Activities In Sweden goes to Lapland

It's a hard job but someone's got to do it!

Visiting our suppliers on a regular basis is an important part of our yearly routine. Not only do we receive a lot of important feedback and ideas but we also have a great time as well!

This is how our view days paned out.

Day 1
Our accommodation during the stay was the newly opened Arctic Eden. Previously a school, this building has been lovingly restored to incorporate 32 luxurious rooms in this now modern hotel.

It's now become the primary hotel for our Winter Activity Packages and we believe it to be the best in the region. The hotel exceeded our expectations and we are confident that everyone spending time at this hotel, will be as impressed as we were.

The morning was cold, very cold. -8 in fact and this would surely drop as we ventured out into the open wilderness. Just as well that the hotel provides all the winter clothing your going to need during your stay. This first class gear is provided in a range of sizes and will provide you with all the protection you need when venturing out into the Arctic.

We took a short car journey to where our first activity for the day would take place, a snow mobile safari!

After a brief description of the controls, the was engine fired up and we took our seats. These 650cc scooters have blistering acceleration and a top speed of 100km/hr, great!

We moved off cautiously as we made our way to the beginning of the trail, at which point we started to accelerate up the hill and we all made it safely to the first way point.

You realise almost immediately that there is nothing around you for miles. If it wasn't for the din of the engine you could be on the moon. No time to ponder now, we rev up and drop down in to what turns out to be a frozen lake at the bottom of a small valley.

With ever growing confidence the speeds begin to increase as the valley opened up into what was a breathtaking sight, flanked by a ridge and forest. All this though quickly flies past your eyes and ears as you race towards an opening and a small track appears at the edge of the forest.

The forest is a completely different challenge to the open valley. Weaving in and out of endless forest requires a little concentration,as well as a little nerve. Many visitors and novices to snow mobiles tend to spend quite some time getting through this part of the forest but luckily we manage to make short work, of it as we press onwards.

We meet up with a couple of elderly cross country skiers, who are not too pleased to see us. In fact, the leading lady panics a little losing control and almost falling to the ground. We make our apologises and then continue to press on as the forest finally opens up into want appears to be a large field.

We're instructed to cut our engines and spend a few moments just taking in the piece and calm. Everything is white totally white. The branches on the trees hang low from the weight of frost and snow. Nothing moves, nothing! The cool air is fresh and crisp and I was to later learn a great sleeping aid.

We moved off for the last leg of our trip, which took us down into a large valley and then round a sweeping bend towards our destination, the Ice Hotel.

I don't think there was an awful lot that could have turned our gaze away from the beauty of the endless valley that we had found ourselves in, but the Ice Hotel was one such thing.

Not fully complete the hotel would not open until the 13th Dec but it was still a wonderful sight. People were everywhere. The whole site was a mass of activity as sculpture scrapped and chipped at the newly laid blocks of ice.

The interior was taking shape with dramatic pillars of ice, sculpted into weird and wonderful shapes. Designers from all over the world occupied the design suits, as they painstakingly carved their masterpieces, consisting of chairs, tables, beds and accessories.

This year will truly be a busy year for the Ice Hotel, with many of their rooms already sold out.

We left the Ice Hotel to continue is rebirth from the Thorne River where it originates. The light was already dimming considerably and it was only 14:00.

We made our way back through the deep forests with our headlights becoming more and more useful as the disappeared in an ever darkening forest. We stopped off on the way to take a look at one of the Wilderness cabins that we use for our Wilderness Packages.

This typically traditional Swedish cabin is located on the side of a valley and surrounded by thick forest. On a clear night you just have to step out of your door and look up to see the Northern Lights dancing overhead.

We managed to cover 80km on our first outing in Kiruna. Not bad going really considering the temperature had dropped to -18 by the time we made our final approach back into Kiruna, ouch!

Day 2
It had been a great night sleep when emerged for breakfast. 'Did anyone feel the rumbles?', asked one of my staff. Yes, indeed we did but what was it, an earthquake? Well, it wasn't a million miles from the truth. A member of the hotel staff informed us that it was explosions from deep under the ground from the mine, something that they do every night from around 01:00. It's nothing to keep you awake but it's definitely there and it's a very strange sound.

I spent the following night waiting for it and I was not disappointed, as the unmissable echo and thud from below could be both felt and heard.