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March 30: Amazing day and the snow is in top quality. Daniel headed to Kågen for a traverse of Sandnestinden and Peter headed into the Rotsund to ski Svartfjellet. Both reported good snow mid mountain with a little wind blown on the summit regions. I'm having a week off skiing, but just to stretch the legs headed up to Sorbmegaisa for a descent down the main front face. The steep skiing conditions are really shaping up and myself and visiting mate Christian from Oslo bagged a sweet line straight down the main face, the steepest line this season so far. Photos from Daniel's group.
March 29: Two new groups arrived at the lodge this week both with visiting mountain guides. One group from Switzerland led by Daniel Schliefsteiner and the other from Austria led by Peter Gebetsburger. The snow has stabilized and now all descents are in good condition with plenty of powder still on all aspects. Both groups began on sunday with an ascent of Store haugen for a warm up and for the 29th March both groups headed to Uløya for a Kjelvågtinden and a Blåtinden ascent. Powder on both descents and happy campers.
Team Austria on the summit of Kjelvagtinden
March 24: The heavy snows have cleared up and more settled weather is here so groups now get a real chance to see what the Lyngen mountains look like! Our Belgium visitors enjoyed a powder snow skiing day through the forest lines under Store Haugen at the lodge. Marie's group headed to the summit and reported great snow from top to bottom. Photos today from Phillippe.
Route planning for the day
Just above the trees the powder was very light
Benedikte in the lead following Paul the guide.
March 23: A heavy snow day with intense periods of massive snow fall. All groups headed for the trees on Sorbmegaisa middle and south regions and reported deep snow. I was shoveling snow at the lodge and as I was moving the snow it was filling in just as fast...
March 22: A snowy day at the lodge with a huge snow storm blowing in from the North which actually looked like a scene from a Hollywood film set...
Photos again from Dawn.
March 21: A great thanks to last weeks guests for an excellent skiing week. We now welcome two new groups and visting guide Marie from Verbier Switzerland and our own Belgian group who are joining an introductory ski touring week. The first day was spent on Store Haugen with snow avalanche safety training and an ascent of the mountain and a descent in powder. The snow continues.... :) Photos from Dawn Sarasin.
Ascending Store Haugen - a little wind up top
Big smiles as the view opens up
Elg country.
March 18: Kagen Island on the cards today for a ski up and down the magnificent west face. Hallelujah... it was just that magnificent from top to bottom, the sun was shining, reflections off the fjord, cold powder blowing. Glen even caught two fish for the lads while we were skiing... A perfect day on planet Lyngen...
Konrad - he ain't waiting, there are cold beers on that boat down there...
Surreal reflections on the Lyngen Fjord below
Volker's turns mid mountain
Pat skiing the steepest slope of the week
Thanks Konrad it's a rare moment on the otherside of the lens...
Mark earning his turns and has forgotten about heli skiing ;)
One more time...
Rocking the boat for an on board apres ski :) DJ's in the boat...
March 17: Sunshine and there's plenty of powder to be skied, so my group led by Elisabeth today headed up Sorbmegaisa. It's St.Patricks day today and luckily we have 3 Irish lads in the group all week, see if you can spot them in the photos below!! The snow was sensational again from top to bottom. Paul's groups took the boat across the fjord and skied Tafeltinden on the Strupbreen glacier.
Climbing up towards Sorbmegaisa just next to the lodge
Where do you think these fine lads are from...? Anyone for Guinness :)
Ewen on the dance floor
Mid mountain on Sorbmegaisa
March 16: Another great day with some fresh snow early morning. My group headed to Svartfjellet located inland to the east. The snow was sensational and the and scenery absolutely dramatic. Paul headed to Sorbmegaisa middle ridge and reported again great snow top to bottom.
Heading towards the imposing walls of Svartfjellet
Three small figures heading up behind. Konrad, Liam and Pat
Reaching the upper section after 40 switchbacks
Very cold on the summit today so a quick deskin and a no sandwich ski....
March 15: Amazing!! Powder top to bottom, zero wind... Lyngen at it's best... Blaatinden Uløya. Thanks :)
Mrk Chitty powder bound to the sea.
Konrad Bartelski... no race gates here...
