Ice Hotels · four hotels

The store

Skis and gear go into a shared room at the door facing the slope

What is kept

Downhill and touring equipment share one room here, along with poles, boots and the packs people carry on the mountain. This is a winter site above the Arctic Circle, and what the room holds changes with the season rather than with the guest. Nothing stays there over summer.

Where it is kept

The room is at ground level, by the door that opens toward the piste and away from the road. Björkliden stands on the mountainside above the lake, so guests step from the building almost straight onto snow, and the store is placed on that side.

Who gets it out

Guests use the room without asking anyone, which is how a shared store works. The staff who run the winter side keep the racks clear and put stray equipment back. Anyone taking a guided trip is told where their own gear should wait.

The store

Trekking gear dries in a room set aside for it, off the main corridor

What is kept

Wet clothing comes in first: shells, boots, gloves and the packs that have been out all day. Skis and snowshoes are added in winter, which is what this lodge is mainly arranged for. Everything in the room is there because it has to dry properly.

Where it is kept

The drying room opens off the corridor between the entrance and the common rooms, so nobody carries wet clothing further into the lodge. Abisko sits in the national park at the edge of the lake, and most of what guests do here happens outdoors and in cold air.

Who gets it out

Guests hang their own things and take them down again, and the room is arranged so that this needs no explanation. The lodge staff clear what is forgotten and make space when a group comes in together after a long day on the trail.

The store

Snowshoes and poles wait in a storeroom that belongs to the station itself

What is kept

Snowshoes fill most of the shelving, with poles beside them and the straps that go with both. The station is a winter base as much as a hotel, and the store carries equipment that guests use on the fell rather than anything they arrived with.

Where it is kept

The storeroom is part of the station buildings, close to the door that faces the fell and the start of the Kungsleden. Abisko is a place people walk out of rather than drive from, so the equipment sits at the point where the walking begins.

Who gets it out

Station staff hand equipment out and take it back in, since it belongs to the station and not to the guest. Anyone going out with a guide is fitted before they leave, and the same people check what comes back at the end of the day.

The store

Food and equipment arrive long before the guests, because no road reaches this station

What is kept

Provisions come first: dry goods, fuel and the stores that have to last a whole season at a place with no delivery road. Walking and ski equipment is held with them. Kebnekaise is a mountain station and a winter base, and the store is stocked accordingly.

Where it is kept

The stores sit in the station buildings at the foot of the mountain, in the part of the site given over to work rather than to sleeping. Everything there was carried in across country, and nothing is replaced quickly, so the room is planned around that fact.

Who gets it out

The station crew manage the supplies, because the whole place runs on what was brought in before the season. Guests take what the kitchen serves and what they carry themselves. Walkers heading further up are told what the station can spare and what it cannot.