Jokkmokk winter market

Currently in Abisko we have a lovely snowstorm. The wind starting blowing on Monday night and we had plus degrees so on Tuesday morning I could actually see the bare ground again much to my disappointment! But this morning when I woke up after another extremely windy night there was new fresh snow and a struggle getting to work in blowing snow conditions but it does make you feel alive that is for sure. Just have to love the extreme weather! So the weekend just passed I was in Jokkmokk which is about 4 ½ hrs from here. Jokkmokk has an annual winter market which is a great festivity with lots of Samii traditional things and stuff to buy. Actually it started as a big get together for all the Samii people but nowadays I think it attracts people from all over the world. I have never seen so much fur for sale, reindeer, fox, wolf and seal fur. There was a salesperson all dressed up in fur from top to toe, incredible, deffo not a place for an antifuractivist he he he. I mainly admired all the Samii people and their wonderful outfits and their cute little boots. For me there were three highlights of the market, the amazing beer tent which was like a huge pyramid tent and just the idea of having this beer tent in the middle of winter with these huge heaters blasting inside it was just such an awesome idea and so atmospheric. The second was the reindeer racing, which involved a reindeer and a sled where a person laid down on and tried to hold on as well as they could, if they came off the sled then they were disqualified. Third and probably the thing that made the biggest impression on me was the concert we went to on Saturday evening, it was a Samii band from Norway called Niko Valkeapää that just blew me away. Such nice music and what a beautiful language Samii is wow. I bought the cd and I reckon it is already one of my fav ones!!! The sleeping quarters in Jokkmokk was rather basic we all stayed in a school so there was about 10 people in one classroom on mattresses. I mean Jokkmokk is rather small maybe about 3000 people normally but when the market is on there is about 30 000 people!!! And they have the most wonderful church in Jokkmokk it looks like a fairytale church and specially covered all in white soft snow. After the market we headed to Dundret, just outside Gällivare, for some downhill skiing (first time this year in Sweden that is). I finally got to test out my skis and I was very pleased with them. All in all I had a wonderful weekend and I can’t wait for this weekend when I will be hitting the slopes in Björkliden and now with the new fresh snow arriving it will be sweet ahhhh snow….. Photos can be found here : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28270&l=029d3&id=541301820

and a video of the reindeer that nearly escaped the racing here:

http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=0D48A1B6D8BE11DCBBF4000423CEF5B0

Reindeer racing
http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=7648F426D8BF11DC8D8C000423CEF5F6

Niko Valkeapää
http://www.jumpcut.com/view?id=08A3B420D8C311DC9D78000423CEF5F6

Kiruna snow festival on Australia day

Happy Australia day to all my Aussie buddies out there. I had nearly forgot all about it until this morning!!! Shame on me aye. I spent the day in Kiruna today as the annual snow festival was on in the city, which means snow sculptures, polar dog show, snowboarding and skiido tricks and of course the famous ark exhibition. For those who do not know what an ark it is a small moveable hut that is placed out on the ice to give you some cover while you are ice fishing. Some of these little huts are very well set out and normally has some kind of heating in them so you can sit for hours out on the ice. On the way into Kiruna with Camilla we admired the sun which still is not visible in Abisko so we were pleased to see the “arrival of the sun”.
Once we arrived in Kiruna we had a look at the snow sculptures and to our amazement we bumped in to some aussie people that had the Australian flag with them. So we asked to borrow it for a photo shoot =) Then we had a look at the huskie dogs and Liéggas came in third place in the competition well done! I had a look at some of the snowboard tricks and to my amazement there was a very young boy around 10 maybe that were doing these jumps no fear whatsoever you just have to admire that. Unfortunately we missed the skiido show but just seeing the ramp that they would have gone off was scary… So my favourite snow sculpture was of a piece of cheese (unfortunately not edible he he he). First when I saw the sculpture I didn’t think much of it but on our way back to the train I had a closer look and saw a little mouse on it =) Managed to get a nice photo of the kiruna mine as well, looks kind of like a spaceship that has landed next to the city. A wonderful day with snow and cold and beautiful huskies what more can you wish for you?