Liam from Ireland in full swing
Summit of Blåtinden - hip hip hurra
Island traverse East to West
March 14: We welcome our new groups to the lodge this week Konrad Bartelski's group of friends including Mark and Vicky, Ewen, Pat, Liam, Brian and Volker and in Paul's group USA powder magazine Steve Casimiro journalist and photographer, Caroline, Sam, Laura, Stephan.
It was a perfect weather day and the powder is outstanding. We skied Store Haugen for the first day and it's powder top to bottom and even the Northern Lights are out tonight so someone's been good :)
Volker heading towards the trees as the sun begins to set
Konrad happy to be visiting again..
Volker again deep in the mid section of the face of Store Haugen
March 11: The best powder day of the season. We headed up Store Haugen behind the lodge, first working through the forest and up onto the main face of the mountain. At about 800 meters the sun broke through for the first time in over a week and we reached the summit with incredible views acorss the fjord and down the untracked slopes streching down to the beaches. It was only a short spell of good weather as we began to ski down the clouds and snow closed the mountain behind us.
Mandy fromMattias's group on the bottom section just above the forest
Reaching the summit of Store Haugen
Simon and Colin on the last stretch
A short but great moment of clear weather at the top
March 10: Dumping snow like no tomorrow... I had to try a boat day so we headed to Uløya island to try and make our way up to Kjelvagtinden but as soon as we reached the top of the forest the winds kind of beat up back into the trees. We headed down and back to the lodge to ski again through the great trees behind the lodge. It was white, deep and everyone was smiling...
Nola loving the powder..
Andrew May skiing on Uløya
Can you ski anyone...
Back to the boat and back to Base, Colin climbing down
Susan
March 9: Cold powder, trees and birthdays... it's all happening today. Both groups skied to 700m on Sorbmegaisa, after the continuing heavy snow the avalanche risk is high up top so we're lapping the tree lines in super powder :)
Welcome to the mountain birthday ice bar
Andrew's birthday
Tree lines
Head plant of the day... or season?? ;)
Don't worry it's alcohol free champagne.... yer right :)
Hot- tub antics
March 8: Colder temperatures and heavy snow have returned :) It snowed all day long and only tree skiing lines were possible so we lapped the Dalbergen trees and took fresh lines between the Birches behind the lodge, there were some motivational issues within the group and the hot-tub was the preferred activity of the day ;)but as soon as the powder flowed under the skis there were smiles and whoops all round :)
Gordon definately prefering this to the hot-tub
Colin crashed the party
Winter has returned covering everything in deep white
Greame (not me... another one) snowboarding
March 7: We welcome our new Group from South Africa and the UK led by Mr. Andrew May. Most are doctors of sorts so no need to say more about their behaviour... ;) We've had a bit of a weather change as it's warmed up for just today and the snow was the consitancy of porridge... but anyway we made the best out of it and kicked off the week with the group snow safety training and then headed up to Store Haugen but turned before the summit due to strong winds. Well the snow was lets say a little challenging but nevertheless we had fun and back at the lodge the beers are cold and the hot-tub warm... tomorrow the temps are dropping to -5 degrees again and we're expecting 5 days of snow... :)
Hey, wet powder snow is still better than no snow.. keep smiling
Avalanche training - make sure you find the buried...
...Sheep - no one tell Elisabeth... it's hers
Mattias is breaking out the photography skills - it's game on Matty!
We have a guide photo contest...
Mattias leading his group... hmm is it my camera lens or are you guiding a group of small people this week??
Susan gliding on top of the wet powder - watch it... if you fall you're stick
March 5: Heavy snow this morning had covered all tracks from yesterday and for the final day we decided to take the boat top Uløya and ski Blaatinden. We headed to the beach drop off but due to extreme full moon low tide and a northerly swell off the ocean we had to choose another location. Seeing the weather and amount of snowfall we opted for the sure bet of quality skiing and headed up Store Haugen for amazing powder turns and fantastic tree skiing lines... That was our last day for this week's skiing and a big thank you to both groups for a swell week of skiing... :)
Patrick in the air
Peter lapping up the powder.
En route up to Store Haugen
March 3: Snowing overnight and through breakfast so we decided to hold off until the weather improved mid morning. There was no wind and the powder was cold, light and smokey... Our home mountain Store Haugen was trackless and so was Sorbmegaisa just next door so my group headed up directly behind the lodge and Mattias's group a little to the south to Sorbmegaisa. The clouds broke, the sun appeared and the skiing was brill...
