Since it wasn’t raining, our geomorphology teachers decided it would be a perfect day to climb the ridge behind the station.
Akka was with us. She’s Ninis’s dog, but since Ninis (professor and director of Tarfala Research Station) was going by helicopter to get some samples from Rabot Glacier on the other side of Kebnekaise, and Akka doesn’t really like going in a helicopter, the dog came with us instead. I think she was the one managing climbing the best.
The geology boys studying a stone. Christoffer and Johan.
It is a steep ridge. Very steep, even. At one point, I thought I wasn’t going to make it. The problem was, the entire ridge is covered in rocks and blocks, left there by extremely powerful frost action. The surface of the mountains around here are not made out of solid rock – they are covered in debris. So, at its steepest point, stepping on the wrong stone could theoretically mean creating a slide, detrimental for the people climbing behind me.
Well, after a while there wasn’t anyone else behind me. To be honest, right there I wasn’t thinking of the potential victims of my bad step. I was only aware of this overwhelming fear of heights building up in me – a feeling I’ve only felt after climbing to the top of Mount Storm King in the Olympic National Park in Washington.
I made it to the edge, though, the part of the ridge where the steep climb turns into a rather enjoyable uphill walk. The view here was amazing, and I ran into Kajsa, who agreed to pose next to the beautifully patterned ground. It’s a periglacial landform, created by upfreezing and sorting of stones during many freeze-thaw cycles.
The rest were already waiting on the other side of the ridge, listening to Adrian (our incredible geomorphology teacher, visiting from Scotland) explaining the landscape. The valley on the other side of the ridge looked so different from the Tarfala valley, quite intriguing really. (Panorama photo taken with my SLR camera and copy-and-paste in image processing software.)
Quite a spot, really, to have a lecture. An ordinary day for a geoscience student, though. And Adrian was like a never-ending story book, telling the history of the landscape like it was a riddle and an adventure all at the same time.
It was incredibly cold, though, up here. Windy and bone shattering. So we couldn’t sit still for very long. Instead, we climbed to the top of Tarfalatjårro, 1622 meters above sea level, the lower of the ridge’s peaks.
Sandra on the top, photographing Tarfala valley and the distant Laddju valley.
The way down was much more fun, consisting of many group photo moments. Me with Christoffer and Elin, with the glaciers Storglaciären, Isfallsglaciären and Kebnepakteglaciären in the background.
I also learned that my new Xperia Arc has a panorama photo setting. Much more practical than copy-pasting with the SLR photos! Here, you see the rocks, the mountains, the glaciers and Johan, Kajsa, Sara, Elin and Robert.
In the stream beds further down, the moss is like a chock of green for the eyes, after walking for so long in the rocky grayness.
All in all, it was a nice half-day excursion, despite the moment of fear of height claustrophobia.
Katja Malmborg 