The sun on our way into Kiruna















Happy Australia Day!
















































Entrance to the snow sculpture park
















The cheese snow sculpture
































































One of the Arks from the outside













Ark inside












Ive taking a picture of Kiruna mine













Kiruna mine (spaceship)

Yes I can iceskate!

Just a little proof of my skating abilities. Photo taken by Ive which has a very nice website with photos from Abisko if anyone is interested check out http://www.ekru.eu/

Skating season on Torneträsk

So the ice has finally settled on Torneträsk, it is far from completely covered but quite large areas are now icecovered which means ice skating time. I was out yesterday nearby the research station and skating and I reckon the whole village was out on the ice it was wonderful with a pink/purple sky as the backdrop and the mountains. The ice had a very thin layer of snow on top but did not cause any problems when skating. Today a few of us went on another skating adventure for lunch and headed towards pålnoviken and we got a good 10km of skating on the lake. Sometimes this place is just too good to be true, days like these just makes you smile. The days are getting longer and you can already see a change in the light, it is a very good season coming up and I can't wait for the slopes to open up so I can do some downhill skiing. The picture was taken awhile back and it was one of them cold frost days when all the trees just look so lovely. It is actually the view from my balcony, overlooking Torneträsk, not bad I must say.

Thomas skating on Torneträsk

Ice skating on Torneträsk

Today the CIRC crew took a long lunch and went out on the lake Torneträsk and did some skating. I had never tried these "långfärdsskridskor" before they are a type of skates that you can use with your normal backcountry boots and longer than normal skates. I had a go and it was rather fun, it a was a little too windy though but made it fun going in one direction at least he he he.

Northern lights

Wow what an amazing aurora we had last night. I had just got into my pyjamas as I get a knock on the door and it's Camilla and Anok letting me know that there is this amazing northern lights. I quickly get my camera and down jacket on and boots and off I go in my pyjamas. And yes for sure the whole sky was lit up with a green light and then it turned pinkish and moved rapidly over the evening sky, it is such an incredible phenomena. People always wonder how you cope with the long darkness up here in the North of Sweden and I have just one answer to this!!! White snow and beautiful "discolight" in the sky! I managed to get some half decent photos of the northern lights which I hope you will all enjoy. Arctic Sweden rocks!!!

Anok, Liéggas and Sii'vo chilling in Camilla's mums kitchen.
















Sii'vo, what a handsome boy!


















Liéggas
















Liéggas, Anok and Sii'vo posing
















Feeding time after dogsled run.













Apelsintallen (Orangetree)



















Out skiing in Abisko
















Dogsled came by when we were out skiing.

Back in Abisko

I am back in the little village again. I have now been here for two weeks and I am very happy to be back. A winter without snow is just hard to imagine I think. I have got another contract with Umeå University so I am working with CIRC again until the end of May next year. So I will spend the whole winter season up here. I am living in a different flat compared to before, it is a little bit smaller but I now have a balcony overlooking torneträsk, not a bad view I would say. I have also got 2 pairs of skiis now, my backcountry skiis and my downhill ones, ready to hit the slopes at Riksgränsen and Björkliden when they open up in the beginning of February. I have been out 4 times with my backcountry skiis, once in Kiruna and there I had the pleasure of skiing as the northern lights lit up the sky. On saturday I was out on the "kungsleden" and there are some places which are needing a little more snow but it was a nice day out there. Unfortunately we had a little storm on saturday night and a lot of the snow blew away so I am hoping for a nice downfall soon. Otherwise life in Abisko is relaxed and I am totally enjoying it, must be getting old... I have even started knitting!! I am making my first jumper and it is purple of course =)
Another very exciting thing that has happened is that I have got research money from the Swedish research board called FORMAS. This means I will get to do a post doc in Brisbane, Australia next year. At the moment I am planning on going over there for October/November next year. Will be a big change for me both when it comes to my research work and climate. From mainly a polar researcher to a subtropical researcher he he he. I do like my extremes!
I promise to put up some photos from Abisko soon and also some photos of Camilla's and her sister's lovely huskies. Anok (Camilla's dog) actually recognised me, or so I like to believe...