Stein Erik - The viking telemarker
Pascal lost no equipment today... just cranking great turns
I might get told different but I think this is Brad our Aussie??
This is Brad celebrating the fine Store Haugen summit..
The morning safety check... Checking Pascal for a signal... there's definitely a short circuit in that head... ;)
Mattia's group:
Reaching the summit of Sorbmegaisa with views over
March 2: It was a double sandwich day as it was another perfect day with not a wave to be seen on the fjord. We headed for the northern point of the Lyngen Peninsula to ski the cross over east to west and take in the super summit of Store Galten (one of my big favorites :) Both groups jumped into the Spirit boat and headed for a beach drop off on the east side. My group headed up over the Gammvik Glacier with amazing views over Kågen island and Mattias's group headed round to the west side for an ascent route up the west face of S.Galten. The snow was super hard at the summit giving way to shallow powder on a hard base. They guys cranked and ski like real legends ;) happy days...
Pascal - despite loosing his helmet, gloves and breaking a pole all in one day...
he still thankfully can ski :)
He's off again...
Peter from Vienna ;) has now made his wife happy with his debut appearance!
A bit blowy on top
Over the Gammvikblåisen with Kågen in the background
Gnarly through the squeaky gorge
Jeremy from Mattias's group laying some decent turns down Store Galten
It's a double sandwich day for Jeremy, Sophie, Nick, Andy, Jonathan and Philippa.
Robin's gammi leg is getting better too....
March 1: Happy new month!! Nice to start the month with a ski :) On the menu today was Kågen island and an ascent of Storesandnestinden and an island crossing, taking in a nice little couloir from the summit. We were pretty much in the shade all day so it was a bit chilly but the scenery on this tour is very variable and incredibly dramatic. Mattias's group skied Uløya and had good powder snow and excellent forest combat skiing.
Brad from AUSTRALIA :) you got the mention Brad ;) dropping in....
Summit... yes it feels good
Wow I made it on the daily report... finally on the other side of the camera :)
Philippa has a birthday and it's the lodge's birthday too - 2 years today
February 28: An amazing day skiing powder in Lyngen !!! We welcome two new groups to the lodge this week for skiing 1) Juniors and 2 the seniors!!
Juniors are Austrian, Swiss and Norwegian and the 2's) a uttely mad bunch from the UK! After yesterday's snowfall, we woke to blue skies and powder. First group headed to store Haugen for my group in the boat to Uløya to ski Kjelvågtinden. Both sensational snow and powder top to bottom. what a start!!!
Ben from Austria skiing towards the beach on Uløya
Ben again hogging the modeling for the camera !
Pascal shouldn't have this much energy on day 1!
Fishing boat crossing below in the Rotsund.
Havørn (Sea Eagle) Europe's largest eagle usually preys on the ski tourer at the back of the group ;) ...
February 26: Corporate ski group from Sparbank Tromsø visited the lodge for office relief and some great skiing. We headed up to Store Haugen reaching first the northern summit and then heading along the spectacular summit ridge to the highest southern summit 1142m. The ski down was hard packed snow at the top and great powder below 700m, the best was through the trees down our newly shaped and cleared runs prepared in summer :)
February 21: Amazing weather again today with a little extra wind on the summits bring temperatures down to a good -25 degrees. Skiing day today up to Sorbmegaisa, one of my favorites! There was three of us today, Anders and Heidi from Oslo and myself. We headed out at 11am and climbed a track which we cut in summer through the forest. Incredibly chilly on the summit but the blue sky and clear views were outstanding. if you took a pair of binoculars you'd see that back of head! The ski down was in top powder snow and the new open line through the forest is peachy.
Reaching the top of Sorbmegaisa
Adam and Heidi from Oslo
Skiing light boot deep powder down to the fjord below. Life's good :)
February 20: Sea Safari through the Lyngen Fjord an amazing sunny day bit through the cold of -16 at the lodge this morning. It's unusually cold for this area which is warmed by the gulf stream current. Still with the right clothes fun can still be had out and about. We packed a full boat today with our Northern Lights guests and headed out into the fjord towards Havnnes to visit the dry fish harbour and took a tour to see the drying fish. Next we headed east and to the bird sanctuary island to see the seals, after passing a fishing boat we came close to two huge Sea Eagles which picked up a discarded fish from the sea close the fishing boat. The wind picked up as we headed back down the fjord to give an exciting and bumpy ride back to the lodge. Ah nearly forgot the fishing, we hooked one cod just outside the lodge from the boat. Photo today is from the Havnnes.
