Life in the freezer – Part 1. Pre season preparation with how to build a Lavvu!

The following blog post and subsequent posts from Sweden are written by Sarah Skinner and part of a new series of blogs that chronicles the adventures as a Northern Light photographic guide in Northern Sweden over the winter months……….

 

On November 19th I jetted off from London’s Heathrow airport bidding farewell to the UK, not forever, but for a four month assignment as a northern light photographic guide for Lights Over Lapland (www.lightsoverlapland.com) in Sweden’s far north.  250km north of the Arctic circle to be exact.  Abisko, Sweden was about to become my home, a land far away from all familiarities, my husband, friends, family and of course my little cat. Saying goodbye to everyone was not an easy task, it never is, but an epic adventure awaited, an opportunity that I know was going to excite and challenge me at the same time.

Getting off the plane in Kiruna I was greeted by a vast and desolate icy landscape, indeed its ‘s area I have visited before so this was not too much of a shock to the senses. However, this time the feeling was different, no longer was I about to be a tourist passing through, but a temporary resident of this beautiful, yet harsh environment. I was also about to say goodbye to the sun for at least 2.5 months and so as we took the drive from Kiruna to Abisko I said goodbye to it for the last time.

I was joined by Andy and I arrived a week earlier than I was due to start guiding, allowing me time to adjust and to even out the ‘goodbyes’ a little. Ofcourse, he was rather happy at the opportunity to join me for a week to help in getting me ‘settled in. More like a great excuse to come along and get some shots of the aurora if you ask me!

Soon enough I wished Andy goodbye, but knew he would be out again over Christmas. So there was no time to be sad and time to crack on with getting together with the rest of the team. A really fun and great bunch of people, including excellent photographer Oliver Wright (www.oliverwrightphotography.com), mountain guide Nicolas and of course my new boss and owner of Lights over Lapland, Chad. We had the first important task of the season, getting one of the teepees ready for the nightly tours.

There are three locations in which we host guests in the National Park but only one of them needed erecting. So Chad, Oliver, Nicolas and I set about getting it built. Before I carry on here, I have been using the word ‘Teepee’, when actually this is technically incorrect. What we needed to erect was in fact a ‘Lavvu’ – which is an incredibly important structure in Sami culture and effectively a temporary dwelling used by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia to follow their reindeer herds. Granted this is similar to that of a Native American Teepee, however the design and structure of a Lavvu is a little different and much more stable in high winds and thus better suited to Arctic conditions.