GPS routing of our tour

Today I transferred all way points of our tour to our Garmin E-Trex H (sponsored by Globetrotter Equipment) by the use of a synchronization cable and the freeware EasyGPS(R). The GPS navigation is done now. It was plenty of work to measure all waypoints from the map and enter them into EasyGPS, but it will be worth the work, if the weather turns bad. The picture is a screenshot of our tour from EasyGPS:



ENGLISH TEXT: (German see below)
By downloading the following data you confirm, that you understood, that we can't take any responsibility for the correctness of the date and for any consequences resultiung from their use.

• PDF File containing all waypoints and huts and pictures of some huts from Abisko to Kilpisjärvi in the main route of Nordkalottleden (winter): just send me a PM on facebook...
• The GPX file with all waypoints and routes (you will need the pdf above as explaination) you'll just write me on facebook or so... The .gpx file is named as .txt => After downloading it, change the ending .txt into .gpx, then it will work.
• Please Note: All GPS coordinates in UTM format of the huts mentioned in the pdf file are from DNT Oslo and should be quite correct.
• Please note 2nd: Care for the different mapdatums (wgs84 and RT90) respectively the different position formats (UTM and Swedish Grid).

GERMAN TRANSLATION:
Mit dem Download der folgenden Dateien akzeptierst du, dass wir keinerlei Garantie für die inhaltliche Richtigkeit aller bereitgestellten Daten übernehmen!

• Ein PDF File mit den Wegpunkten (! Ohne Garantie auf Richtigkeit / Korrektheit) und das entsprechende GPX File dazu sende ich gern zu, schreibt mir einfach auf facebook oder so. 
• Ein Hinweis: Alle Daten die im PDF File als UTM-Format vorliegen UND Hütten lokalisieren sind vermutlich äußerst korrekt, da sie direkt von der Website des DNT Oslo entnommen sind.
• Zweiter Hinweis: Man achte auf die verschiedenen Kartenbezugssysteme (WGS84 / RT90) und die verschiedenen Positionsformate (UTM / SwedishGrid).

Preparing winter tours

A winter tour on the Nordkalottleden trail and in Scandinavia in common requires extensive preparations. This kind of tour certainly holds a huge difference compared to tours in Alpine regions. In the following we will provide some tips regarding winter tours in Scandinavia and thus share our experiences with everybody interested. Comments concerning the following posts are welcome!

More knowldege about winter trekking in Scandinavia you can obtain from the German websites www.fjaellwanderung.de of Anneliese Voß and from my blog of my exchange semester in Oulu.

Organization tasks before starting a winter tour

Before conducting a winter tour in Scandinavia, you have to organize some basic matters:

• Journey to Scandinavia and back: Find out about train and plane connections, think about alternative connections if your time planning fails due to weather problems etc. If you are using skis, you should inform your aviation company about the additional luggage and book the transportation of your equipment in advance. Cheap flights you may book at www.flysas.com, www.lufthansa.com (book very soon), www.blue1.fi and www.norwegian.no.

• Plan your tour route: Which route or which part of the trail you want to do?

• Organize your tour route: If you plan to sleep and use self service huts of the Swedish or Norwegian mountaineering assocoations, you have to become a member of the associations early enough to recieve your membership card and the standard key for the huts before starting your tour. The Finnish huts are normally free of fees and provide basic equipment as a gas stove, fire wood, an axe and sleeping area.
  

• Check your equipment: You should check your equipment some weeks before starting your trip. Do you have all necessary equipment? Do you know how to use it? More about equipment you may find here.

• Security and safer trekking: Tell at least one person about your tour route and when you will be back latest. Thus it is easier to start rescueing somebody in the vast fjell areas.
  

Detailed planning of your tour route

The route of a winter tour should be exactly planned in advance by the use of topographic maps and by using the knowledge of local experts and the variety of webpages available.

• Plan your route: Where will you go? Are there steep slopes to avoid? Are there dangours river or water crossings? Where may the ice-cover have the best quality? Never cross nearby dams!

• Insert the coordinates of all important way-points, such as river crossings, bridges, emergency "exits" and telephone, huts and shelters into your gps-device. Make sure, that you obtain enough batteries (Lithium) for your gps during your tour. In addition it can be useful to search the internet for photos of your huts, because this makes them easier to find, if weather conditions are bad. By the use of a photo, one has a more detailed imagination of the location of a hut. To find out gps coordinates you may use the dnt's geomap-website: here.

• Check emergency points at your tour route. Where is it possible to reach villages and/ or roads?

• Think about your timing: How much time you might need for the planned route? Do not forget to include some additional time reserves into your planning, for example if bad weather forces you to stay in a hut for some days. Bear the shorter daylight period and the extreme temperatures in your mind, if you plan to do your tour in December, Janauary or February.