This beach view from Havnness is a winner
Nothing like a juicy kiss
February: Ski Season Start: We welcomed our Norwegian group from Oslo to the lodge this weekend for some early season skiing. It has snowed none stop for a few days giving us lots of powder snow down to sea level. How else could we start the season without a tour up to Store Haugen accessed directly from the lodeg door. Yesterday was a little stormy so we only skied half moountain but today we enjoyed wind still conditions and sunshine... See photos below, it's great to be in the saddle!
Leaving the lodge as the sun breaks the cloud
Entering the forest up the old horse trail
Mid mountain with views over the Lyngen Fjord
Nicholas signing the summit book on Store Haugen
Skiing down is just as the sun is setting at 3.30pm
January 26: Driving our own dog sled team today was an incredible experience and we even saw a rare sighting of a Wolverine. After instruction from our dog professionals who guide you through the essentials for driving your own team, you with your partner will head off with your dogs following your instructor into the wilderness for an epic adventure.
Making friends with your dogs is an essential part to a successful day!
Dog power into the heart of nature
January 18: Snow Shoeing up behind the lodge to the Hammarsletta view point to see the entire Lyngen Fjord from up high, which is a contrast to yesterday being down at sea level on the Spirit of Lyngen boat for the sea safari. There was a little mix of cloud today which provided us with a wonderful sunrise and sunset combination! Two photos from today, first snow shoeing and the second the full colours of the sun now above the horizon for 1 hour a day!
Snowshoeing up to Hammarsletta above the lodge.
Sunrise sunset? Hard to know which one... It's great to see the sun again
January 17: Sea Safari - our guests today joined on our sea safari round the Lyngen Fjord. Stopping off at Havnnes to see the historic "Dry Fish" processes and then off to fish a little on the east side of Uløya, with one little cod who we returned we headed to east side of the Lyngen Fjord to see the ice, sea eagles and have some fun in the waves! Today is the first day we have sun back on our mountain summits!!! You can image it's providing amazing light. Today's photo is just capturing the sun on the summits of the Northern Lyngen Peninsula.
January: Happy New Year! The sun will soon be returning but in the meantime we have incredible light that is reflecting down from the upper atmosphere onto our snow covered mountains. Our Northern Light tours are beginning now with dog sledding and sea safaris throughout the Lyngen Fjord.
December: Happy Christmas to all our Lyngen Lodge friends. The lodge is decorated and snow covers the lodge making a cosy atmosphere for our Christmas visitors who have arrived from the Netherlands who will be celebrating Christmas at the lodge with some interesting activities in the snow. Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for the new year 2010.
December: Polar nights have set in and now we receive only 3 hours of light a day. It is still possible to be active it's just you have to time right and enjoy the light while we have it. Photos from an early December.
November: Northern Lights light the night sky over Lyngen. Last night I took some extra long exposure shots up to 4 hours shutter and captured the star movement revolving around the north star giving this circular star pattern.
November: There are now seals living at the bird sanctuary off Kågen Island so it was time to head over and snorkel with them in the shallow crystal clear waters. It wasn't as easy as it sounds, imagine being a seal and seeing this (see photo below) coming at you.... exactly that's enough to scare off the most hardened of sea life... the seals were very interested on what was going on and kept a safe distance from this strange human activity. There were some large none stinging jellyfish who didn't care at all that we were there. Amazing day and the visibilty is extraordinarily clear.
Great clear water perfect for diving...cold water?... you bet it had just began to reach down through the wet suit at this point...
Giant none stinging jelly fish cruises past
November: The days are drawing in and the fantastic polar night is soon here (where the sun's rays only glow over the eastern horizon) But now the moon is dominating the sky as this week the moon does not set. So we have the 24 hrs full moon....
October 24: They keep coming - it's Northern Lights fever at Lyngen Lodge.
The most intense activity for years. The entire sky is erupting into curtains of greens,
violets and even bright reds. Don't miss out, drop everything and run for the north..
