Our Bodo Ski Touring holiday explores this stunning coastal region of Arctic Norway. Little visited by skiers, the area offers a very diverse range of touring terrain; beautiful fjord scenery, coastal islands and inland alpine peaks – making it a very reliable location in a range of conditions. The area also boasts other natural attractions that we’ll be able to visit, including the Saltstraumen which is the worlds’ most powerful tidal maelstrom.  We stay full board on this trip, at a comfortable hotel with an excellent spa to relax in each evening.

Please visit our Covid-19 Ski Information page for Covid FAQs, details of our new participation requirements, travel advice and what to expect on your trip.

Trip Info

We stay in a comfortable hotel right next to the Saltstraumen maelstrom, which offers full board accommodation (breakfast, packed lunch and evening meal) each day.  This is a perfect location for accessing the principal skiing regions in the area, with good touring just a few minutes away, access to islands and fjords along Norway’s most scenic coastal road, the famous Helgalandskysten, as well as higher inland peaks around the Svartisen National Park.

The summits in the region are typically 800-1300m high, so ideal for day touring and importantly, there is also access to a number of different micro climates; with both coastal skiing and access to a drier, colder, continental snowpack further inland. Given the variability of Norwegian weather, this is a useful aspect for making the best use of current weather and snow conditions.  Feb-March is a great time to visit, with plenty of daylight, low temperatures for powder and a good chance of seeing the northern lights.

This trip travels on Friday out/Friday return, to make use of the best flight options.

Trip reports >> Report 1, Report 2

Suitability

This is an intermediate level trip. To take part you should be at Fitness Level 2-3 and Tech Level 3 (see our Fitness/Experience guidelines below). You need previous ski touring experience to join this tour – if you are a strong/fit skier, just a few previous days ski touring will be enough. The week includes 5-6 hour days with generally steady climbs, but also some steeper terrain involving kick turns and the odd short boot track to reach summits. Typically we’ll be doing 800-1200m of ascent a day (but this is at at sea level, with day packs on) – so you can expect to be skinning for 3-4 hours a day. Type of ascent: we use 100% skinning on this tour – approx 5000m of skinning up, 5000m of skiing down, all at sea level.

Guiding ratio

One IFMGA guide skiing with 6 clients.

Included in price

• 6 days of guiding
• All guides expenses
• 7 nights full board accommodation (breakfast, evening meal and packed lunch)
• Travel during the trip in shared hire vehicle

Excluded from price (see factsheet for cost estimates)

• Drinks
• Flights
• Insurance
• Equipment hire

Hotels

The hotel offers twin ensuite rooms, great food and an excellent spa area (with sauna, steam room and jacuzzi etc) which is open to guests each evening – there is also an open air hot tub available too. The accommodation is fully catered, with breakfast and evening meals taken at the on site restaurant and also includes a packed lunch each day. Hotel details can be found on our Accommodation page.

ABTOT Protected

This trip is protected by ABTOT – Alpine Guides Ltd, Membership Number 5394.  For further information, please visit our Financial Protection page.

Friday

Fly from UK to Northern Norway, meet your guide at the airport and drive to our hotel. Evening Briefing – your guide will run through kit checks and safety routines, before going on to discuss the current weather and mountain conditions and how these affect our plans. We’ll have maps and information on the area to show you, so if you’ve any further questions or last minute requests, then this is the ideal time to bring them up.

Saturday to Thursday

Day touring around Bodo

A wide variety of day tours are available, skiing from summit to sea.

Some of the most attractive ski tours in the area are found along the Helgalandskysten: this is renowned for being Norway’s most scenic coastal road (and they’ve quite a few to choose from!)

The area is home to dramatic coastal mountains and numerous offshore islands – some of the larger ones are accessible by bridges and offer great ski touring.  Needless to say, photo opportunities are excellent and we always stop to take shots of scenery and wildlife along the way.

Further inland, we have access to higher inner alpine summits around the Beiarn Valley – this area offers quite a different climate, being a far colder and drier continental snowpack, with views of distant icecaps and high arctic tundra scenery.

Outings are selected to cater for group interest, ski ability and the current snow and weather conditions.

During the trip, we stay at a comfortable hotel 30km from Bodo.

Saltstraumen

Saltstraumen is the world’s strongest tidal maelstrom – four times a day, up to 400,000,000 cubic metres of sea water are forced through the 150m wide channel between the inner and outer fjord, creating huge whirlpools up to 10m across.  These maelstroms have an almost hypnotic beauty, as they constantly swirl and evolve their way down the channel.

The huge tidal current is a very impressive sight, best viewed from the banks of the fjord or from the road bridge above – luckily, both locations are just a couple of minutes walk from our hotel, so the maelstrom can be easily viewed and photographed during the week.

Northern lights

The Aurora Borealis – or Northern Lights – are one of the elusive, magical sights of the Arctic.

There are plenty of good, dark locations to view and photograph the Northern Lights near to our accommodation.  Don’t forget to bring a warm down jacket, as it gets very chilly on a clear, cold night!

Caused by high energy particles from the Sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field, they are most likely to occur in the first part of the night in the northern half of the sky.

Nowadays there are Aurora forecasts available on the internet, in order to increase your chances of witnessing this unearthly natural phenomenon.

Friday

Early transfer to airport, flights home.

Your course meeting point is Bodo airport (BOO), reached via flights to Oslo, with connecting flights on to Bodo (same airline). Your guide will do one pickup from Bodo airport at 17.00-19.00 on Friday 8th March 2024 (final time TBC, depending on peoples’ flights). Please do not book flights arriving later than the pickup, to avoid the rest of the team having to wait too long! For transfer to our hotel and travel during the trip, the guide will drive a hire vehicle.

