A Crossing of Finnmark
In February 2024, Daniel Jones and I will ski approximately 110km from near Alta on Norway's west coast to Karasjok on the Finland border. Our route will take us across the Finnmarksvidda plateau (or Finnmark in English), the largest in Norway, located north of the Arctic Circle.
I loved hiking in Greenland in July and want to do more summer backpacking in the Arctic. However, when I recently found I had the chance for a an unexpected week off work in 2024, I chose winter instead. These Arctic destinations are not easily accessible, even though they seem close in Europe. Traveling to the north of Sweden can take over three days. So, I've decided to go back to Finnmark, which is more logistically convenient than Sweden or Finland, and a route I'm familiar with from a previous crossing of the plateau in 2016.
Finnmark plateau, 2016
We plan to ski a 110km route, pulling small sleds, in about 6 days. The daily distance is manageable, with the longest day being around 20km. The route includes lightly forested areas, a frozen lake, and river, as well as extensive open ground. In February, temperatures may range from -5°C to -30°C, providing a realistic experience akin to a remote polar expedition.
A good portion of the journey will follow the ‘old postal route’ which was historically used to deliver post between the two communities of Alta and Karasjok. The former being the home of the Sami parliament of Norway.
The route spans most of the width of Norway. The Finnish border is shown in brown on the right.
Finnmark is huge, constituting about 15% of Norway's total land area. Once we leave Stilla, a small hamlet at the beginning, we'll be deep into the backcountry, experiencing that satisfying feeling of being 'out there.'
My new travel companion for this trip is Daniel, a former British soldier with decades of hiking and camping experience. He has leveraged his expertise to establish a popular wild camping community on social media. Daniel has also represented Great Britain in obstacle course racing and completed the challenging 160km Mongol ultramarathon on a frozen Lake Khovsgol in Mongolia.
All being well you’ll see us spamming social media with our images from mid February! For friends and family who are interested in following our journey, you can follow our progress from 4th February via this shared map. Our planned route will be show in red, and our actual location will be shown as blue dots/line.
