Today is a powder day! We’ve had a dump of snow overnight on top of the already excellent conditions and I’m excited, this is what I look forward to all year!
After breakfast we head out on the usual route up the Glacier Express and across to the Alpine Training Park. Unlike in the Alps where there would barely be any virgin snow by now, Levi is pretty quiet in comparison, and there’s fresh untracked powder all over the place!
We ski down the edge of the pistes, maximising the floating on a cloud feeling and go wild in the Alpine Training Park, which is a couple of very wide pistes with a blanket of untouched snow. Floating down the mountain in silence is just paradise.
For lunch we head back to our new favourite place, Restaurant Horizont, before then heading over to the Northeast slopes for some off piste. With conditions like these, it would be criminal not to.
The girls opt for the groomed piste, while Alex and I head off in between the trees, to meet at the lift at the bottom. The first part is fairly easy going with only a few trees and lots of deep powder, so we can make good progress, we then arrive at the forest, which slows us down somewhat!
We take it easy, picking our way in between the trees, but they are so dense at points, it is slow going. Alex wipes out a couple of times, hugging a few trees at slow speeds, which we both find hilarious. The snow is so deep in parts, that he lost his whole leg at one point when trying to get back on his skis.
The girls have had enough getting cold waiting for us, and have started to make their way back across the mountain towards the hotel by the time we arrive.
Alex and I have big grins on our faces, that was the best day skiing!
Back at the hotel, we have an early dinner before heading to the “Northern Lights Snowmobile Safari”. I’m not holding out hope to see the lights today, since we have dense cloud cover, but the snowmobiling will be fun regardless!
The tour company should have picked us up at 7pm, but the time came and went. Ten minutes later, I get a call from them, to say, they’d accidentally picked up someone else from the hotel instead of us! Not long after our guide turned up, profusely apologising. We still make it on time, so no harm done.
We got kitted out at the Lapland Safaris base in full one-piece thermal suits, balaclavas, full-face helmets and heavy gloves. We looked absolutely ridiculous but we’re hoping to keep warm!
After a short walk, and the obligatory safety briefing, we get going along the snowmobile track through town, heading for the lake. Diana and I are driving a snowmobile each, with the kids on the back and by the time we’ve got to the lake we’ve got the hang of it. The speed limit is 60km/h on the lake, and optimistically I open it up, sadly to find they’ve limited it to 30km/h. We’re all in a line, following the guide, and whilst we are technically supposed to follow the leader, I’m messing about on the edges of the track, where it’s much more fun. Later I find out that Diana was following me all the way, so the girls had a bumpy ride too!
The safari itself took us out through the wilderness on groomed snowmobile tracks, deep into the Arctic forest. We stopped halfway at a traditional wilderness hut, where the guides had a fire going and were cooking sausages over the grill. Hot juice, sausages, and a warming hut on the edge of a frozen lake in the middle of the snowy Arctic forest — exactly what you want.
After some stories about the local wildlife, we headed out into the night for the return journey. This was the point we should have seen the northern lights, looking out over the lake, but unfortunately the cloud cover was just too much. We jumped back on the snowmobiles, unfortunately the kids weren’t allowed to drive, and sped off on the return journey, again messing about, deliberately heading for the bumps and snow drifts. Absolutely exhilarating.
The tour company dropped us back at the hotel afterwards and we had a drink at the bar before bed.
An incredible day. Highly recommended.