You will be dropped off the following Friday morning 15th March, in time for return flights from approx 6.30am.  Your guide will make one drop-off for the early flights, so if you wish to take a later flight you can arrange your own taxi from the hotel, or travel with the group and wait in the airport.

Flights

Norwegian offer flights from the UK from London Gatwick, Manchester (and Edinburgh – though 1.40 connection on way out), SAS offer flights from Heathrow (and Manchester – though 1.40 connection on way out), all via Oslo. Check the Sky Scanner flight comparison site for your best option. NB We advise you to allow 2 hrs transfer time in Oslo on the outward leg.

Further information and travel links can be found on our Travel Planning page.

To enjoy this trip you should be comfortable operating at Fitness Level 2/3, and Ski Tech Level 3:

Fitness Level 2
You do 2-3 hours cv training/sport per week. At this level you should be happy doing either a 3-4 hr hillwalk, cycling 30-40 miles or mountain biking 2-3 hours without being exhausted. On foot: you should be able to walk from Ogwen Cottage in North Wales up Glyder Fach – Glyder Fawr – Y Garn – Ogwen in ~5hrs. Or in the Lake District Langdale – Bowfell – Esk Pike – Angle Tarn – Langdale in ~ 6hrs. On skis: you are capable of off piste skiing all day or doing a couple of hours skinning with out finishing up exhausted – ie you can do this for a number of days without taking a rest day.

Fitness Level 3
You do 3-4 hours cv training/sport per week. At this level you are happy doing a 5-6 hr hillwalk, 40-50ml cycle or 3-4hr mountain bike ride without being totally exhausted. If you are into challenges – then the thought of doing a road sportive, or training to do a 1/2 (or maybe even a full) marathon, wouldn’t seem too ridiculous. On foot: you should be able to do the full Langdale Horseshoe: Langdale – Pike of Stickle – Angle Tarn – Bow Fell – Crinkle Crags – Pike of Blisco – Langdale in a day without finishing up exhausted. On skis: you can skin uphill at 300-400m/hr for 3-4 hrs a day (ie 8-1200m of ascent each day)

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Tech Level 3
Confirmed Off Piste Skier. You can put down a reasonable set of tracks in powder, but difficult snow types – eg heavy wet snow, crusts, poor visibility or 40dg slopes – can all cause problems (though you can cope with them safely, if not elegantly!) *Equivalent to Ski Club of GB Off Piste Level: Purple – Advanced*
Likely to say: ‘I’d like to handle difficult snow/steep slopes more confidently in better style’
Our Advice: Off piste coaching still useful. Intermediate off piste weeks are at your level too. If you want to get into ski touring, try a touring course or intro level ski tour. If you’re an established ski mountaineer, then intermediate level tours are generally suitable.

To view all of our Ski Fitness Levels and Off Piste Technical Levels, please visit our Ski Ability page.

If you need to top up your fitness for this trip, please see our Ski Touring Training Advice page.

Day Touring/BC Ski Course Equipment List

Just remember, every extra kilo on your back knocks 10% off your enjoyment on the descents – so try and keep the weight down!

Technical Clothing

• Waterproof Jacket – preferably lightweight and breathable
• Overtrousers/ski pants – preferably with side zips
• Fleece mid layer or equivalent
• Spare fleece or lightweight insulated duvet jacket
• Socks – specialist ski socks or a warm loop lined pair of mountain socks
• Wicking thermal top – not cotton please…
• Thermal leggings or ski pants
• Thin inner gloves
• Warm ski gloves or mittens, if you suffer from cold hands
• Warm hat

Personal Items

• Water container – at least 1 litre
• Personal medications and blister kit – regular meds, zinc oxide tape, compeed and painkillers etc
• Ski goggles
• Sun glasses – CE rated 3 or 4 with side protection
• Sun and lip cream – factor 30+
• Wallet, passport and insurance docs

Technical Equipment

• Rucsac 25/35l – try and avoid ones covered in too many features, just ski and ice axe attachments required
• Freeride boots or ski mountaineering boots – check detailed factsheet kit list for preferred boots
• Skis with touring bindings – check detailed factsheet kit list for preferred skis and bindings
• Ski strap – to keep skis together on your rucksack if we need to carry them
• Ski poles – with good size 5cm+ baskets (telescopic poles are not needed)
• Climbing skins – they come with the skis if you hire your kit
• Harscheisen (ski crampons) – they come with the skis if you hire your kit
• Metal snow shovel – must be a full metal shovel (plastic blades don’t work in real avalanche debris!)
• Avalanche probe
• Avalanche transceiver – must be a modern digital model (older analogue models are now obsolete)
• Ski helmet – a lightweight helmet is recommended for off piste skiing

NB An Ice Axe, Crampons and Climbing Harness are not required on this trip.

Your guide will have all other safety kit, first aid and survival equipment.

Recommendations and Advice
Visit the Knowledge Base section of our website, where we publish an annual review of the years best new skis, boots and touring equipment, plus a range of other interesting tips and recommendations. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch!

Purchasing Equipment
Backcountry UK in Otley offer an excellent ski touring boot fitting service, one of the best ranges of ski mountaineering equipment in the UK and top notch advice.

Hiring Equipment
Please visit our Equipment Hire page for recommended hire shops in your resort, and Alpine Guides hire equipment price list.

For this trip you must have specialist travel insurance providing medical, emergency search/rescue and repatriation cover for off piste skiing and ski touring, as outlined in the trip itinerary. We also strongly recommend that you purchase cancellation cover, in case you’re unable to attend your trip due to personal circumstances or injury. Please arrange your insurance as soon as your trip is confirmed to run.

Further details can be found on our insurance info page.