A SKI TOUR ON STORULVÅFJÄLLET
A couple of weeks before the winter holidays began, I took the chance to head up to Åre for some skiing. Partly to learn skate skiing, but it also turned into a few days of ski touring. On this particular day, we set our sights on Storulvån. The weather was nothing short of perfect: –10°C, crystal-clear air, and a vast, cloudless sky stretching endlessly above us.
We parked by the mountain station and set off along the tracks. Our original plan was to ski a “mini-triangle” of the Jämtland Triangle. That is skiing to Ulvåtjärn, then on to Enkälen and later Spåjmes wind shelters, before looping back to the station. But since we got a slightly late start, we decided on a shorter ascent up Storulvåfjället instead.
We chose to stay on the sunny side of the mountain, beginning along the trail toward Sylarna before we turned off to the right and climbing toward the summit.
The snow was rock hard. So compact in places that our skis barely left a trace. It hadn’t snowed properly here in over a month, and the surface had been sculpted into firm, wind-beaten ridges.
We paused for a quick coffee and had a look on the map. Given how icy and unforgiving the terrain felt, we realized the descent could be tricky, so we decided not to push all the way to the top.
On the way down, we stopped for lunch on the slope. The view was magnificent, with Sylarna and Helags rising on the horizon. The sun warmed our faces, the air was still, and for a moment everything felt perfectly calm. Absolutely wonderful.
After lunch, we continued down the mountain, crossed Ulvån River, and skied toward Lillulvåfjället. By then the sun was already beginning to sink, so we followed the winter trail back to the Storulvån mountain station.
It was a truly beautiful day in the Jämtland wilderness. In fact, the only other people we saw were a couple in the parking lot before we set off. Thanks Allan, Peter and Christer for another great adventure in the books.