Ski Touring in The Alps of Finnmark

8 years ago, after a few years skiing and exploring in Finnmark, we came back with a small film crew.

Time has passed, but the mountains are still the same, and so is our enthusiam and love for that region!

This is what makes this trip unique! 

Finnmark is our secret garden, our second home. We don't fly in and fly out but we spend our whole spring up there. And we've been doing it since 2009! Fred is also teaching ski mountaineering and avalanche awareness at a local outdoor school, Alta Folkehøgskole, and is spending at least 2 month a year in Finnmark. All teh other guides of the team have a great knowledge of the area, and all of us can always count on the tips of our local guide friends, like Tore, here to the right.

In all these years, we've build tight relations with the locals, and these friends are not only helping us organising the best possible week for you, but they are also bringing that extra feeling of being welcome in that remote region. 

We rent medium to small houses, from the locals, close both to the mountains and the fjords! The exact location may vary depending on dates and availabilities. 

The houses are simple but comfortable and we like the idea of using what's already there instead of bulding new on prurpose. Sustainable isn't it ? If you wish a higher level of comfort please conatct us, as there are a few options.

We will cook our own breakfast and prepare also our lunches. But the dinners will be served at the amazing restaurant of our friend Randi. She's cooking local products, like fish, reindeer or wild sheep, with a sense of tradition and a great talent. She became legendary among our guests!

The Alps of Finnmark are culminating at 1191m on the glacier of Øksfjord. They have been heavily eroded and shaped by the glaciers during and after the last ice age. Today, they offer big ice caps in altitude, some sharp peaks and typical plateau shaped mountains with steep sides. The perfect ski mountains, where anything is possible, from cruising in the low angle terrain to sending jump turns in the steeps. For the bad weather days, there are also many forest to hide and have fun skiing powder.

On a typical day we ski between 800 and 1600m. It's easy to adjust to the group and propose one, two or more tours so everybody gets as much skiing as possible...and as wanted!

But what we like best about ski touring in Finnmark is the absence of people. These mountains, the last range before the flatlands to the north cape have been looked upon for years, until the high frequentation in some other arctic regions have recently been pushing the skiers to look to new horizons. No need to say that we're far ahead and that our secret is well kept.

When was the last time you spent a week skiing without seeing a soul ?... The next one might be in Finnmark !

By 70° north, the lenght of the day is evolving from the dark period in the heart of the winter, to the midnight sun in late spring and summer. By mid March you can expect days as long as in the Alps, quickly growing. After the 20th of April there is hardly any darkness during the nights, and the midnight sun appears around the 17th of May.

Even being to the north of the Arctic Circle, don't expect any extreme temperature. The gulf stream is making life possible along the north norwegian coast, and the temperature are similar to what we experience in the Alps. The oceanic climate has its specificities, with changing tempeartures and weather (byge in Norwegian).

Road:

There are a few tours starting from our front door. But mostly we'll drive to discover the main fjords/ranges around us. Minimum 10mn, maximum 45mn.

Ferry and boats:

Depending on where we go, we will use ferries or smaller boats, that we rent from local fishermen. This network of professionals seamen that we got to know over the years gives us a lot of options. We can basically go anywhere we want, out of the commercial routes and lovcal transports.

Sea kayaks:

We have enough kayaks, drysuits and safety gear for our groups. This gives us the possibility to take you to remopte areas in a beautiful way. Next level adventure!