Sunday 22/4

Petter, Sofia, Håkan and I left the station before 13:45, going up the western groove of Personalbacken. The direction of the (weak) wind was in a state of flux, but seemed to mainly end up around southerly and easterly, and the western sky was spanned by a stratum of cloud. It was warm but not too warm, and the snow was mushy. As is usual when I put on alpine equipment after a long period of abstinence, as it were, the ski boots felt a bit uncomfortable at places, but the feeling relented after some time of use – which is also usual. About halfway up to Storsten the current skiing course appeared at the top and swooshed down beside us; they certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. We paused for a bit above Storsten, and then we went further to the right a little ways before attacking the steeper slope above.

At the top of the crest this slope creates, where the slant decreases again, the snow was colder and harder, bearing strong signs of wind influence. Up there it was almost still – there were gusts of appreciable strength, but they came very far apart in time. We proceeded to round the minor peak of Giebmečohkka, going through the saddle between this and the major peak, and then followed the rise of the latter up on the western side – all on hard snow. The final short part up to the summit we covered on foot, since there were much rocks to pass.

Going up: west...

...east...

...south...

...and east again

Panorama over Láddjuvággi from the top of Personalbacken

Panorama over the Giebmečohkka plateau, with the "Tarfala peaks" behind

Liddubákti about to disappear from view

Giebmegáisi with Giebmečohkka below

View down the valley

Plateau in the saddle between the peaks of Giebmečohkka

Parts of Liddubákti, Siŋŋičohkka and Duolbagorni

The South Peak, with mountaineers atop

The saddle between Duolbagorni and Vierranvárri

Distant Sarek

In the top cairn there was a canister containing a book in which mountaineers can enter their names and a message of choice, so we did that. The view from the summit of Giebmečohkka is grand, with a daunting perspective on the glaciers starting at the eastern wall of Giebmegáisi – particularly Storglaciären right below one's feet (quite a bit below, actually). Giebmegáisi itself is also an impressive sight, rearing its Twin Peaks towards the firmament, creating a seemingly unscalable cliff face in the process. We could also see a trio of presumably happy people standing on the South Peak. We sat down right there at the top and had a snack, noting that the wind had disappeared, which coincided with a small but perceivable increase in the permeation of sunlight through the cloud veil.

Panorama over Giebmegáisi, Giebmebákti, Gaskkasbákti and Gaskkasčohkka

View over the fjelds to the southeast

Panorama over the glaciers, with Södra Klippberget in the center

The eastern end of Björling's glaciers, plus peaks

After some rest we returned to our respective skis (or snowboard in Sofia's case), and then set off downhill. At first it was hard and uneven, but conditions improved after a while, although when we were passing down the Giebmečohkka glacier it got trickier again; the snow crust had been densely packed by the wind, creating a rough and unreliable surface which was prone to cracking. Once we were in the ravine of Jökelbäcken proper, however, things got better, and we had a fun run down. In the lower part there had been a number of recent block avalanches in the western slope, which is heavily predisposed towards such events; this created some obstacles down in the ravine, but there was a clear route skirting the lowest parts of the eastern slope.

Having emerged into Láddjuvággi, Sofia decided to walk back to the station, but the rest of us wanted to ski for as long as possible; we had to take off the skis and carry them across bare patches along the way, but for extended distances we could glide, taking advantage of our initial elevation. It was rather warm in the valley, but a westerly wind was blowing, giving us a light push as we rounded Kaipak on its northern side and coasted down the final hundred meters around 18.

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