Fjällräven Polar: The Route

Fjällräven Polar is the journey of a lifetime. With more applicants each year applying, the event is one of the biggest Fjällräven happenings of the year. But where exactly are you heading on the journey of a lifetime? The route itself follows long stretches, over 300km, and passes through numerous reindeer habitats. Below is a step by step account of the route and incredible locations that you will visit on Fjällräven Polar.

Meet and Greet: Stockholm

The participants start their journey staying in a hotel together in Stockholm where they will be kitted out with gear and given basic cold weather and survival training. It’s a chance to choose your gear, and get to know the other participants before venturing further North.

Training Day: Tamok Valley

On the second day the participants will gather in Tamok valley, south of Tromsø, for further training. The topics will cover nutrition, sleeping in snow and how to manage your sled. It’s also the first chance for participants to meet their guides who will give some first hand tips for what to expect when venturing across the arctic. It’s an early night for everyone to keep fit before embarking on Fjällräven Polar early the next morning.

• Day 01: Signaldalen Valley

This is where the adventure really begins and when the participants meet their sled-dogs for the first time. . On the first day the participants spend the early hours of the morning organising and harnessing their dogs. When the starting gun is fired, they take off up the valley towards the mountain. This is probably the hardest part of the route with a 600 metre climb over less that 20km upwards through the Scandinavian mountains.

Lunch stop on the first day is at Mt. Pältsa, in Sweden’s northernmost alpine region and is located on the Norwegian border. Pältsa’s highest peak is 1 444 metres above sea level and is a nunatak - a peak that was exposed above the ice during the last ice age. For this reason is it pointy in comparison to the surrounding mountains.

The journey continues in the afternoon over fairly flat terrain. Everything looks the same, with white ridges and rounded mountains. The first campsite is by the lake Råstojaure, famous for its fishing. The lake and it’s surroundings are a well preserved Sami community with glittering rivers, red-bellied arctic char and open moorlands.

• Day 02: Kattuvuoma

On the second day, participants will travel through Tavvavuoma, one of Europe’s largest permafrost areas, where the land never thaws. This explains the characteristic landscape with its endless wave formations. The dog sleds travel over low, rounded hills along an endless route of red trail markers that show the way to Kamas, a settlement that consists of a couple of houses plus a number of small reindeer keepers’ cottages.

The day ends after travelling tens of kilometres down from above the tree line and entering icy forests until hitting the village of Kattuvuoma. Participants pass the village to make camp for the night on the frozen waters of Lake Kattujärvi, where there is a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights.

• Day 03: Sevvovouma 

The journey from Kattuvuoma to Sevuvouma  where the final night of Polar is spent is fairly flat to begin with, and then takes a turn into a rollercoaster of travelling through forests and lakes leading up to the infamous steep slope where many have fallen in the past. The final night of Polar is spent camping at Sevvovouma, where participants spend the night without tents and have to build their own snow camp and fire before sleeping out in the open.

• Day 04: The Finish Line at Väkkäräjärvi

On the last day of Polar, the goal is to cross the finish line at Väkkärä. However, before finishing the expedition you will take part in the fire exam. The purpose of which is to start a fire using only a knife and carbon steel - skills that have been taught earlier in the trip. After the finish line a sauna, ice bath, a three course meal plus an after party with live bands awaits you.

The route of Fjällräven Polar is an incredible experience and is truly the journey of a lifetime. To apply or learn more about Polar click here. But it’s not only about the route; the friends you will meet will become family and the experience of the extreme cold plus the highly skilled sled-dogs will give you an adventure you will never forget and memories that will last you a lifetime.