Starting the season on Blåbaerfjellet

Arriving back into the Tamokdalen Valley

It had been two years since my last ski tour as my last trip before Corona was in the Khibney Mountains of Russia. Within those two years I had stuck around Finland doing forest skiing in the winter and biking in the summer. While it was a bit disappointing not to be in the mountains it has been a great opportunity to absorb Finish Culture. That being said I jumped at the chance of heading back to Tamok Husset exchanging cleaning for accommodations for 6 weeks.

The morning after arriving we took the opportunity to head out to Blåbærfjellet. Being my first tour of the season I wanted to get a feel for the snowpack and check out conditions. It had been a tricky season avalanche wise so we decided to ride the lower pipes a few times.

Starting the 2022 Season at Tamokdalen

My 2022 season started with a bus ride to Kilpisjarvi leaving at 7:00 from Rovaniemi. After a 7 hour bus ride I was sitting at the gas station with two big duffel bags in hand. Within the bags was 6 weeks worth of clothing, camping gear and most importantly ski touring gear.

Before long my friend Titti arrived and after buying some grocieries from Kilpisjarvi we were on our way to Tamok Husset.

Immediately it felt good to be back on the snow as making our way to the lower pipes of Blåbærfjellet. With the sun out and a few cms of fresh snow we could tell that conditions would be good. Behind us the backbowl of Tamokdalen was in full visibility.

The great thing about the lower slopes of Blåbærfjellet is that it is full of small gullies. This allows for numerous opportunities for putting first tracks down drainage after drainage. Knowing this once we arrived at our high point we dropped into the closest gully knowing later we would move further.

Once at the base of the gully we got right back onto our skin track. Making the most out of the terrain we had laid out a low angle route and before long we were back at our high point. By then the clouds had cleared out even more with a perfect view of Tamokfjellet and Cahcevahnjunni.

We had considered heading into the upper alpine zone but in the end decided to stay on the lower slopes. It was my first tour and although it looked good up high there was still a chance of slab avalanches on the lower crux zone.

One by one we would make our way into the gullies finding great powder conditions. As the first person dropped in they would stick to the side of the slope near the trees. This would give a test of stability and an easier escape route if something happened.

Once Jukkis was on the lower slopes Titti dropped into the middle of the line riding back down to our skin track.

After a handfull of runs half of our group decided to head back to Tamok Husset and we decided to check out the slopes a bit more to the west. By this time we had tracked out our zone and were looking for another blank canvas closer to base of Blåbærfjellet. After two additional laps it was starting to get dark so we made our way back to the husset and called it a day. It was a great way to start the 2022 season.

Thanks For Reading this and here is a link if you want to check out more

Ski Tours in the Tamokdalen area

Options for Other Ski Tours Tours Abroad

Snowboarding in the Cascade Mountains

Japan Powder Pilgrimage

Ski Tours in New Zealand

Exploring the Khibney Mountains of Russia

Lyngen and Lofoten in Northern Norway

And Other Random Places

Huge Thanks to Jarkko, Christel and Aadne for having me help take care of the Tamokhuset.