Thursday 22/4

I followed the forest track up, but since it was both deep and hard I tried to stay on the side where possible; the snow carried in full, so it was a matter of avoiding the trees. Having reached the signpost marking the path to the Mårma cabin I turned straight up, which brought with it some difficulties, but eventually I came out above the bulk of the forest. Looking down at Visttasjohka I saw a snowmobiles coming down from Alisjávri, and to my surprise it also turned up the slope and headed straight for me. There were quite a few bare patches, but the driver managed to reach my location without problems, and he stopped for a quick chat before continuing on towards Kiruna.

I then went on myself, for the most part being able to find snow leading around the bare ground, and before losing visual contact with the stream I observed the sled-pullers making their way across the ice up the valley. Over in the south the sky was veiled and soon enough the sun was obscured by a cloud that from then on was very loth to go anywhere, but since it was already rather warm that was not something I complained about. After a while I followed the tracks of the two people with the dog who had been up to Vássaloamijávri a few days earlier, making my way up to the next crest beside the little ravine where I had done so previously.

After taking a few snow-less steps I held a lower course eastwards, finding good snow all the way. The sun was on the verge of reappearing, but as soon as the old cloud had released its hold a new one floated in to take its place. It was quite cloudy behind Bálggástakčorru, and now a veil was growing beyond Nállu et al as well. Having passed ~all the bare spots I turned up, now having come upon the snowmobile track, and when I was approaching the lake I decided to cut across the northern slope directly rather than skiing out on the ice. Here the base was hard but the surface had softened enough to provide grip without much effort, but it was not as loose as it had been on Šielmmáčohkka. As the view down the valley widened I saw that conditions were worsening around Nikkaluokta, and before long there were more clouds and mist approaching from the south over the peaks.

Eastern Stuor Reaiddávággi

Vássaloamijávri in sight

Mist at the valley mouth

Clouds coming

Going round Vássanjunnji

When I stood at the top of the slope I turned left, aiming up Vássanjunnji proper, again being careful to find a safe route, keeping to the surface rocks where I could. Now the sun was out again, and the wind was on and off, so the climb consisted of intervals of comfortable or not so comfortable warmth. A flock of snow buntings passed by and higher up the clouds were growing denser anew. I tested the slope regularly, keeping my eye out for the best place to descend, and then went up a fairly steep portion among the rocks, landing me on the lower parts of the flat elongated summit. I had been heading northeast towards the end, so now I turned west again, going up to the nearest stony crest, from where I could see that now also the northern peaks were partly covered in clouds. I took off the skis among the rocks and walked down a little ways to the southwest, sitting down with a great view of Stuor Reaiddávággi before 11:45.

A bit of snow in the air

Cloudy on the other side too

White Ruomasčorru

Worse down there

Njunni across Visttasvággi

Cloudier around Stuor Reaiddávággi

As mentioned there were quite a few clouds in play, but most of the valleys were visible, and looking towards Nikkaluokta the worst seemed to be slowly moving on. While I had my lunch, however, the clouds seemed to grow more numerous, and suddenly I found myself in the middle of a mist, but it soon passed. It was not long before another one came, however, and this one was denser, even though I could still make out the valley below at all times. After that too had passed on it was impossible to judge tendencies, but visibility was good for the most part, as the majority of the clouds were higher than my modest elevation. At length I prepared to go down, and as I did so the sky above grew clear, so I had hopes for a visually rewarding run.

A sequence of shots...

...showing the development of the cloud presence...

...and its impact on visibility...

...down through Visttasvággi

Kugghjulskammen closeup

Clouds around Unna Reaiddávággi...

...and its sibling

The first flat-ish part down to the start of the actual slope held excellent snow, and now it was clear that the weather was indeed improving, for the higher peaks were emerging in part. I continued down towards my own tracks, gliding out to a better-looking part I had observed on the way up when I reached the rocks, and a pole test confirmed that it was in fact on the safer side of things. The snow itself was not too good, however, uneven and hard as it was, so going down was more demanding than it was fun.

Below the rocks things improved, but it was nowhere near the quality of Šielmmáčohkka. It was now fair except for the lower part of Visttasvággi, where a dark haze yet held sway. At the end of the slope I went on down towards the lake without stopping, sticking to the wide fields, and here conditions were pretty good albeit a bit harder than I like them. I stopped when the ground started levelling out, with tired thighs and all; had the snow been better I would have climbed back up for another go, but as it was I didn't feel that it would be worth the effort, so I set off westwards again.

Lighter clouds

Stance

Even lighter

Steeper

Steeper still

End

After a while I came to a nice wolverine spoor which by the looks of it could not have been more than a day (or perhaps two) old, and I followed it until the next slope started, where I made contact with my own less-than-a-day-old tracks. By then the southern clouds had started to lift as well, and it was a pleasant afternoon. I followed pretty much the same route as I had done coming up, which meant a number of good snowfields with a comfortable slant between all the heath – and it was actually these that provided the best downhill conditions yet, with nice, soft spring snow, so I had a good deal of fun.

I ended up going a bit too far down, so I had to step across some of that heath to get back to the snow, and when I had done so I realized that I was standing on a snowfield extending all the way down from one of the ravines higher up. After some deliberation I decided to go up to the start of the ravine to get a longer run, seeing as I had lots of time and the snow was as good as it was. I didn't bother with the climbing skins, and instead zigzagged my way up on the side of the field, but when I was nearing the top I crossed it in order to get a better continuous slant.

Passing the lake

Still bad in the lower valley

Following...

...the wolverine track

Diminishing snow

The ravines higher up

Reward!

The following run was glorious, even though it was neither steep nor blazing fast, and also went on for longer than I had thought it would. Back down at the bottom (which was not actually the bottom, but the continuation of the field narrowed into another ravine) I crossed some more heath and then continued down at the usual place, which was also very good. After going past the first trees I did my best to find snow to ski upon, succeeding for the most part, but once again I came a bit too low and had to deal with a bit of grass as a result. Where the shelf ended, beyond where I had come up earlier, there was very little snow, and getting ahead/down involved some planning and careful non-gliding steps, but in the end I could follow the snowmobile track. Down at Visttasjohka there was a bit of wind which cooled me off somewhat as I skied the last bit back to the cottages on the fairly good ice before 14:45.

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