One of our main goals on our week long ski vacation to to do a base camping mission in the Khibiny mountains. From the day we arrived in the Kola Peninsula we watched the weather forecast and on the 3rd day of the trip we had a 3 day weather window. The good thing was that it would be clear skies but the bad thing is the temperatures would dip down to -30 c at night. So after a long morning of getting our gear dialed we were off on a basecamping mission. This would be our first time camping after a few years of exploring the Kirovsk area.

When we arrived at the end of the road we were next to a massive lake we would have to skin across to get into the Khibiny Mountains. It would be about 15kms to get into the range and we would be on a race to put up camp before darkness arrived.

Below is the zone in which we decided to base camp in the valley and tour from.

With our 55 Liter backpacks filled to the brim we made it through a small summer town where a few people stuck there heads out of the windows wondering who we were and what we were doing but after a few minutes we were out on the frozen lake.

Skinning across the lake was like touring on a glacier where you feel like you are never getting any closer but we had about 6 kms going from shore to shore.

3/4 the way across we ran into a small ice fishing area where a bunch of people had put up tents for the day. When we skinned into the area a few people came out and offered us vodka and some fish soup. Everyone was very kind and were happy to see random foreigners heading out to the mountains.

Once we made our way to the other shoreline we followed the main stream up on a race against the sunset. The total of the Khibney mountains is a huge mining area and as we made our way under the tracks a train full of coal made its way across.

While making our way through the forest we passed an old cemetery which was still well kept. It was a random surprise but that seems to always be the case while ski touring in the Khibiny mountains.

There were a few small deteriorated buildings along the way but other than a few random ski tracks we were off in the remote wilderness.

Once we finally found a nice open and flat spot next to the river we set up camp as the sun was setting. That night we cooked some food and made some plans for the next day while hiding in our sleeping bags.

While the temperatures dropped to -30 overnight I slept perfectly fine using a -8 degree bag. The only real time I felt cold was making breakfast and coffee in the morning and hoping the sun would warm us up.

After some much needed coffee and some food it was time to start our tour of the day.

We followed a summer trail heading up the valley while checking our map occasionally.

As soon as we found the area we were interested we broke off the trail and after skinning through a sparse forest we were up in the alpine.

Thought the forecast called for clear skies it was cloudy in the alpine and the winds were brutal. As we got up on the main ridge our plans for the day were slowly falling apart.

After waiting for 20 minutes to see if the weather was going to clear we had to come up with a plan B so we started snowboarding on the high ridge to make our way to some lower trees we noticed while skinning up.

As we made our way on the ridge it was a disaster as the snowpack was shallow and our gear was getting destroyed by rocks. After a few core shots we were riding good powder conditions on the lower ridge.

Finally we found the trees we were looking for and although the line was short we were happy with a steep line in great snow conditions.

Once at the bottom of our line we noticed that the weather had cleared and we would have another chance at our line. We discussed our options and decided to head back to our skin track for another attempt.

Once topping the ridge for the second time we were focusing on the obvious line in the photo below. It was a race against the sunset as we knew we would be getting back to camp in the dark but all the stars had lined up to tag a unique line in an equally unique area.

At first we were concerned with the entrance point but after close inspection we found it was much better than we feared.

The wind had shifted the snow earlier but as long as we stayed in the main gully we were able to find nice and soft snow.

We were able to ride the valley for a few kms enjoying the last bit of sunshine.

Once we reached the flats we switched back to skinning and after 2 kilometers we were back on our skin track and making our way back to camp.

We arrived at camp in the dark as temperatures plummeted. For the next hour we cooked our food before heading off to the tent.

While in the sleeping bag everything was fine but once out of the tent in the morning it was brutally cold. I had made the mistake of keeping some water in my bottle only to find that it had shattered over night but this was something to be expecting base camping in the Khibiny Mountains during the winter.

After the first priority of warm coffee in the morning we were packing our gear for a trip to the closest mountains. It would be a half day tour so we could pack our bags in the afternoon and head back to town that night.

The outside temperature was -30 so we were careful to minimize exposing our skin while we made our way through the forests.

Once in the alpine we were taken back by the view of the surrounding area and enjoying a bit warmer temperatures.

What we thought was going to be an easy skin turned out to be a bit more difficult. There were small canyons eroded our in which some were only a meter deep but we ran across one that was 10 meters deep.

With some careful navigation we finally found a spot to safely cross on a snow covered wind drift and made our way towards the summit.

Once on the summit ridge we made the decision that the true summit wouldn’t actually access terrain much better than the ridge we were on so we made the decision to ride down into the valley below and if it was good we would do another lap.

Once in the valley we decided to focus our attention on a short but obviously snow loaded gully in the picture above. Wanting to do a relatively easy boot pack we decided to stick near the shallow rocks as we pushed to the top of the ridge.

Once on top we made our way down to the open gully in good snow conditions hoping to ride as far as possible before switching to skinning and making our way back to camp.

While it wasn’t the steepest run it was really good snow and we were focused on getting as much speed as possible.

Traversing high wasn’t possible as the snow was barely covering rocks so we stuck in the valley.

Soon enough it was time to get back to skinning and making our way down to camp in a relatively flat valley and a different route down then the way we had made our way up.

Once at camp we packed up our gear in a race to make it down to the lake before sunset. Soon we were heading towards a light in the distance which we came to recognize as the small town where our car was parked.

As we made our way across the lake the sunset turned to darkness and we were given a small light show from the Northern Lights that was dulled out by the full moon. We were happy that we took the time to go base camping in the Khibiny Mountains as we would look behind our shoulders at the lines we had rode over the past two days.

It was great base camping in the Khibiny mountains despite the cold temperatures and while it was a fun area to explore I don’t know if I would go back. The forecast for the next few days was calling for snow showers so instead of heading to new areas we would be heading to the Kirovsk and if good snow we would focus our attention on the local ski hills. Below is our route during the trip.

Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours within the Khibiny Mountains check out this link