Tielma Productions: April 2011

Happy camper

Linda Sandgren, a happy camper, after a day of freeriding, Storhaugen, Lyngen, Norway.

A white canvas...

A white canvas just waiting to be ridden, Johan Rydström leaving his tracks on Storhaugen, Lyngen, Norway.

Storhaugen

Johan Rydström enjoying the incredible view and perfect conditions of Lyngen, Norway.

I've met Aussies in Whistler but had no idea that they'd made it as far as Norway. I guess they've finally figured out that there's a bigger ride on the white stuff. Take a guess which group the Aussies are in?

Tracks in the snow...

Johan Rydström climbing Storhaugen, Lyngen, with a half meter of powder just waiting. Needless to say, we weren't the only ones...

Lyngenfjorden

Johan Johansson leading his group up Storhaugen with Lyngenfjorden in the background, Lyngen, Norway.

Take a bite out of that!

Johan Rydström biting into way to much to ski in Lyngen, Norway

Summit!

Johan Rydström after descending from the summit of Rombakkstøtta.

Backcountry touring

Kalle Engström leading his group up the back side of Rombakkstøtta, Narvik, Norway.

Rombakkstøtta

Linda Sandgren approaching Rombakkstøtta under deteriorating conditions.

Kaisepakkte

Bjarne making the most of good conditions on Kaisepakkte (Everybody else ended up skiing in the rain...). Thanks Kalle!

Herrklumpen

Linda Sandgren enjoying soft snow on the backside of Herrklumpen with the Sylarna massive in the background.

When in doubt, go out.

Forced back once again by high winds, Kaj Söderin and I chose not to venture further due to the 100 km/hr winds blowing over Sylarnas summit.

Racist!

STF, the Swedish Tourist Federation, is a non profit organization that runs the Mountain station in Sylarna. As such, STF is not a hotel or they would hold a monopoly being the only service provider on public land. I broached this issue with one of the climbing instructors from Girls Get Higher, a SKF initiative to encourage women to climb in the alpine. Catering, to me at least, seems to be an obvious move toward a for profit organization, it's just a stone's throw from flying in suits from Stockholm for an exclusive dinner in a mountain setting. The instructors response was beyond anything I could have expected, "If you don't like it here maybe you should go live in a different country."

I had no idea, even after the Swedish Democrats took 6% of the popular vote in the last election, that I was living in a country where there are people who seek out the mountains that are racists. I couldn't help but ask if she'd voted for the bigots...