TobiasGranath, anotherSwedishguide, arrives
in thenight to joinus.Living foryears inChamonix,
playingprofessionalhockey in theFrench league to
feedhisskiaddiction,he’dalwayswanted tobecome
aguide.Beforehisbodywascompletelydestroyedby
thebrutalityofhockeyhequit to focusonmountain
pursuits, achievinghisguide ticketandmoving to
Engelberg,Switzerland.Today,heandOdénhave
theireyeson theQuestionMarkCouloiracross the
valley, so-named for itsodd,wraparoundentrance.
Gearingup,weskidown thesnowmobile
trailbefore turningoffafterakilometreorso to
head toward theQuestionMark.Snowsinkswith
isothermiceasebeneathourskisasweplodacross
valley tundra.Thezigzagclimbupposes few
problemsuntilwecrestaridgeandmust removeour
skis tocrossafieldof shatteredrock,wherearenewed
wind threatens to liftus into theatmosphere.
Whilewehuddle toremoveourclimbingskins,
theguidesrope into thecouloir’sentrance,which
theyfind tobe farsteeper than the35-40degreeswe
hadbeen toldby lodgeemployees; it is, in fact,over
50degreesandveryexposed.Not thebestplace fora
photoshoot, it’sdecided, andweretreat to less-gnarly
adjacentchutes, splitting intosmallergroups.
With theothersbusyphotographing,Odénand
Imakehundredsof turns inperfectcornsnow to
thevalleybottom,wherewesteer throughbirch
corridorsandhouse-sizedboulders fromanancient
rockfall.Eating lunch in theshelterofoneof these
large, angularblocks,wewatch therestofourgroup
descend theirrespective lines–aswellasayoung
couplewhoworkat the lodgewhoarecarefullyside-
slipping theQuestionMark, indicating that itwas
indeed toosteep toski.Theseslopesarebigger than
they look, everyoneameredot in thedistance.
Over thenext fewdays, thedramaticmountains
provegood for testingclothing,great forphotos, and
wonderful for the typeofmagicskiing tobe found
only in the late lightof thespring.Around6pmonour
lastnight, ahelicopter landsoutside thestation to lift
thegroup toaneveningshootnearKebnekaise. In the
kindofhappycoincidence thathappensonly in the
remotestoutposts, thepilot turnsout tobe thesame
onewho, a fewyearsback,flewJimmyandSara toa
nearbysummit for theirwedding.
Afteranunreal session, thegroup returnson the
raysof thesettingsun, spilling from thechopper
withbeatificsmiles, as if eachhas foundanother
reason to live.Which, of course, youalwaysdo in the
mountains–whetheryou’reaguide, aclothier, or
just someonewho likes toelevenate in thesnow.
svenskaturistforeningen.se, elevenate.com
NorwegianfliestoKiruna fromStockholm.Book
flights,ahotelandarentalcaratnorwegian.com
Northvs
south
Kebnekaisehas two
peaks – a solid rock
northernpeak, and a
glacial southernpeak.
The southernpeakhas
alwaysbeen thehighest,
but perhapswon’t be for
much longer.Warming
temperatureshavemeant
it has loweredover time,
falling22m from 1902-1914.
The southpeak reachedan
all-time lowof 2,097.5m
last year– just 70cmhigher
than thenorthpeak–
thoughacoldwinter (and
more ice) saw it riseback
to2,102m this July.
North
peak
South
peak
1902
2015
2,097m
2,097m
2,121m
2,102m
“The landscapescreams
Pleistocene–as if the
icesheets thatcarved
thesesharp-edged
mountainsretreated
onlydaysbefore”
n
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