge is the solution for not having frostbites. With a clothing within the multilayer principal and understanding the winds affect on the human body and also the affect of the wind drift. So why don’t start the day by doing an analyze of what risk of frostbite will the conditions and activity have…that is what I call a good start for an adventure day.

See ya tomorrow…

Chamonix, just feel the word. What does it starts for feeling in you? If you haven’t been there probably nothing. But if you have been there excitement, expectations, grandeur and so on. Chamonix is a smock of adventures and activities. Just sitting in the middle of the Centre and sipping of a coffee, and soak up the atmosphere is a great feeling. With Mont Blanc’s ridge in the fund just relax and enjoy. What to avoid though will be the tourist traps. So I will have some hidden pearls here for you. They will take some more time and due to that some more planning. But it will be worth it. A good alpinism day should begin or end up with a nice cup of coffee, that for sure. So why not start with one at Moody coffee at a side street in the center of Chamonix. 

So now you got the coffee inside and the body is starting up. What about a hike? So take a transport to Lignon car park. and goes first to the Cascades de la Pleureuse and Sauffraz. Then, the tour continues towards the Collet d’Anterne and the Refuge d’Anterne Alfred Wills before reaching Lac d’Anterne after a rather challenging ascent of the eponymous mountain. Then, the course ends at the Col d’Anterne after a final climb. The hike is classified in the “Hard” category because of the length of the route (17.4 km round trip) and some passages requiring significant effort.

In order to appreciate the beauty of the landscapes discovered in the nature reserve, I recommend camping at Lac d’Anterne and climbing the Col the next morning. On a clear day at sunrise, Rochers des Fiz adorn itself with a beautiful orange dress. If you wish to camp, remember that it is only allowed to pitch your tent between 7pm and 9am in the nature reserve.

Important note: remember to come early in the morning (before 7:30 am), because the Lignon car park is very quickly saturated and it becomes impossible to park.

Next suggestion will be a hike to Lac de Pormenaz. In the heart of Passy National Nature Reserve, the Lac de Pormenaz, overlooked by the imposing eponymous Pointe Noire and Rochers des Fiz, is a must-see summer outing.
The route quickly leads to the Torrent du Souay to finally rise more frankly once arrived at La Chorde where cables and ladders will help pass a few difficulties.
The Aravis Range and the Fiz Massif will appear as a permanent backdrop throughout the ascent. Swimming in the Lac de Pormenaz can be a refreshing break before the descent towards Argentières locality and the Chalets d’Ayères.
For people prone to fear of heights, it is possible to avoid the passages with cables by leaving on the right the trail of La Chorde at the junction.

So there you got three different places to visit in Cham. Facts you might did not know; Mont Blanc speed record is 4 hours, 57 minutes and 34 seconds. this is from the church to the peak and back…The Compagnie des Guides des Chamonix was established in 1821 so early guiding in Cham. Edward Whymper the first summiteer of Matterhorn died in Chamonix, and he is buried here

A gate as Are to the adventure are fine, so lets open door nine. Chamonix will be the cradle of Alpinism and Mountaineering but in Sweden Are is growing as the Swedish cradle of alpinism. Very often if you are heading for an adventure, or going back from one you pass Are. Already during the 12th century Are was well known. Many of the pilgrims hiking towards the St Olavs grave in Nidaros did pass the village. Are old church is dated to 13th century, but is was in the late 1800 it was known as a tourist resort. In 1892 the first top cottage was built of the Swedish Tourist association. In 1910 the mountain railway was built in Are. In 1952 the first cable car was built, this one runs from Fjallgarden towards Humeln one of the gondolas is still at the Are square for admiration. 1976 is a important year for Are, now the new cable car is built, and with a investment of 73 000 000:- a high alpine zone for skiing has been opened up. Today Are is a real tourist magnet. This corona year it ha been well visited I can tell… Whatever Are is also associated for good food and pastry. When I am in Are I’m trying to visit A e pastry. A good cup of capuchin and a cinnamon bun will do the day. And in the evening a dinner at Wersén will never become a disappointment. The Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes will make you sleep as a baby after an adventure day. Here I will give a recipe from Bustamoon, a reindeer clamp.

When it comes to off pist skiing,, first of all hire a guide. This will help you out to get the best and safest skiing. The backside of Areskutan, The Husatour, eastern  ravine, The Tvaravalvet. In December its not to recommend, with less snow and no settle snow means dangerous skiing and ruined skies. January, good skiing, but avoid the high zone. the wind got hard to the snow. February, the high season, means early start for good skiing. March Monday-Tuesday nice days and cold snow perfect for skiing(avoid weekends = crowded). April, this is the best time of the year warm and long bright days. Just enjoy. May, why don’t put on the skins and become an expert together with the locals. at this time people make a pilgrimage to good skiing at Are.

