In Australia, it is considered quite exotic to go on a holiday in the snowfields. Several people I've spoken to in Sweden are really surprised that we even have snow in Australia as they think of us as a land of red, searing deserts. We do have alps, though not as many as Austria (who it seems also have kangaroos, just to confuse the American tourists). In fact, apparently we have even more snow than Switzerland, but as the country is so vast, it seems like it is in a tiny area. Snow covers 1400 sq. km in the Snowy Mountains area of New South Wales and a bit less than that in Victoria but usually only for a couple of months a year.

During that short time, people come from all over the country to ski at the various resorts between Melbourne and Canberra to savour the crisp, bracing air of the mountains, to try out skiing and to experience what it is like to be truly cold. In Sweden, you are surrounded by ice and snow for several months of the year, but even so a skiing holiday is very popular and families flock in their thousands to the ski-ing areas in central Sweden to try their luck on the piste.

Once the kids are back at school from their mid semester break, the resorts are calmer and people can still enjoy sunny days, cosy accommodation and relaxation. One of these spots, around 450 kms north of Stockholm is Sälen. It’s not the greatest skiing in the world, it’s just something about that area that is so beautiful, vast and inviting.

At Sälen there are 145 km of downhill piste, over 300 km of cross country skiing tracks and over 100 ski lifts. It's a good area for those who are just beginning to ski as well as for those who like a callenge. Me? I like the log fires and the cute accommodation cottages. Check out the snow on the roof!




The snow is seriously deep in this area. The paths leading up to the cabins are kept clear, but you can see that the snow is over a metre high around the cabin. In a place like this, you can get an idea of what Lambi has to face everyday while out walking in winter. The snow is banked so high that in places you can't see over the top and it feels like you are walking through a white tunnel.




One good reason to go there in March is that the days are getting longer and the sun is beginning to shine. Even if you are like me and you don't like to ski, you can actually spend your time doing lots of other things that don't involve donning skis, ski poles or ski boots. There are adventure types of things like paragliding, snowmobile safaris, par ascending or ice wind-surfing. But what I like is the idea of dog sledding - being drawn along behind a team of excitable, panting puppies who seem to love nothing better than to lope along miles and miles of snowy landscape.




The cross country skiing aspect is what attracts many enthusiasts to Sälen every season and in fact this is the starting point for the famous annual Vasaloppet race. Sometimes you just want to be away from the hustle bustle of it all and be totally surrounded by silence and nature and taking one of the ring routes can give you that experience.




Cross-country skiing is similar to the downhill variety, except that most of it takes place while travelling along the flat or uphill, in special tracks cut into the snow. The skis are connected to your foot only at the front of the boot, and you move in a kind of running motion, gliding forwards with one foot while pushing back with the other. Along the Sälenringen, which is the trail that surrounds the mountains, you can ski along the well marked routes, following the tracks of those who passed before you. There are good views in almost every direction and a great sense of peace and space.




While the scenery is beautiful, cross country skiing is physically demanding and requires a lot of stamina. Our friends Anna and Lennart have been doing this all of their life and love the challenge and relish in being oút here far from civilisation. As with everything you do here, it's really important to bring along proper clothing and carry a first aid kit and lots of drinking water. It's amazing how thirsty and dehydrated you can get even surrounded by all of this frozen water.




When you spend a sunny day sliding along talking with your friends and enjoying the outdoors, it can revive your spirits. I really love these kind of days. Lennart has amazing stamina and a whole wealth of skills in the great outdoors. I've mentioned before that he's the one I'd choose to be stranded with in the wilderness as he knows so much and is so capable. Another skill he demonstrated this trip was the art of building a snow cave.




A snow cave is exactly what it sounds like: it is a cave in the snow. To dig a snow cave, you dig a trench about 6 feet deep, 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. Then the cave is dug into the side of the bank. After completing the first trench, which resembled -- rather unnervingly -- a grave in the snow, he posed for a smiling shot.




It may not sound like much, but that is a lot of snow to remove and throw far enough from the entrance not to block it. This is hot work as well, shovelling such a large volume of snow and soon he had stripped off despite the air temperature of -10C!




I can assure you that I was never cut out for this type of survival stuff. I looked at the cave and couldn't imagine myself sleeping in a confined cave, covered with hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of snow. I feel claustrophobic just typing it out. I know that in a serious situation that building something like this can save your life, but I think my survival plan involves never straying far from the comforts of the cottage.