Ski touring course Riksgränsen

Course in English or Swedish? The course is normally in Swedish. All our guides are fluent in English and you as a non Swedish speaker are welcome to join the course. However be aware that some of the other participants will ask questions and and will communicate with the guide in Swedish, and it might not always be possible to translate everything to English.

 
Ski touring is a wonderful combination of beautiful views, the stillness of being in the mountains and the action of downhill skiing. The skills you need, to go on ski tours in a convenient and secure way, are very extensive. You need both personal skills of skiing, general knowledge of navigation and path choosing as well as specific knowledge of for example avalanche security. In short, there are a lot of fun things to learn and on this course we enter deeply into the above. The goal of the week is to learn more about ski touring and have amazing experiences in an extraordinary environment.  

 
We normally carry out this course in the area around Abisko, Riksgränsen and Narvik. If you wish to participate on a course as a group we can adapt to your requests and the course can also be held in the Alps as well as in other places in Scandinavia. The same course can be held in Chamonix, Zermatt or why not Lofoten or Lyngen.

 
Content of the course
• Equipment for ski touring
We go through different types of equipment and go through their pros and cons. Partly we will do this before the trip so you all have the right equipment on arrival.

• Ski tour techniques
How to walk effectively on skins and do "kick turns" and turns.

• Path choosing uphill
How to make an uphill track – taking both security and efficiency into consideration, where and how to make our turns and what formations to avoid.

• Skiing techniques in different snow conditions.
How do we handle crust, wind packed snow, carbon, concrete and other interesting snow types, but also how to go powder skiing.

• Path choosing downhill
How do we find the best snow and the most secure line

• Tour planning
How we by looking at the map can organize a tour and calculate how long it will take.

• Navigation
How to read a map and a compass as well as the usage of GPS.

• Avalanche knowledge for ski touring
We dig in the snow and look at different layers to learn more about avalanches. But more importantly we will go through how to choose our lines up and down hill in order to minimize the risk of avalanches.
We also cover the factors that increase the risk of avalanche and what to look for to avoid them.

 
Goal for the course
The goal for this course is to give you a solid foundation based on knowledge about going on ski tours to be able to make your own tours in the future, together with others sharing the same knowledge. 

Skills

The course suits you who know how to ski, can go down a black slope without problems and have at least some experiance of backcountry skiing. You need no previous experience from ski touring. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any doubts when it comes to your skills (or any other questions you may have…)

 
Included in the price:

• Training and guiding by an authorised mountain guide (UIAGM/IFMGA) for 6 days.
• Rental of avalanche security equipment (shovel, probe and transceiver).
• Rental of ice axe, harness and crampons.
• Transportation throughout the week.
• 6 nights accommodation in a shared room(single room possible for an extra fee), breakfast included.

Not included in the price:

• Personal equipment.
• Ski pass, if we decide to take a tour starting from a lift.
• Trip to/from Riksgränsen.
• Lunch & dinner.

 
Personal equipment:

The following equipment is required for the course. If you have any questions regarding the equipment list, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

• Skies with ski touring bindings.

• Crampons for your skis.

• Climbing skins.

• Poles, adjustable with big baskets.

• Ski touring boots.

• Back pack, about 35 litres

• Clothes for skiing.

• Extra underwear.

• Down jacket, Lightweight.

• Extra gloves.

• Sunglasses.

• Ski goggles. 

• Sun block (minimum spf 20) .

• Thermos.

Accommodation

Accommodation is provided at Hotel Riksgränsen in a shared skier room, including breakfast. Single rooms can be booked subject to availability for an additional fee.
Your accommodation is reserved from Sunday, which is the arrival and travel day, and check-in is available from 15:00. The course begins on Monday at 09:00, and you will spend six days ski touring and participating in the course from Monday through Saturday. Sunday is the departure day, and check-out is no later than 11:00.
If you are travelling alone, you will normally be accommodated in a private skier room. Please see the prices below and select "Private Skier Room" when booking. 
 

Prices 2027

Shared skier’s room: SEK 18,900
Shared double room: SEK 21,900
Single skier’s room: SEK 24,300  
If you are traveling solo, you will primarily be booked into a single skier’s room.