Jokkmokkguiderna

With 23 Siberians on the trailer, we turn the car towards Kvikkjokk. Camilla from Sweden, Michaele and Marika from Italy follow me during this tour. From Kvikkjokk we had a great 6 day long dogsledding adventure trip towards west and the boarder to Norway. Over the tree line we had -20?C and around 10m/s. The combination of wind and low temperature is sometimes a serious problem.
During some of the days we also had company of Åsa and Henrik who works as freelance journalists. They travel by snowmobile and took some pictures. We spend the night in the same cabins and practice story telling… both true stories and good stories…
This was the first of the week tours this winter. I love the life out there and I already know that this winter will be too short. I’m looking forward to all the other tours that I still have in front of me! I will update our Facebook site from my handy. You are welcome to be fan to Jokkmokkguiderna and then you will have shorter rapports from the life out there.

/Matti

We started out from the kennel with 14 Siberian Huskies divided into three teams.
The first day we got clear and nice Lapland weather and ended up in a tent tipi. We drilled a waterhole, prepared the dog food, made fire, cooked dinner and had a very nice evening.
After a short jogging run in the snow we finally got in to our winter sleeping bags.
By 2 AM I woke up because it was so cold. I had to get the fire burning again and had to keep it burning until 8 o’clock in the morning. We got a cold night in our sleeping bags.
At home in Jokkmokk it was -20°C in the morning but by our camp I think it was around
-30°C during the night. The humidity probably made it feel colder. Usually we have no problem in -30°C with the same equipment.
The next night was spent in a nice and warm timber hut. After the cold night in the tipi it felt like HILTON á la Lapland.
Dave and Dwight did a good job as mushers also the last day when we drove back home to Jokkmokk. During three days we covered approx 100 km with the dog teams.
/Matti

We introduce a new dog sledding tour for this spring! Sled dog adventure through Sjaunja and Kebnekaise. It’s a tour we never done before, but we are familiar with the area and have been travelling north from Saltoluokta many times before. Some of our longer dog sledding adventures 2010 are fully booked and we have made a summary of the available places on all our longer tours and expeditions. This info you find on the page; Availability: Dog sled expeditions and longer husky tours 2010 Check out the tours and see if there is anything that will fulfill your dreams and book your dog sledding adventure for 2010! Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

NEW 2010 Sled dog adventure in Sjaunja and Kebnekaise

This is a new dogsledding adventure in our program. We travel from cabin to cabin with our siberian huskies.

8 days  //  Price from 19 200 Sek  //  24 – 31 March  //  4 – 11 March 2010

During some days in February 2009 Hilldebrand Breuker followed us on a three day photo safari. The target was Tarravalley west from Kvikkjokk. During 2011 Hilldebrand will try to arrange a photo safari together with us here in Jokkmokk.

Photo safari in Tarravalley 2009

Three days photo safari with Hillebrand Breuker in mountains west from Kvikkjokk. Some really cold days in February 2009.

Dog sledding is a winter sport…so it should be cold!
It’s just to except the cold and try to dress well so you don’t freeze. Despite all hi-tech clothing materials we have today there is only one winner that has worked through the history. We call it WOOL. Wool keeps it warming abilities even if it gets damp. I can still hear my grandmothers voice from when I was a kid how she strictly told med to dress warm and that wool was the only right thing to wear. When I tried to talk to her about more modern materials she just turned around and stopped listening.


The cloths closest to your skin (layer 1) is the most important.
Different kind of soft wool and merino wool is most comfortable. You find it in different price levels and different qualities. In most cases you get what you pay for.
To wear cotton closest to your skin is actually dangerous in cold climate. Cotton absorbs moisture and makes you cold. It’s the same thing with some synthetic materials.
Aclima is a Norwegian brand. They make a sweater that I wore a lot the whole winter 2008/2009. It’s called Aclima Warmwool hoodie. The only thing I can complain about it is that the print started to get of on one arm. This sweater is rather expensive (650-700 SEK) but gives a feeling of quality. The long underwear is not included (approx. 500 SEK).

You can also without any embarrassment wear the sweater during dinner in the restaurant at Saltoluokta Mountain Station after the tour. It looks good and you will not feel like you are running around in your underwear.
You can buy Aclima underwear’s from the outdoor shop Northstar.se. The staff in the shop is very competent and you can trust that they listen to you and only sell what you need and not only the most expensive things.
If you want a cheaper alternative of underwear Northstar.se has a great offer at the moment. You get a set (sweater and long underwear) from AKLA for 595 SEK. It’s a good wool underwear but of a little bit thinner quality. I have many times bought two thinner and cheaper underwear’s instead of one expensive.

To have warm feet’s in cold temperatures is for many people a problem. If you get cold on your feet’s it’s hard to enjoy the nature, huskies and the northern light etc.
If you don’t wear wool closest on your foot it doesn’t matter how good the boots are.
So, use only wool on your feet’s!
Me my self normally use three layers of wool socks. With three pair of socks I need at least two sizes bigger boots then I normally use. There should also be enough of space in the boot so I can wiggle my toes.
Now we have a page for gear and clothing list for our longer tours ready.

