The sun rose and burst through our flimsy curtains. I check my watch - 06:40 - I'm not getting up yet! After a filling breakfast, we bought our skipasses (£60 for two days) and headed into the hills...
Our two hour warm up started on the pisted area. Despite its short vertical drop of only 460 meters, there is plenty to do. The absence of trees on the slopes allows for almost unlimited off-piste snowboarding, as you can descend wherever there isn't a rock! Perfect practice for heliboarding...
Riksgränsen's remoteness and extreme northerly location that give this ski resort its charm. It also offers heliskiing (or heliboarding!) at some of the cheapest rates in the World.
After the briefest of safety briefings, we took to the skies in search of our first run. The helicopter touched down on Giron, we quickly strapped on our boards and headed South across the summit plateau. The sastrugi bounced us all over the place, but once we got into the gulley the riding was smooth and enjoyable all the way to the waiting helicopter.
Drops two, three and four were all around Kåtojåkka - the snow was even better here! And after rescuing my snowboard (the guide took it off me and then dropped it down the mountain!?!), we flew to Tjåmuhas for the final run of the day.
The flight back to base, across the Swedish, fells was stunning. We celebrated this wonderful experience with a few beers and a great meal at the Meteorologen Ski Lodge.
Wandering back to the room, we were fortunate enough to witness the "best Northern Lights Riksgränsen has seen all season". Great end to a great day!
Our two hour warm up started on the pisted area. Despite its short vertical drop of only 460 meters, there is plenty to do. The absence of trees on the slopes allows for almost unlimited off-piste snowboarding, as you can descend wherever there isn't a rock! Perfect practice for heliboarding...
Riksgränsen's remoteness and extreme northerly location that give this ski resort its charm. It also offers heliskiing (or heliboarding!) at some of the cheapest rates in the World.
After the briefest of safety briefings, we took to the skies in search of our first run. The helicopter touched down on Giron, we quickly strapped on our boards and headed South across the summit plateau. The sastrugi bounced us all over the place, but once we got into the gulley the riding was smooth and enjoyable all the way to the waiting helicopter.
Drops two, three and four were all around Kåtojåkka - the snow was even better here! And after rescuing my snowboard (the guide took it off me and then dropped it down the mountain!?!), we flew to Tjåmuhas for the final run of the day.
The flight back to base, across the Swedish, fells was stunning. We celebrated this wonderful experience with a few beers and a great meal at the Meteorologen Ski Lodge.
Wandering back to the room, we were fortunate enough to witness the "best Northern Lights Riksgränsen has seen all season". Great end to a great day!
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