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Lofoten · Norway

Arctic Sail and Ski

Nine days living aboard, skinning up from the water

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The shape of it

A sailing yacht as the base camp, anchoring under lines that run from the ridge to the sea, with two mountain guides aboard.

Ski touring in Lofoten is unusual because the mountains start at sea level: you step off a tender onto a beach and skin from there to a summit at nine hundred metres, then ski back down to the boat.

The yacht moves overnight, so you wake up under a different line each morning and never repeat a descent. Two IFMGA guides are aboard for the whole trip and make the call on objectives daily.

This is a genuinely demanding trip. You need to be a competent off-piste skier, comfortable with a transceiver, and fit enough for consecutive 800-metre ascents. We would rather turn you down than have you have a bad week.

Length
9 days, 8 nights
From
€6,400 per person
Best months
Late February to late April
Season
Winter, Spring
Format
Small group
Party
Maximum eight, plus crew and two guides
Pace
A summit attempt most days, weather permitting, which it often does not
Travel styles
Adventure, Winter and northern light

Per person in a twin cabin. Single cabins are limited and carry a significant supplement. Dates and prices shown are indicative demo content. Confirm everything with your own operations before publishing.

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Day by day

The itinerary

Written as it would actually run. Select a day to see where you are, what you are doing and where you sleep.

A blue-and-white fishing boat under way toward a snow-covered shore lined with red and white timber houses

Day 1

Board at Svolvaer

Aboard in the afternoon, cabins allocated, avalanche kit issued and checked. A transceiver drill on the quay before dinner, which is not optional and takes an hour.

  • Board and settle
  • Transceiver and kit check
  • The guides' briefing on the week
Night
Aboard, at Svolvaer

The country you travel through

Low sun on a bare mountain flank above a snow-covered shore, one distant walker below
Four fishermen in soaked oilskins working around a deck tub in driving sleet, two pale cod in a crate
Snow lying to the tideline at Haukland beach in Lofoten with turquoise cold water

Where you sleep

The places we use on this trip

All stays

Included

The days worth flying for

All experiences

What is included

  • Eight nights aboard in twin cabins, full board
  • Two IFMGA mountain guides for the whole trip
  • Transceiver, shovel and probe; skis and skins on request
  • All tender transfers and the sauna aboard
  • A pre-trip fitness and experience conversation, which is part of the booking

What is not

  • Flights
  • Ski hire if you want something specific
  • Alcohol aboard
  • Travel insurance including off-piste cover, which we require and check
The village of Reine below snow-covered granite walls in Lofoten at blue hour

Who plans this journey

Ingrid Halvorsen

The North · planning since 2016

Ingrid came to us from a sea-kayak operation in Troms and has spent ten winters in the archipelago. She writes every Lofoten itinerary with a stated alternative for each day, which is the only honest way to plan there.

She is a competent small-boat skipper and will happily tell you when a crossing is a bad idea, including when you have already paid for it.

Known for: The card travellers get on arrival: today's plan, tonight's aurora probability, and what happens instead if the wind turns.

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