Current fjellski conditions in Norway?

[randoskier]

Does anyone have recent firsthand information of ski conditions in Norway.. say from Trondelag on up? (I never ski in the south) or in northern Sweden/Finland.

It was getting very warm when we finished our first tour this season and I see it got even warmer after, but is going to turn colder next week.

I want to get one more tour in but the Reisdalen has problems with the early river opening, same on the Vindelelva in Sweden. I am leaning towards Kirkenes at the moment and skiing Ovre Pasvik National Park along the Russian border and into Finland. Or maybe Kipisjarvi to Storlett staying high on the plateau and dodging the Resia river.

What is it like outside in your region? Lake ice? River ice? Snow pack?

Tusend takk!

[havuja]

Northernmost Finland:

Generally not very much snow this winter (apart from Kilpisjärvi region), but well enough for skiing and looks like it will last in the near future. Current heat wave has melted/evaporated some of the top layer; when it gets colder again the top layer will mostly carry the skier very well, also in low forested areas like Pasvikdalen and around. As easy as it gets.

Lake ice unaffected by the heat wave (well, possible overflow, not too bad at the moment where I've been, will get better with cold), no need to worry but pay attention as usual. Rivers are a MUCH bigger risk as usual, but relatively good situation.

[havuja]

About Kilpisjärvi region. Have not been there this winter, but suppose it did not get as warm lately as in lower areas. Most likely very good skiing conditions, and nice huts, but it has gotten so crowded there nowadays that I tend to head elsewhere if I want that kind of terrain. Highest parts of Finnmarksvidda for example. Perhaps you are more used to people and it is no concern.

[CwmRaider]

You already are familiar with the Senorge maps I think? Snødybde gives an estimate of snow cover.
https://www.senorge.no/map

I often use webcams to get a real idea of snow cover.

Here are webcams at DNT cabins in Trollheimen (Gjevilvasshytta), Sylan (Nedalshytta) and near Trondheim (Rønningen)
https://www.tt.no/webkamera/
The Nedalshytta camera is offline, check the picture dates.

Conditions in Trollheimen look great in any case.

Here is a webcam near Kirkenes:
https://www.la2k.no/en/about-us/webcam

I mentioned in another post: Beware when crossing water bodies this year. Snow fell shortly after the lakes froze over in Trøndelag and under the snow insulation, the ice tends to not get much thicker.

[randoskier]

Northernmost Finland:

Generally not very much snow this winter (apart from Kilpisjärvi region), but well enough for skiing and looks like it will last in the near future. Current heat wave has melted/evaporated some of the top layer; when it gets colder again the top layer will mostly carry the skier very well, also in low forested areas like Pasvikdalen and around. As easy as it gets.

Lake ice unaffected by the heat wave (well, possible overflow, not too bad at the moment where I've been, will get better with cold), no need to worry but pay attention as usual. Rivers are a MUCH bigger risk as usual, but relatively good situation.

Kiitos!

I am leaning towards flying to Kirkenes and skiing down the Pasvik valley along the Russian border (being mindful of my GPS position) then through Ovre Pasvik National Park and skiing across the Inari lake in Finland and flying out of Ivalo Airport. They expect quite a bit of snow this week and the temperature will remain below freezing (I would hope so at 69.7269° N, but it went up to 9° C for one day last week!).

I met a nice guy and his son during my ski tour in Trondelag, we shared a DNT cabin, he is a dairy farmer in the Pasvik Valley, his farm is right on the river, Russia on the other bank. He says the conditions are good right now and the ice secure, the lakes are very shallow in this region. I guess there are a lot of snowmobiles around Inari?

A lot of Finns live in the Pasvik valley.

Looks like the best bet, trying to work out the air travel now.

Ciao!

[havuja]

Great choice, life is so easy there in the forests compared to fjells. Pasvikdalen is northern tropics to me, especially in summer if coming from the barren coast. Like southern Carelia. More barren forests with exceptional wilderness feeling between the valley and lake Inari. On the lake, yes, plenty of snowmobiles especially in weekends if weather is good.

For orienteering you might want to rely more on the map and compass though, unexplained (occasional) gps signal malfunction in eastern Finland has been reported lately, something makes me think it won't be fixed very soon...

[trite]

Highly recommend windy.com, there's also an app. Very accurate snow depth information.

Snow cover for Norway

Also click the webcam icon in the bottom right corner, it'll show all available webcams in Norway. Zoom in closer, more webcam icons will appear. Also if you click anywhere on the map, for each location point it'll display nearby webcams.

Works really well for Sweden, too. Not as many webcams in Sweden though.

[CwmRaider]

For orienteering you might want to rely more on the map and compass though, unexplained (occasional) gps signal malfunction in eastern Finland has been reported lately, something makes me think it won't be fixed very soon...

@randoskier this is also true for easternmost Norway. GPS is sometimes unreliable there. For the same reason.
@trite that snow cover map on Windy indicates 0.8cm snow in Bymarka near Trondheim but there is on average about 50 cm. I think it is kriging from a reduced amount of data points. The webcam list is super useful though.

[randoskier]

For orienteering you might want to rely more on the map and compass though, unexplained (occasional) gps signal malfunction in eastern Finland has been reported lately, something makes me think it won't be fixed very soon...

@randoskier this is also true for easternmost Norway. GPS is sometimes unreliable there. For the same reason.
@trite that snow cover map on Windy indicates 0.8cm snow in Bymarka near Trondheim but there is on average about 50 cm. I think it is kriging from a reduced amount of data points. The webcam list is super useful though.

I always use a map and declination adjusted compass. I usually use the Hvor? app to fix present position and then use a paper map and compass from there. P

Most of the GPS problem in Norway is that Russia frequently interferes with Norwegian GPS signals and intentionally jams or distorts them. This is not only during NATO exercises, it is quite frequent. That is the kind of stuff you get when your neighboring country is a malignant thug.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/03/1 ... -the-first

https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/gps-ja ... s-finnmark

[randoskier]

Flying to Kirkenes next Tuesday, skiing south down the Norway/Russia border seam to the 3-country point, then west, then north up through Ovre Pasvik nat. park and north along the Finn border to Neiden (Finland) and flying out from Ivalo Finland at the end. Doing the route planning is interesting, i have never had Finland to my west before. I have about 15 days. Weather looks very fine.

I asked my friend who is a farmer up there if the ice was ok on the Pasvik river that forms the border with Russia- he said just follow the track of the Norwegian Army, they ski it everyday and test , he said on the lakes and still water the ice is still 1 meter thick on most of them.

69.72 degree North. The April Fools Tour