Outdoor activities long distance
Traditional Nordic outdoor life
Bring out the big pack, hiking boots, pulk, and mountain skis. Through many trips and nights in tents, you gradually safer and more independent in the mountains, before we together complete this year's highlight – a long journey on the Finnmarksvidda.
The Friluftsliv Langtur line is a proud carrier of a culture of safety, safe and untraceable travel in the Arctic mountains. On this line, which is the most traditional and longest-running line on the mountain Lofoten Folkehøgskole, we spend a lot of time hiking and gradually learn how to make the most of the high point of the school year as easily and smoothly as possible: a long trip on skis and a pulk on the Finnmark Plateau!
Outdoor activities Langtur was started in 1984 by our former teacher – the Danish outdoor pioneer and hiking guide Jørgen Gormsen – and has since then mostly had full classes every year. The line that has been continued and further developed by Elin Tyssedalstveit in recent years has in many ways laid the foundation for the strong outdoor tradition that Lofoten Folkehøgskole represents today.
On this line, we learn the most by going on a mountain hike together. With approximately 45 nights spent in tents We will really get to know the elements and learn to take responsibility for planning and executing trips. There will be both many trips in the nearby Lofot Mountains and longer trips to Svartisen, the wild mountains towards the Swedish border and Finnmarksvidda in the winter.
POutdoor Life Long distance learning is achieved through doing. You will gradually understand how the small details combined form a holistic system that makes life on the road easier.
- mountain hike
- fracture
- climbing
- top hike
- maps and compass
- tent and camping table setting
- First aid
- tourmate
- Equipment development
- tour guide
- personal conduct
- ski mountaineering and pulk
- Skiing technique
- telemark swing
- Winter outdoor activities
- long distance winter mountain
- top hike
- craterology
- living in snow
- emergency bivouac
- clothing
- Meteorology
- expedition in the North Pole
We are going to Finnmark!
At Friluftsliv Langtur we can guarantee strong nature experiences. Throughout the school year, we will gradually learn how good trip planning and constructive problem solving of minor and major challenges that arise along the way can help us to enjoy the natural surroundings to the fullest when we first set out on a long journey. We will both become better acquainted with ourselves and build stronger cohesion and community within the group – because we stand by each other when it really counts. That may not allow us to climb mountains, but at least we will be better able to get to them more easily.
All our tours are conducted high in the north. A year north of the Arctic Circle will offer you everything from blood-red skies and frost on your ski poles to dancing northern lights, clear blue starry skies and warming campfire fires. We do not want to leave any other traces in nature than the ski tracks we leave behind, and we are constantly seeking new knowledge about and in nature. At Friluftsliv Langtur we learn how to respectfully use and care for nature for the foreseeable future.
Experiences and lessons learned the experiences we bring home from our trips enable us to undertake more extreme trips in the future and function better as human beings regardless of what we choose to do later in life.
Who is the Friluftsliv Langtur program suitable for? Outdoor activities Long distance hiking is suitable for almost everyone. You don’t need to be a super expert or have a lot of outdoor experience beforehand. Maybe you haven’t even skied before? The goal for the school year is that everyone who takes the course – regardless of previous experience and knowledge – will be able to hike across Finnmarksvidda with the wind in their hair and a smile on their face at the end of the school year.
You should be prepared to be A lot of hiking outside in all kinds of weather, Be curious to learn more and have the ability to make decisions once you have decided on something. You will gradually gain more responsibility in both the planning and execution of trips, and thus become more confident in hiking alone and with others. A year at Friluftsliv Langtur makes you better prepared for new mountain adventures when the school year is over.
Check out the students' own Instagram account at @friluftsliv_langtur
The teacher
Malin Lagerkvist
Malin is a Swedish generalist and “multi-tasker” who herself was a student at our folk high school many years ago. Although climbing, skiing and surfing drew her to Lofoten, she is also passionate about traditional outdoor life where the most important thing is to be able to live and move around in nature for an extended period of time, without expensive and advanced equipment and with inspiration from traditional knowledge about nature and handicrafts.
Feel free to write if you have any questions: malin@lofotenfolkehogskole.no
Information
On this page you will find everything you need when you arrive at the school, both for living in the hostel and for the lessons, as well as good tips for other cool things you might want to bring along.
Former students tell
I probably never would have believed that someone who had never heard of mountain skiing before would be able to walk across Finnmarksvidda, dare to stand and sing and play in front of the whole school at the closing concert, or climb the mountain walls at Henningsvaer.
Actually being able to do all of this requires having other people around you whom you can trust to get through the coldest nights of an expedition, to brave going outside their comfort zone, or to dare to put their lives in the hands of someone on a cliff wall 600 meters above sea level.
It’s not that hard to describe what it’s like to live four people on 4 square meters for two weeks in a climate where you didn’t think it was possible to survive; it’s amazing.
It is not until the wind blows its strongest, the spleen is at its heaviest, and the cold reaches its coldest that the food tastes best and the closest ties are forged.
It was at this school, with these people and in Lofoten that I learned to appreciate nature, what it can give and what we can give back to it by taking care of it.
I have always had the opinion that there is incredibly much good in a person. And to find this, you have to step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. This develops us as human beings. For a long time, I have had a desire to go folk high school and challenge myself in areas I would never otherwise experience. The dilemma was just where to go.
With three bags, I traveled from the Southern Norway region and headed north. The sight that struck me when I flew in for landing was overwhelming! Powerful mountains stretching straight up from the sea to some enticing peaks were amazing. Once I had planted my feet on the ground, I quickly realized that it’s not without reason that Lofoten has been named one of the world’s most beautiful regions by visitors!
No learning curve can compare to the one I had this year. For one thing, I learned incredibly much about myself in relation to others. The over 50 nights in the tent contained joy, tears, happiness, irritation, pleasure, pain, laughter, singing, and so much more. When the wind howls, the snow rages, and the body freezes, it is incredible what bonds are formed between you and your tentmates. For another thing, I acquired a huge amount of long-awaited knowledge. This has made me confident in the face of physical challenges and enabled me to undertake trips I would never have undertaken on my own. With teachers who have slept more in tents than in houses, there is a lot of experience to draw on.
Am I really going to have to leave all my friends at home, my training, my places?! The fear of the new and the unknown really didn’t take over. It wasn’t long before my phone was lying in the drawer, because around me I had everything I needed and I could live here and now.
Sleeping on Dronningtinden and seeing the Northern Lights for the first time, seeing the sea eagle fly beneath me from the top of Geitgallien, setting the first telemark turns and falls on a mountain side in Svalbard and struggling to exhaustion pulling a pair of tires up to the local Tjeldbergtinden are just a few of all the wonderful experiences I had. Being able to share all of this with others gave me something better than friends for life, namely truly good hiking friends.
Every day was unique, with the exception of the daily morning bath. Imagine being on a mountain top or sleeping outside on a completely ordinary «everyday»! I had both time to dream and to fulfill those dreams. No matter what crazy idea I had, there was always someone who wanted to be with me.
I didn’t feel particularly independent during the year in Lofoten, because never before have I had such a large family around me consisting of fellow students and engaged teachers. Even without a clock or calendar, time went by very quickly and at home most things were exactly as they were when I left, although some people said I had become a bit crazy. I probably learned some important values in life and continued to dream.
Youtube
Two weeks of skiing in Finnmark in April/May. We spend every night camping, and have all the equipment and supplies with us in our pulkers.
