Comfortable hut based day touring in central Sweden. Our Jämtland Ski Touring week explores the remote mountains of central Sweden, staying in en suite rooms at a local ski centre and a remote but very comfortable, fully catered mountain hut. The area offers excellent ski terrain, reliable snow and scenic touring in a beautiful wilderness setting.

NB This trip travels on Friday out/Friday return.

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.

Skiing in Jämtland

We warm up with a couple of days touring based at a local ski centre not far from Åre (Sweden’s largest ski resort) in hotel standard accommodation, before skinning across frozen lakes and skidoo trails to a remote, but very comfortable mountain hut, surrounded by excellent backcountry ski terrain.

The hut is situated 9km from the nearest road in a nature reserve (home to both bear and lynx; we’ve seen lynx tracks in the forest whilst skiing…) The local microclimate here produces one of the best snow packs in Sweden and the surrounding mountains offer excellent ski terrain; with open summits, lovely views and powder descents in forests and glades. Many varied runs can be linked up in the area to make brilliant day tours. The cold continental climate creates great powder skiing, especially in the forests. Each evening we enjoy a hot shower, before fantastic home cooked food featuring local naturally sourced ingredients, which is a real highlight of the trip.

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Suitability

This is an intermediate level trip. To take part you should be at Fitness Level 3 and Tech Level 3 (see our Fitness/Experience guidelines below) including day or hut touring experience.  You must be able to handle all off piste conditions whilst carrying a day touring sac.  The trip includes 5-6 hour days with typically 800-1000m of ascent a day, at 3-400m per hour ascent rate – so you can expect to be skinning for 3-4 hours a day. Type of ascent: 100% skinning on this tour – approx. 6000m of skinning up 6000m of skiing down.

Guiding ratio

One IFMGA guide skiing with 6 clients.

Included in price

• 6 days of guiding
• All guides expenses
• 2 nights Hotel accommodation in Ostersund, including breakfast
• 5 nights accommodation in Mountain Huts, including breakfast and evening meal
• Travel during the trip in shared hire vehicle

Excluded from price (see course factsheet for extra cost estimates)

• Evening meals in Ostersund
• Taxis and Lift Passes
• Drinks and Hill Snacks
• Flights  (Friday out/Friday return, in order to make use of the best flight combinations)
• Insurance
• Equipment hire

Accommodation

Ostersund Hotel

Our hotel in Ostersund is close to the airport, making it handy for flights and offers an excellent breakfast each morning.

Ski Centre

The first half of the week we stay in en suite rooms at a comfortable ski centre, with a bar and restaurant service each evening – the centre lies at the roadhead, so access is easy.

Mountain Hut

For the second half of the week we stay at a remote mountain hut, in a cosy nordic cabin – the hut takes 2-3hrs to approach on ski. At the hut, our cabin has an indoor toilet and individual bunks for sleeping, but it’s more comfortable than a typical alpine hut – with bedding, towels and hot showers (showers are in a separate building) all provided. We have Scandinavian wood stoves for heating, kitchen facilities for hot drinks and all meals are provided in the main dining hall. As we are staying there for 3 nights, we can take in a few more luxuries than on a typical alpine hut trip – including beer and wine if desired! The food here requires a special mention – it really is excellent, with locally sourced ingredients always on the menu.

Our Multiday Ski Touring FAQs page answers some of the most common questions we are asked about multi day ski touring and logistics etc.

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 via Stockholm to Ostersund in central Sweden, short drive to our hotel in Ostersund.  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.

Saturday

Drive to Ski Centre and Warm Up Tour  

Our first accommodation is an STF mountain centre, 60 minutes drive away from Ostersund and not far from Åre, Sweden’s largest ski resort.

There is good mountain terrain right above the centre, with excellent touring and a choice of ski summits.

800-1000m ascent and descent ~5-6hrs

Sunday

Day Tour

Today we enjoy another day tour in the mountains around the centre, or another venue nearby.

There are numerous great tours in the area and few other ski tourers about.  This may include ski summits, or forest skiing depending on the weather.

~800-1000m ascent and descent.

Monday

Mountain Hut Approach

We start the day with a 2 hour drive to the road head, from where we skin 9km (2-3hrs) across frozen lakes and along skidoo trails, to our base for the next 3 nights.

After checking in, we head out for a half day tour in the surrounding mountains – all tours start right from the door, either skinning up behind the hut or along skidoo trails to nearby areas.

~4-600m ascent and descent.

Tuesday – Wednesday

Wilderness Day Touring

2 further days touring – the area is surrounded by mountains, which offer lovely skiing and numerous descents that can be linked up to make great day tours.

The cold continental climate in this area creates excellent snow conditions, particularly in the forests and glades.  There are also several nice ski summits that we can visit, in order to enjoy more distant views of the wilderness.

800-1000m of ascent and descent each day.

Thursday

Final days’ ski touring

We ski in the morning on the final day, before skiing out to the road and driving back to Ostersund.

We usually ski in one of the ranges that lie on the way to the car, in order to shorten the final skin out.

800m ascent and descent.

Overnight in Ostersund.

Friday

Early morning to airport for flights home.

Your meeting point for this trip is Ostersund (OSD) in the Jamtland mountains of Central Sweden. Ostersund is the gateway to a number of ski resorts and excellent touring venues in the region.

The most convenient way to reach Ostersund is fly to Stockholm on Friday 23rd Feb 2024, with connecting flights on to Ostersund (same airline). It’s a 3km taxi ride to the hotel.  Return to airport by taxi the following Friday morning 1st March to suit your preferred return flight time.

For travel during the trip, your guide will transport the team in a 9 seater minibus.

Flights

SAS offer flights from the Uk from London Heathrow via Stockholm, arriving in Ostersund at 15.35 and 17.55. Return flight options depart at 6.20 and 9.45am – visit the SAS website for full flight details and bookings.

The other way to reach Ostersund is to fly to Trondheim in Norway, as the Guide is flying here and collecting the minibus for the trip, before driving it to Ostersund (it takes 3 hours from Trondheim Airport to Ostersund).  There are suitable flights with KLM from Bristol, Glasgow and Leeds that depart for Trondheim on Friday morning at the start of the trip (arriving in Trondheim at 16.40) and return home on Friday teatime (departing Trondheim at 17.10).  If you want a lift from Trondheim Airport with the Guide, please contact us before you book your flights in order to confirm the logistics.

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 3, and Ski Tech Level 3:

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.