LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1195800
38 Winter 2019 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk climbing wall, and special bedrooms where guests can stay with their pets. Trails and routes up trailless peaks started from the lodge door. Rather than cook our own food we took the meal option and didn't regret it. The three course dinners were outstanding. The first included reindeer black pudding with pork, apple, leeks, and lingonberries. The second was local Arctic Char with parsnip, potato puree, and juniper cucumber. For dessert we had raspberr y and blueberr y pie à la mode. Breakfast was simple but delicious and hearty. We made our own lunches and filled our thermos with hot cocoa or tea, and we each had a water bottle with a powdered lingonberr y drink. How much for all this you ask? A bunk in a 12-bunk room is around $44 a night, while our rooms were $62 per person. Dinner was $25 per person. Bennett's rental skis were too cool. Some people select skis because of their color. In this case they were cool because of their endorsement. We think of contemporar y athletes en- dorsing products. We're used to seeing basketball stars like LeBron James recommend, in his case, Powerade and Dunkin. Some folks have staying power like Michael Jordan, who is still hawking under wear even though he retired in 2003. Do any of them have the staying power of Roald Amundsen? Amundsen, who led the first successful expedition to the South Pole in 1911, was featured on Bennett's Amundsen Åsnes skis with half a portrait on each ski. Now that's staying power. Early the next morning we headed out on the trail. Once you leave the proximity of the lightly forested area around the lodge, you're in open countr y with unlimited visibility on a clear day. Our day wasn't. It was lightly overcast with tem- peratures around 35ºF, making the snow soft enough for good skiing. Our plan was to ski 10 miles uphill to the Sylarna Fjäll- station, located in a cirque-like area surrounded by treeless peaks, and take a layover day to explore. Because the countr yside is treeless there's no place to nat- urally put trail markers. Instead, ever y 40 meters (130 ft) are tall poles with a red X similar to a railroad crossing sign. When the clouds roll in (which they do) or the snow is blowing hard (which it does), the posts are literally lifesavers. We skied at a leisurely pace, and at lunchtime got to an emergency wind shelter located halfway between the fjällsta- tions. It was a beautiful afternoon with clear skies, no wind, and great ski conditions. As we approached the Sylarna Fjäll- station the sun started to set behind the mountains and the temperature dropped, making us glad we'd arrived. At the fjällstation there were just the three of us and a Swedish/German group of six adults and three children. The next day's forecast predicted extreme winds with poor visibil- ity. We were glad we had planned a layover day, because when we woke, sustained winds of 40 MPH were blowing snow in ever y direction. We had a leisurely day including a short ski in some of the windiest conditions I've experienced since climb- ing Denali in 1971, where I learned what it was like to have a tent shredded by such winds. After a couple of hours outside we were happy to be back at the lodge. We were the only cus-