It must go without saying that Riksgränsen is all about a patience game. Wait for the snow to fall, wait for the temperatures to drop, wait for the wind to ease, and then finally wait for a few hours of clear sky to make the most of it all. For such a relatively small ski area, the rewards can be great. You just gotta be patient.

I visited Riksgränsen twice whilst on a ski safari tour of the Scandinavian Arctic encompassing Narvikfjellet, Lofoten Islands, Lyngen Alps, Målselv, Abisko, Björkliden & of course, Riksgränsen. Starting in mid-March what the journey gave me was the simple anecdote, that is the weather is ugly, stay inside. And at Riksgränsen, that's what I did for a few days whilst storms raged, snow fell, wind howled, and visibility was next to zero. In fact I only initially skied briefly on the lifts for an afternoon in questionable conditions before heading away to Bjorkliden & Abisko. I could have done a bit of touring, but a long time ‘on the road’ (since January) meant my body preferred rest! As luck would have it, on my return from the east, I scored the Riksgransen trifecta - a gorgeous half day of powder snow, no wind & good visibility.

Booking last minute meant the only resort accommodation available was at the Katterjåkk 'village', in the simple, but comfortable Arctic Lodge Apartments. An incredible local supermarket in the main 'village' allowed me to easily self-cater, although I did avoid the two most diverse products in the shop - chewing tobacco & lollies (candy). Why so much of these products, I don't know. But I assume it has something to do with the proximity to the Norwegian border and taxation. So if you want to get type 2 diabetes, rotten teeth, plus mouth & throat cancer, the ICA Riksgränsen has you covered!

If you are expecting Riksgränsen to be a modern ski area with bright & shiny lifts & facilities, loads of groomed piste, & 5-star ski-in ski-out lodging, think again. The ski lifts do the job but are old & harken back to the good old 70s & 80s. Two chairs are the main transport from the village, then a series of T-bars, J-bars & stick pomas move one around on the opposite side. The carparks are placed in such locations that one needs to hump it up to either lift base on the uphill side of the railway that traverses the edge of the resort.

The terrain served by the chairlifts may be shortish in vertical (less than 400m), but it is steep and juicy, with a host of natural elements to keep the more limber skiers & boarders leaping for joy. And in powder, even more so.

I didn't head out to the Björnfjell side and its novelty border crossing into Norway due to the wind having scoured it of any goodness. The benefit of that was the Katterjåkk side of the mountain was full of the beautiful white fluff tripped from Björnfjell - perfect for fast long off-piste turns on the gentle terrain.

If I'd had the time, the next few days would have been awesome for the legendary backcountry ski touring from the lifts (but alas my time had run out). The terrain looks perfect for touring and has a great reputation for not only fabulous skinning but also heli-skiing. Plus this is a ski area and part of the country that almost requires one to be backcountry capable. Given the relatively limited piste terrain here, it certainly makes sense. If you haven't got touring gear, probably best stay home!

After skiing, the bar in the main hotel (Hotell Riksgränsen - worth staying there if you can get in), is worthy of a visit, particularly on busy, sunny weekends when the outside deck is clear. It was neither when I was there but så var det!

Travel to Riksgransen is easy from Narvik or Kiruna by train. Hell, you can take a train all the way from Stockholm to here if it takes your fancy. For me though, the freedom of having a vehicle is important in this part of the world. Picking up a compact SUV with studded winter tyres when I landed at Evenes airport (60km west of Narvik) allowed me to see & ski all I wanted with absolute flexibility. Never mind that at one stage I drove for 20km on a closed part of the highway, but that's a different story! (Suffice to say that on a particularly ferocious weather day, the road barrier went down behind me just after I drove through it. I was wondering why there was no oncoming traffic!)

Visit Riksgränsen as part of ski safari of the Arctic north. Choose your weather, or be patient in the waiting. As mentioned before, if you don't have ski-touring gear, don't come here! If you are beginner skier, go somewhere else. If you are looking for a family ski holiday location and considering Riksgransen, only do so if your family is a hard-core crew of freeride & ski touring junkies. Otherwise go somewhere else. Make sense?
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If ever a near complete freeride mountain existed...it's here. Flatout unbelievable open terrain with chutes, natural half pipes, and anything you could possibly imagine in a naturally existing state.

While the food options are limited, and the chairs are old school without a bubble, the experience at this place 200km north of the Arctic Circle on a clear day is pretty unforgettable. Word to the wise...I wouldn't go as a beginner, here. You should know what you're doing before you show up.

Sidenote: getting here is best achieved by flying into Narvik, NOR and taking the train over. Super super easy and with beautiful terrain.


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It snows a lot in Riksgränsen, compared to the rest of Sweden. But... it's not really like at the best places in the Alps, the Rockies, Japan or even some parts of Norway (check out Myrkdalen or Röldal). The snow is also often wind packed or damp. The size of the ski system or the vertical isn't that impressive either.

Anyway - on a good day Riksgränsen is great. It's possible to ski almost all over the mountain and there's many exciting chutes. The season doesn't start until the end of February and a good year it lasts all the way to Midsummer's day in June.Sunny days in April or the beginning of May can be fantastic and it's one of the few lift systems in the world where you can go skiing in midnight sun.

Abisko Nuolja a few miles away is also definitely worth a visit. Sweden's La Grave - one lift, no pistes, but wide open areas for off piste skiing. Unfortunately the weather systems are a little weird around here - many times it can dump in Riksgränsen, when there only comes a few snow flakes in Abisko. A good year, however, there's a lot of snow also in Abisko.
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It’s a long way to Rijksgransen. You might wonder when you arrive if it was worth it. The base area is not very sophisticated and there is not much there apart from one large base complex with accommodation, a ski shop and a restaurant. The ski area is not huge and the lifts are old, although the two chairs are detachable. The drag lifts are a bit rustic, but really only for the beginners. The visibility can be terrible, sometimes for days. After a few days there one of the locals asked me what my favourite run was and agreed it was a great run. I said I liked it a lot, and one day I hoped to see it.
However, when the sun comes out and the snow dumps, the true character of this place is obvious. There are endless opportunities for off=piste skiing, within easy reach. We felt we had only scratched the surface after 9 days. The Scandinavians are the champions of ski touring, and you can expect company in the principal area at the back of the field, but it is very friendly and helpful company.
We managed to get one day of heliskiing at the end of our trip. All the other days were no fly days. We had to wait until almost midday to fly, but because of the long days it was almost 6pm when we finished. We could not make it to Kebnekaise, that is on the bucket list still, but the terrain and snow conditions were up there with the best.
This place is a long way to go and not on the map for most European skiers, but if you can get there and can be patient with the low light days, you will be rewarded.
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