October: The best Northern Lights in years, sun spots are facing planet earth and producing eruptions that are creating some extraordinary Northern Light shows. This is the year for a visit, check our Northern Light programs and contact us to help tailor your visit to Lyngen Lodge.
Photo: Nikon D700 iso2000 f8 6secs
September: Autumn has in the Lyngen Fjord region and the trees are turning magnificent colours. Trekking up behind the lodge on Store Haugen or Sorbmegaisa is truly fantastic with the setting sun reflecting over the fjord below. The is photo was taken under Sorbmegaisa later early evening just as the sun was setting.
September 6: We welcome our corporate group Sherpa Consulting from Oslo for a weekend of team building, relaxing and adventure. After arriving on Friday morning we took a sea fishing tour out to the northern region of Lyngen Fjord. We caught a mixture of fish that contributed to Sunday's lunch. Saturday's tour was up the Reisa River with the river boats to visit the cascading Mollisfosen waterfall.
Back at the lodge some went running and others jumped into the hot tub for a sunset view over the fjord.
After a relaxedstart to a Sunday morning we took a high speed trip out in the Spirit of Lyngen to the Storskora, Strupbreen glacier bay and then a trek over the island of Arø¸ya. Lunch was served at 3pm and then the journey to Oslo began at 5pm from our local airport Sø¸rkjosen. A big thank you to Sherpa for an excellent weekend!
Riesa River boat tour up into the deep canyon to visit the Mollisfossen Waterfall
in the Reisa National Park.
Mollisfossen Northern Norway's highest at 275m
Back at the lodge and reindeer beef is on the tonights menu.
Fantastic autumn weather covers the Lyngen Alps over afternoon tea.
September: Statens Vegvesen a division responsible for the avalanche security for Norwegian roads visited the lodge for discussions in Northern Troms region. A very friendly and knowledgeable group who were interested to hear the systems employed down in Austria where I've studied avalanche science for many years.
August: This female Lynx was relaxing under the canopy of the forest late afternoon. They are cautious and are seldom seen in the wild but do roam the forests above the lodge. This photo was taken from the nature reserve in the Troms region. I was lucky to get these shots as the sun came through a break in the clouds which lit the area where she was keeping a close eye on her cubs who were playing close by.
All photos copy righted
July 28: The midnight sun is now getting lower towards the horizon and is producing incredible sunsets over the ocean. I hiked up towards Store Haugen with guests this week and this photo was taken at 11.45pm
June 15: Summer is here... but who can resist a ski when there are still snow filled couloirs right down to sea level? It was a wind still day and the fjord was flat like glass and it was possible to leave the boat on anchor right below the couloir. Just opposite the lodge and a little to the north is the summit of Mittaleggtinden on the Lyngen Peninsula, the east face is a wall of rock with thin snow filled lines that still reach to sea level. Ali and I climbed from the shore line to 1000m. The couloir is 45 degrees steep and we named it the Dutchmen as there were two guys fishing and applauding us when we reached the bottom! See photos below from the tour.
The ski line "The Dutchmen" from Storskora accessed from the boat.
The first 30 meters was a vertical snow wall that was bridged between rock and snow. Here Ali is negociating the section.
To the right is a wet avalanche shoot, the ascent climb was up the sides on safer terrain. The Spirit of Lyngen on anchor in the Storskora.
The top section was the steepest at 45 degrees, the snow was soft and made for great skiing for June. The descent started between the two rocks at the very top.
Ali skiing mid moutain, the snow was wetter here and due to the steepness after each 3rd turn we had to break out to the side and let the snow run down ahead.
a fantastic setting skiing with rock each side and a fjord below.
I'm on the otherside of the camera heading down the bottom section where two Dutchmen out fishing spotted up and cheered as we reached the bottom. Lucky for us they were there... as we finished the ski on the oppoiste side of the couloir where we left the small dingy boat. The Dutch lads picked us up saving Ali or myself, well actually Ali a short but cold swim to reach the boat moored on a rock on the otherside! So no other name suits really so it's called "The Dutchman" !
June: The arrival of summer and the midnight sun brings brings, migrating birds and mountains full of colour. With the constant light from the midnightsun nature never sleeps and the growth of plants and trees is fast compared to latitudes further south in Europe. Now is a perfect time to visit to experience the cascading waterfalls and new colours appearing on the mountains and in the forests. See our summer programmes here summer holiday in Norway»
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