Some recent riding, Västerbotten is not too bad after all
The current drought in the mountains around here is terrible, not a flake of snow for around two weeks now. Hopefully it ended today, spars rumours of snowfall have emerged, but nothing is confirmed yet and the forecasts don't look too promising either. I spend my days in the city, working, riding my bike and reading back issues of TAR. I thought I might show some pics from the nice trips I have done since Christmas, first in Kittelfjäll over New Years and then Borgafjäll last weekend.
New Years was surprisingly warm, just a few degrees below zero, but as dark as always. The snow was good, and the crew was brilliant as usual.
The trees around Kittelfjäll are brilliant
On the lake headed for Daune, New Years Eve
Whoops, slabs ahed. Properly unstable on Daune, around the tree line.
We ran into some stability issues on Daune, but also on Kittelfjället and in Matsdal there were some funny layers. Especially Matsdal, offering thick wind slabs on top of around 30cm+ of facets, be careful if going there! Those facets will probably stay there until spring, nasty stuff.
Matsdal, views before the ride
Venture in ride mode, Andrea gearing up
Two weeks later Borgafjäll showed us awesome weather, and the days were already much longer. Good snow could still be found, but with no precipitation for over a week there was also a lot of cement. This time we also lured Emil to come with us, I hope you had a good weekend in spite of the lack of espresso bars and Italian restaurants.
The first day we went up Borgahällan, had lunch on the top with not so much as a breeze and rode down the big prominent gully that one can see from the village.
Pale morning sun, Borgafjäll
Emil breaking trail for me, Andrea and Maria in the glowing sun
Maybe the lonliest pine tree I have ever seen.
Vast spaces and funny faces on Borgahällan
The second day we went up to Jenjen and Klöverfjället, the classic tour around Borgafjäll. Still nice and sunny, warm at elevation and freezing cold in the valley. The snow on Jenjen was not too bad, nice wind affected powder.
Whoops, some recent activity on Klöverfjället
The steep lines on Klöverfjället had avalanched spontaneously, the whole face looked like a war zone. We took very conservative line choices going up and down Jenjen, and then rode Klöverfjället on the other aspect, usually called "the tourist line", which was safe as concrete.
David taking pictures of the rest of the crew on the slopes of Jenjen
Toilet with a view
Some nice riding was had, more than a few smiles and laughs, good times. Thanks everybody who came along and special thanks to David for a few of his pics. Next time I will try go get some more decent riding shots, promise!