This blog feature amusing and heartwarming stories about our late Leonberger dog Bronco, as well as other Leonbergers. It also has a lot of information about the Leonberger breed, the history, care, training, Leonberger organizations, etc. I also wrote a Leonberger book, which I am featuring in the sidebar.
I grew up in northern Sweden (Norrland), which means that I saw a lot of snow. I loved playing in the snow, building snow castles, snow tunnels, throwing snowballs, building snowmen, going sledding and going cross country skiing. I don’t remember being cold. I had warm clothes on, and I often stayed out very late playing in the snow. Now I live in Texas where snow is very rare.
Snow on the trees, Gällivare county, Swedish Lapland, Sweden Shutterstock Asset id: 2035482680 by Mats LindbergCross country skiing in Sweden Shutterstock Asset id: 1888204651 by Henrik A. Jonsson
Later in life, maybe at the age of 12-13 I also started doing downhill skiing / slalom. We had four ski resorts close to my hometown Örnköldsvik. I can add that the snow packed northern forests can be very beautiful. Northern Sweden is also a very dark place in winter, being close to or above the arctic circle. Therefore, I also watched some spectacular night skies and auroras from my snow castles. The Milky Way and even the Andromeda Galaxy were visible. One time as I was sitting in the snow, I saw a very large meteor moving across the sky. It had a tail of fire and was not moving too fast. I believe I could see the piece of rock, but I am not sure. In any case, it put up a show.
Milky way sky on dark background, and a lot of stars. Spectacular night sky in the polar winter. Asset id: 2524020369 by MR.PRAWET THADTHIAMAurora Borealis are often spectacular in the polar regions, especially during the polar night. Asset id: 2499746583 by HappyVibeArt
Unfortunately, according to my brother, this winter my hometown Örnsköldsvik did not have snow for Christmas. According to Science Daily the data from weather stations in northern Sweden indicates that the snow season has decreased by over two months in a 30-year span and according to the National Library of Medicine the cold season in northern Finland (next doors) has gotten warmer with reduced snow cover. This is quite noticeable and the reindeer are suffering as a result.
I should say that Jukkasjärvi is located north of the arctic circle and is typically very cold in winter. However, you sleep in very warm sleeping bags on top of ice blocks covered by reindeer hides. The ice hotel itself does not have any bathroom, but they have an adjacent wood building with bathrooms and showers. They also have rooms for people who don’t want to sleep in a cold ice room. We visited the ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi as a family in 2004 and I took a lot of photos.
The lobby of the ice hotel. Our kids are sitting around a table of ice. A chandelier of ice is hanging above the table. The light is from fiber optics, so the ice won’t melt.Another photo of the lobby at the ice hotel. My son David is barely visible behind one of the ice pillars.One of the beautiful hallways in the Ice Hotel.My oldest son sitting at an ice table in the lobby.Entrance to the ice bar where you could food and drink and sit on ice chairs by ice tables.We started the evening with a visit to the ice restaurant and bar. Everything in the ice restaurant was made of ice, the tables, the chairs, the counter, the glasses, the plates, and the art.Close up of ice glasses on the ice counter in the ice bar.This is a photo of the ice instruments standing on the ice stage.A close up of an ice cello and an ice guitar.This is a portion of an ice organ in the ice bar.My dad Stig and his girlfriend Ulla came with us on the trip.We are going to bed in our room. I think it was my wife Claudia who took the photo.This was the hallway where our room was located.We are going on a dogsled tour. The ice theater is in the background, and you can see part of the ice hotel on the right.The kids had a lot of fun during the dogsled tourOn the left is a kåta, a movable Sami structure (indigenous arctic Scandinavian people).This is the ice theater. It was located next to the ice hotel (not in the picture).
The ice hotel had put out lots of kick sleds, referred to as “spark” for people to use as a mode of transportation on the snow and ice, or just to sit on. As my dad, Stig, was sitting on one of them, our son came up to him and told him “Stig the hotel put out these sleds for children to play with. It is not for adults to sit on.” My dad was so surprised that he just handed him the sled.
