Abiskojaure to Abisko tourist station, 15 km. Heading back to civilization today.

The day’s skiing started with the usual lake. When we got to the other end, the main Kungsleden trail went off into the birch woods but our tour leader kept us on the river so as to avoid the unpleasantly bumpy snowmobile tracks in the woods.

However Abiskojåkka has some rapids and falls which are not passable on skis, and at those points we left the river and made our way through the forest. Skiing in the forest, on uneven ground between rocks and trees, was quite eventful at times but we all got down without breaking any body parts or equipment. Even though many of us fell over or got stuck in unexpectedly deep snow at some point.


After the last rapids the ski trail in the river canyon was very pretty, and I imagine it would look quite picturesque in the summer. It was also very easy to ski – as we were getting closer to the tourist station it was almost like a highway, with well worn-in tracks, and even two lanes at the end. The skiers we met here were a different bunch, day trippers in neon lycra and skinny skis. They’re obviously skiers just as much as we are, but somehow they felt like a different species.

And then all of a sudden we reached a highway and a railway and the tourist station, and were back in everyday life.