See ya tomorrow…

Time to open door eight, have control and stop before is to late…When it comes to avalanches I think it could be a whole calendar of the topic, and it still will not cover it all. So I will just notify you of same parts of the topic. First of all, there are rarely  spontaneous triggered avalanches. So we can start to put a human factor into the risk. So it all starts with you, and your approach to the risk of avalanches. The knowledge curve is the main thing here. In the beginning you think you know, then you understand what you don’t understand. Here the humility comes in. The next step you know that you know but will improve your knowledge. So if you are ready for expose yourself for the risk of avalanches, you might take a course in the topic. Another good suggestion from my side will be to gather yourself with people that got experience. That will be your life insurance. Self I would never go to a avalanche area without people around me that I can rely on. When you got the skills and the company for off pist skiing how to avoid avalanche’s? Talk with locals and check the homepages for avalanche information of the area. Choose the way from a safety point of view and follow the leader.  Well, don’t ski in a avalanche area after a storm, avoid steep slopes(avoid slopes over 28 degrees). Stay to the windward side of the ridges, avoid treeless slopes, watch for cracks, listen to the snow, for be sure dig snow pits for understanding the different layers in the snow. And always bring your avalanche device such as Tranciever, shovel, probe, ABS back pack. But this will just help you, it will not stop a avalanche…And observe it will not help you assess or improve your ability to predict avalanches. It will help you with the rescue…

Se ya tomorrow…

Now we have come a bit into the calendar, and its time for open door seven, which tent should I choose, it might be written in heaven… When it comes to tent, there is a lot of choice. And that means it can be hard to choose. Today I might help you to reach out the advantage and disadvantage with the different types. So first of all you need to ask yourself: What will you use the tent for? Expeditions, mountaineering, skiing, hiking, kayaking etc. This will be the first thing to decide. For the three first categories you will need a four season tent, for the others you might can be using a three season tent. Next thing to ask will be; how many will you be sleeping in the tent? 2-3-4 persons will be the normal options. If you have the answer for this questions we can run in to what choice there are.

First we have the tunnel tent. The tunnel tent is big, and almost always have a big apse, were you can store stuff and cook in bad weather. This is the perfect choice for a family. And it is very good for a skiing tour when you got a sled. Then you can have stuffed as a sausage and with the poles put together. That will means that you will be able to put it up very fast. The disadvantage will be the weight and that it is wind sensible. You have to place it right regards to the wind direction. It will also need bigger place on the ground. And another suggest will be, get up one size. This will give you more opportunities and give you more space for a little more weight. This is not suitable if you know you will doing mountaineering. Then its better with a smaller 2 instead of 3 persons tent for example.

The dome tent is very stable, it normally got more poles than a tunnel tent. It got less weight than a tunnel, and will need less space on the ground. It is very easy to move to another spot, you just lift it and move. The disadvantage will be that it is a bit harder to set up. You will have less place to store stuff and if you are three or more in a dome tent it will be crowded. 

So how will you reach out this, here comes some thoughts from my side. If you usually go for long tours, you might choose a tunnel tent. Especially if you often go on skies, with sledge. Then you can prepare a fast set up etc. You will also have a better space. Going for a hike, you got the opportunity to choose from a feeling point of view. But with the condition that you are at least two and can share the weight. Otherwise the dome is to prefer. Going for climbing, mountaineering/alpinism the dome will be my first choice. Stable to the wind, lighter and take less space on the ground. At high altitude at camps it normally is crowded and it is less of space to put the tent on. But the dome got less space over all, so it can be good to choose one with a good ceiling height so you can sit and have a good ”work” space. 

The Helsport Trollspiret will be one of my favorite’s, A perfect alpinism/mountaineering tent.

See ya tomorrow..

6th of December and about Kebnekaise and the glaciers. During the panemic, the roof of Sweden has become a hot spot. As I reported earlier the pressure of the are is hard. With visitors that not so used to be in the environment new phenomen will appear. Such as they left ther equipment, tents and other stuff! Well,, while you are in the area you should put some extra days for explore the immediate area. The glaciers has been in focus for the scentist since 1886. When Fredrik Enquist photographed the glaciers in the Kebnekaise area he left a invaluable data to the posterity. The Storglaciaren becomes over time the most researched glacierin the world. The standards used for measure glacier worldwide will be settled here. So why get up up on the peak of Kebnetjakka for a view over storgalicären och Björlingsglaciär and at the same time the view over The south peak and north peak of Kebnekaise. One question that is relevant is; Why study glaciers in Tarfala area? There was o lot of glacier to choose but, Storglaciären got the rigth size and got the best location for tranports etc. How many glaciers do we got in Sweden? We got over 250 glaciers, middle size of them is 1 square kilometer. Is it humans fault that the glaicers is melting? Yes and now. The global heating from the beginning of 1900 is a natural oscillation. But after1950 the human have contributed with more than 50% of the heating. How old is the glaciers in the Kebnekaise area? Well they are about 3000 years old. In the storglaciären has organic residues from 200 year BC. been found. Is it ok to drink the melt water from a glacier? The water is often clean from salt and are very like destilled water. In big amount and often is not so good. But for cooking it is ok. At the top surface  there may be digested lemmings and reindeer droppings so be careful where you take the water. This how it will looks like comparing 2013 and 2100.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJf69GXuJI4

See ya tomorrow and then it will be about to choosing tent.