Our son David with one of the kick sleds called “spark”.They got the ice blocks for the structure and for the art from nearby Torneå river.
The next day I took photos of some other rooms
Another room with a snowy wall decoration.Some of the rooms were really beautiful.Some of the rooms had beautiful ice art.You had to pay more for a big room. You paid the price of Hilton and got the comfort of camping in winter.More ice art.
My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.
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11 thoughts on “Snow and Ice in Norrland”
It’s unbelievable how the north is being affected by climate change. During my last year in NWT we had 30° in June! This was followed by huge forest fires all over the north as high temperatures caused a drought and extremely dry conditions. Elders had never seen anything like it.
Thank you so much Lynette. Yes it seems to be a lot more visible up north. The shorter snow seasons are obvious to me (compared to my childhood). In northern Sweden we’ve had temperatures above 30 degrees several times lately, and in 2018 we had record heat, record drought, and crazy wildfires. The reindeers are getting sick and crazy.
Wow amazing pictures! I want to go to the ice hotel .
On the climate change note the North Western US has gotten so much hotter from when I was a kid , and so many wild fires too . I miss the nice snow days as well now that’s I’m living in a desert in the southwest
Thank you so much oliveunicorn. The Ice Hotel is indeed a lot of fun, but you can’t be to sensitive to the cold. I guess good clothes are important. In Northern Sweden we see the problem that you’ve noticed in North Western US.
I agree lbrcorner☕︎. The Moose Room is really cool. I wish I had booked that. However, I went with the cheapest option (as you might guess from the photo).
Thank you Carol Anne. Yes it was a lot of fun for the kids, and me, but my wife got cold. She left the room in the middle of the night and went to the wood building next door. It was heated.
There’s an ice hotel near Quebec City, but I’ve never stayed in onel. Your pictures make it look very pretty, especially some of the more expensive rooms. We did stay in a salt hotel near Uuyni, Bolivia. Everything was built from salt and it was also very cold. Maggie
Leonberger Life 
It’s unbelievable how the north is being affected by climate change. During my last year in NWT we had 30° in June! This was followed by huge forest fires all over the north as high temperatures caused a drought and extremely dry conditions. Elders had never seen anything like it.
A lovely collection of photos, Thomas.
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Thank you so much Lynette. Yes it seems to be a lot more visible up north. The shorter snow seasons are obvious to me (compared to my childhood). In northern Sweden we’ve had temperatures above 30 degrees several times lately, and in 2018 we had record heat, record drought, and crazy wildfires. The reindeers are getting sick and crazy.
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Wow amazing pictures! I want to go to the ice hotel .
On the climate change note the North Western US has gotten so much hotter from when I was a kid , and so many wild fires too . I miss the nice snow days as well now that’s I’m living in a desert in the southwest
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Thank you so much oliveunicorn. The Ice Hotel is indeed a lot of fun, but you can’t be to sensitive to the cold. I guess good clothes are important. In Northern Sweden we see the problem that you’ve noticed in North Western US.
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I really like the room with the moose. It’s all so very creative.
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I agree lbrcorner☕︎. The Moose Room is really cool. I wish I had booked that. However, I went with the cheapest option (as you might guess from the photo).
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I would have done the same. 😊 The Sami structure is similar to the tipi in the region I’m from which is in Alberta. CA.
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I would love to visit the ice hotel! That must’ve been an experience! One to remember, for sure! X
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Thank you Carol Anne. Yes it was a lot of fun for the kids, and me, but my wife got cold. She left the room in the middle of the night and went to the wood building next door. It was heated.
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Beautiful photos of all the ice hotel rooms, and also the sky photos. I enjoyed reading your comments about what you saw and did while there. 🙂
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There’s an ice hotel near Quebec City, but I’ve never stayed in onel. Your pictures make it look very pretty, especially some of the more expensive rooms. We did stay in a salt hotel near Uuyni, Bolivia. Everything was built from salt and it was also very cold. Maggie
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