SAMAYA x NUORREK

 

 

After a first major expedition combining sailing and mountaineering, Thibault and Loïc embark on the great winter crossing of the Sarek, taking with them long-time friends Guillaume, Basile and Mickaël. For us, they look back on the miles of pristine white, cold, isolation and camaraderie.

 

"We'd been scouting the Sarek Park for two years. It attracted us because there's very little civilization there, it's a wild place. Several expeditions have already taken place there, but it's still quite marginal at the very beginning of winter, because skis and pulkas can't get through, as the lakes aren't frozen yet.

 

Our idea was to be able to make the first winter track of the season, to open up the winter route.

 

Our only concern was that the lakes were not yet completely frozen. The footbridges installed in summer to cross the streams are dismantled in winter, making it difficult to cross the park. When in doubt, we took surf slippers with us, to cross these 0° C streams.

 

Arriving in Jokkmokk, the last small town before the park entrance, we were greeted like princes, with magnificent aurora borealis. We were surprised by a drastic drop in temperature, from 0°C to -25°C, just 100 metres above sea level. We took advantage of these last moments of civilization to pick up a few last warm items.

 

We had mapped out an initial 7-day itinerary of around 100 kilometers, with our 20-kilogram packs on our backs. We travelled on snowshoes, the best way to get around in these conditions. But we weren't making the progress we'd planned. As soon as we put weight on our snowshoes, we'd sink 50 centimetres, which slowed us down and made us tired. We took it in turns to make the trail and keep each other's energy up. We progressed at an average of 2 kilometers per hour.

 

On the first day, we covered 20 kilometers, walking for 10 hours non-stop and without taking time for lunch. We were a bit scared, because on this section, we were in a wide open space with no obstacles. The next 60 or so kilometers were "off-trail", in which we could find ourselves in a birch forest, with trees every 20 centimeters making orientation difficult and seriously slowing progress. The deeper we went, the less likely we were to be rescued in the event of an accident. At this time of year, snowmobiles can't get through, as the snow layer is still too light and could collapse, giving way to swamps not far below.

 

At the end of the first day, we had climbed a few hundred metres in total, in a grey atmosphere, surrounded only by snow and fir trees.

 

The second stage promised more ascent to reach another plateau. We got up very early, to make sure we could cover all the planned kilometers, and tried to stop for lunch in a small unguarded hut. Repeating our first day was unthinkable - our bodies wouldn't have lasted the whole expedition. We finally arrived at the hut later than planned, at around 2.30pm. The view above the mist was breathtaking, and it was wonderful to get a good view of the park. We'd covered about fifteen kilometers, five less than we'd planned. It would be dark in a couple of hours. If we stopped for lunch, we wouldn't be able to set off again.

 

Stopping to eat takes a lot of time, more than it seems. We had a major water problem that we hadn't anticipated. When we collected water from the streams, it froze in our canteens within an hour. To make food, we had to melt the snow to get enough water in our pan, which meant at least fifteen repetitions of melting snow in the container, a very long time.

 

We were tired and decided to stop for the day and rethink our route. In order to avoid the forests, we spotted a huge lake which, if it wasn't frozen, could be crossed by boats left at our disposal, and if it was sufficiently frozen, could be crossed on foot. Anything in-between would have made the crossing impossible.

 

So we set off on the morning of the 3rd day, with an incredible sunrise, a clear view and a sea of clouds lifting us out of the greyness of the previous two days. We were extremely lucky with the weather conditions. Usually, it's extremely cold and stormy. We managed to have a few days of fine weather, less wind than average and night-time temperatures didn't drop below -20°C. During the day, they fluctuated between -5° C and -15° C, which was fine since we were on the move.

 

Arriving at the lake, we were delighted to discover that it was frozen over. We immediately hit it with our ice axes to determine the thickness of the ice, which has to be 15 centimetres for us to be able to set foot on it safely. To be sure of the depth, we used a small spoon as a yardstick, using the gradation on the edge of the freeze-dried bags to get an idea of the centimetres. Our spoon-stand reassured us as it sank into the ice: we could pass. We repeated the operation as we went along, and made it to the other side safely.

 

At the end of this stage, we took another look at the map. We had spotted an emblematic valley peak not far away. We decided to go there the next day. On the way, we were lucky enough to come across some ptarmigan.

 

We set up our bivouac on a relatively flat area where we could unload our belongings and do this summit lightly. As we climbed, the weather cleared and we walked the last few meters in the sun, which was incredible. We walked in the tracks of wolves and wolverines. On the way back down to our bivouac, we watched a horde of reindeer on the move, which was really impressive. We approached them slowly, keeping a reasonable distance so as not to frighten them, otherwise they'd run until they couldn't stand it any longer. During winter, they can run like this up to a maximum of four times to escape predators. After these four times, they no longer have the energy or physical resources to do so. We enjoyed this spectacle, with the whole sky tinted pink as a bonus.

 

 

We were really lucky in the morning at the bivouac: we were quietly outside, with no wind, thawing out our shoes on the stove, after spending a superb, restful night in our Samaya3.0 and Samaya2.5 tents.

 

The next day, we walked through a mixture of fog and white, blurring the boundary between earth and sky. There was nothing. Except a single pebble.

 

At that point, the whole team was feeling good physically and mentally. Except for Basile, who had been a little ill. We switched back to the plateau and set off on a traverse, trying to keep up a fast pace. We stopped by a frozen lake at 2 p.m. to have lunch and try our hand at fishing. Despite our best efforts, we still ate our freeze-dried food that evening by the fire. Night fell, leaving behind a purple and pink sky. Sitting in the heart of the mountains, we watched a gigantic moon rise. At that moment, everything was perfect. We were well adapted to our environment, our clothes and our equipment. But the end of the adventure was already near!

 

For our last day, we were heading back down to altitude. There was still a lot of uncertainty, as we were going to cross segments that were less and less frozen, and we didn't want to end up with our feet in the water. We could feel the ice cracking under our feet. Whoever was in the lead acted as deminer: it was up to him to find the best passage. We took it in turns every 15 minutes to make the trail, so as to make rapid progress. We covered 20 kilometers in one morning. We were in fresh bear and moose tracks, and were redoubling our vigilance. We finally came across a family of elk not far away.

 

After 20 kilometers, we still had 10 to go to reach the car. We passed a Sami reindeer herder tinkering with his snowmobile, very surprised to see us here in these temperatures: he hadn't even been through the park at the start of the season.

 

Back in the car, we realized how quickly we were getting used to comfort again. Within an hour, our bodies had warmed up and released the pressure. As soon as we got out of the car, we were freezing in two minutes, having just spent 10 days outside at -20° C.

 

All that mattered was the warmth of our hearts: we were happy with this winter adventure and all the moments we shared together."