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Jokkmokk Winter Market 2010 is approaching. The whole village is starting to prepare, the snow removes from the streets for the market stalls and people discuss in the supermarket about the forthcoming market, the reindeer soup and the dances etc.


All of us who work to make a great week for you visitors, hotel staff, dog sled guides, igloo builders, ski guides and snowmobile guides etc. are now starting to prepare. The trails get groomed, tent tipi’s rises, fire wood get transported out to the fire places, groups get synchronized and we get bookings for the different activities. When the market is here there is not much time for unforeseen things to happen. Everything shall be prepared.
Today (12 January) we have still places left on our dog sled tours.
What does the Jokkmokk Winter Market means for a small village as Jokkmokk?
I personally am convinced that it helps the inhabitants of Jokkmokk to get an open mind for visitors. Through all times it has given us connections in all of Sweden and into the whole world and makes the inhabitants of Jokkmokk open for different cultures.

From an economical view, I think it brings some dollar to a municipality that stands on the edge of bankrupts. But, a lot of the money that change pockets on the market disappears with the market stall sellers out from Jokkmokk.
So, to all of you visitors! Don’t forget to look for what our local sellers have to offer!
Welcome to Jokkmokk, and thank you for making the Jokkmokk Winter Market to the very nice and unique meeting place as it is and has been in more than 400 years!

I (Matti) spend my New Years Eve celebration together with Sten and a group nice Frenchmen and French women, the family Abiteboul-Rouzier.
So how do you spend a New Years Eve with a French group? The answer is easy, Champagne!
New Years Eve was only one of four days on this tour.
The first day when we started from our kennel the thermometer showed -34°C. We spent the first night in a tipi tent with a wood heated stove and the other two nights was spent in a cosy timber hut 40 km west from Jokkmokk.
We went dogsledding, made lunch over open fire and enjoyed the nature and the moon light that were so bright that we saw shades on the snow from everything from trees to the dogs.
We were two guides on this tour, me and Sten and his huskies, so we had a mix of dogs from two different kennels.
/Matti

The last days of 2009 became bitter cold but very beautiful.
I (Stina) together with Heike and Monika from Switzerland spend the last 4 days (28-31 Dec.) of the year with dog sled in the forests of Jokkmokk. We spend the first night on reindeer skins in a tent tipi heated with a wood stove. Outside the tipi the temperature went down to -25°C during the night.
The next morning we woke up by 7 o’clock and after breakfast and taking care of the dogs we packed the sleds and went over frozen lakes and marsh areas and through dense spruce forests. In the late afternoon we arrived to the Kittja-hut. We settled down in this nice timber hut and made fire in the stove. The temperature kept on falling. With the full moon and the dark blue sky full of stars we got a beautiful evening and in the cabin it was nice and warm by the crackling fire in the stove.
The next day we made a day tour in -35°C. It was a bit chilly on the cheeks but the light and the sky shimmering in pink colours makes you forget the cold and with the snow glittering in the snow-covered trees it was like we where travelling in a fairy-tail book. The big round moon was up on the sky also in the daylight.
New Years Ewe was our last day together and we packed the sleds and travelled the 33 km back to our husky kennel.
During these days we saw 4 elks/moose and along our trails we had lots of fresh tracks from both reindeers and moose.
Thank you Heike and Monika for a lovely end of the year!
Happy New Year to you all of you!
/Stina

For a couple of days we travelled with dog sleds in the forests of Lapland. We lived a simple life with nights in a tent tipi and one night only with the moon and the stars as a roof. We got some great days in good company in the snow covered forests of Jokkmokk. On the tour except from Peter was his girlfriend My and the journalist Marit who writes reportage for outdoor magazines such as UTE-magasinet and Turist.

With dog sleds in the forests of Lapland.

In the beginning of December 2007 we had the photographer Peter Rosén with us on a dog sled tour in the forests of Lapland.

In Jokkmokk we have a very special person!
Her name is Cecilia Lundin and she runs the company ”Illua”.
Year after year she build igloo after igloo with a passion that few people possess despite that they melt down every summer.
The Igloo village is located a few kilometres west from Jokkmokk and you can go there by dog sled, snowshoes, skies or snowmobile. With a great experience Cecilia will guide you in the village that consists of several small igloos. You will learn about building techniques, snow blocks and snow crystals and not to forget she also tell you how to make the night in an igloo real pleasant.
Because that’s the point of it all!
You can be the one to spend the night in one of Cecilia’s handmade igloos.
She also serves delicious dinners prepared over open fire and breakfast in the morning.
The Igloo village is open from 21st of Dec 2009 – 14th of March 2010.
Read more about Cecilia in the Swedish outdoor magazine UTE-magasinet nr 10 2009 (swedish text).
Why not combine your dog sled tour with one night in the Igloo village?
Contact us and we help you to book.