Ice Hotel, Skiing, dogsledding

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A couple months back I had a great skiing trip to Rijksgransen, Sweden which is on the swedish norwegian border, 5 hours north-west from my house. On the way we stopped at the icehotel in Kiruna. It is constructed every year out of snow, ice and snice (snow ice mixture spray). Each room is designed by a team of artists, giving each one a unique look and theme. It costs between $400-800 to rent a room per night. When Brie visited me I went to the icehotel again with her which was great to see. Two times is enough for one life.

Snowboarding in Rijksgransen was great. The snow could have been better, but it is the best place I had ever boarded. Great surroundings, only mountains and a small village. We are planning on going there again at the end of May. Yes, May. They still have snow, and because it is so far up north, the mountain is open until 2am lit only by natural lighting. It closed around 4 when we were there because it got dark so fast and they have no lights.

When Brie was here we also went dogsledding. It was amazing. The two of use were on one sled, with 8 dogs hooked up to us. The dogs were an Alaskan Husky, Swedish hunting dog mix. They were small and therefor have increased stamina. We were being pulled around 15km/hr. We got a pretty good student rate, about $50 each. The guy picked us up at our university and his land was only 15 minutes away. I definately want to go dogsledding again! I don't have any photos of this because I forgot my camera (was running late). Brie got some though so ask here to share.

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Photos

Inside the chapel
People have weddings here

Entrance
Reindeer door handles

Absolute icebar
drinking glasses were made completely of ice

Looked cool
but the $12 drinks prevented me from buying anything

Main hall
lined with ice pillars and ice chandeliers

Sleeping on ice
The hotel gives you a very warm sleeping bag if you stay there

Sunset drive
On the way to the mountain

Rijksgransen
Driving up to the skihill

drive home
cool mountains

Kiruna
Takes advantage of the wind