A silent snow-clad landscape of frozen mires, forests and mountains. Nordic skiing over untouched snow is a magical winter experience. Over the week, we gradually build our subzero skills towards our crowning achievement – a two-night winter camping expedition on skis.

Our remote cabin is tucked away along the shores of Lake Navar, surrounded by towering wooded hills. Candles and wood-fired stoves light up and warm our rooms. We collect water in the stream and bathe in a sauna & ice hole combo (not as brutal as it sounds, we promise). It’s a perfect blend of feeling immersed in the wild, but still having the comforts of a cosy home.

It’s not difficult to Nordic ski, a few initial falls and we get the hang of it in a few hours. We stay close to our homey abode, skiing in, skiing out – learning how to break trail through untouched snow and pulling our sleds. There’s a wee bit more to winter camping than its summer cousin. We practice how to stay warm, put up our tents, and some other tips and tricks. A couple of days later, it’s expedition time!

After a short but pretty steep ascent, the expansive Fulufjället plateau awaits. These are true alpine conditions – white as far as the eye can see, snow-covered lowlands spreading out below. Darkness falls early this time of year and at times we ski with no head torches, just letting the moon illuminate our world. And it’s an otherworldly world indeed. Everything is black and white, it feels like skiing on the moon!

Well it’s actually your skis. The snow is deep out here, we’d be waist deep without them! We build a camp sand castle style – the snow is ours to mold and do what we want with. Digging pathways where we can walk, and sculpting our very own cosy living room with couches, sheep skins and a candle-lit table in a yurt. We awake to a sunlit white landscape, for the first time seeing what’s around us. Where we’ve been. Where we’re heading.