Cross Country Skiing in Kiruna, Sweden

In January of 2014 I went to Kiruna and tried Cross Country Skiing for the First time! We searched for the Northern Lights in the dark, but sadly didn’t find any. Here’s what did happen:

Notice the pre-made ski tracks—very helpful for gliding along.

Time to get started!

 

 

Having never actually done this before, I found that cross country skiing was mildly easy to pick up, but takes practice to become a pro. During the first five minutes we had to go up a hill–an obstacle that made me go backwards more than once. And then promptly down the hill–an obstacle that made me fall.

Within 30 minutes, I got the hang of things and was moving along. Having said that, plenty of people will definitely pass you if you’ve never done it before. At first I would get out of the cross country track and let them go by, but before too long, I realized they know enough about what they’re doing that they’ll get out of their tracks and go around you. Sadly, we lost our way and found ourselves on the expert track….aka the toughest.

You can see from the pictures though that there are tracks you put your skis in and these are quite helpful at moving you along without turning left or right!

 

I rented skis from Camp Ripan for 200 SEK for a full 24 hours. So even though we rented them at 9pm, we were able to continue using them until 9pm the next day.

Camp Ripan with Northern Lights above it (this is not a common experience).

 

Click here to read about the Ice Hotel in Kiruna, click here to read about Dog Sledding in Kiruna, click here to read about how to see the Northern Lights, and click here to read about the town and my hotel/hostel accommodation experience.