Wilderness Latitude Vincent Bertolotti & Melody Guillou Myrkulla 1 912 99 Vilhelmina SWEDEN www.wildernesslatitude.com wilderness.latitude@gmail.com +46 (0)70 55 43 052 We are a young couple of passionate individuals and we have chosen to live our dreams. The silence of the wilderness, a simple life in direct contact with Nature surrounded by pristine landscapes and our loving dogs: this is our reality. We live in the heart of the Taiga forest in the Swedish Lapland. Our property Myrkulla is located 250 km south of the Arctic circle and 7 km from the charming village of Vilhelmina. Come and share with us this unique way of living for the duration of a holiday and discover Sweden s most mythical region: Lapland. We will welcome you on our property where a cosy log cabin has been built by Vincent, in a charismatic manner according to an ancient building knowledge to offer you, great comfort and tranquillity. Wilderness Latitude has on offer quality stays that will fulfil a desire of adventuring the wilderness. Rather than a touristic product, we pride ourselves in offering real life experience adventures, organised in 6 different Dog sledding Safari tours. From a simple discovery of this activity, to an extreme trekking adventure or a cultural immersion into Lapland's wilderness; each Safari holds its own intensity. We hope to reach everyone's needs in offering something different!
Wild Action Safari : Efforts, sensations and scenic views Reach the summits of the great Swedish outdoors. Do you need to bring some action into your holiday or discover new sensations surrounded by breathtaking snowcovered landscapes? Let s share your efforts with our team of husky dogs and reach the summits of Lapland! Wild Action Safari will take you to the Swedish Mountains, to the high plateau of the Blaikfjällets and on a 3day trek to the ascension of the Bear Mountain. Immensity, Scenic views, serenity and the adrenalin kick of dogsledding through untouched territory every day. 8 days 7 nights / ATHLETIC LEVEL / Multiactivity sport adventure accessible from 15 years old / Maximum 3 people A physical adventure available from January until the 10th of April. Spend an active holiday immersed in the snow covered wilderness and become a musher in control of your own team of husky dogs. This package offers extreme sensations every day. Four days of Dogsledding including a 130 km trek to the mountains organised on a 3 day trek with stop overs in idyllic locations. Spend a night in a tent and another in an altitude hut during the Trek adventure. The 5 other nights you will enjoy your own private logwood cabin at our property with a Sauna at your disposal. Experience one day of Snowmobile or half a day of Driving on Ice with costs included in the package price of this safari. Price: 15 500 SEK
Programme and Dates: Wild Action Safari is available from the start of January through to the 10th of April. Arrivals and departure are to be organised on a Friday Please check our blog for availability. Day 1: Welcome to Myrkulla! Airport transfer. Welcoming drinks. Depending on time of arrival: Introduction to our dog family. North Pole equipment distribution. Sauna. Accommodation is at Myrkulla. Day 2: Dogsledding induction and Practice. Get your first taste of mushing sensations. Dog sledding induction. Practice on an easy terrain as well as on a challenging one. Lunch camp. Back to Myrkulla for a Sauna. Accommodation is at Myrkulla. Day 3: Start of a 3day Dog sledding trek adventure to the look out over Norway. A 45 km climb Dog sledding. Picnic around the campfire. Set up camp at the Malgovik Belvedere. Night in a Tent with all necessary comfort (we supply the tent). Accommodation is at the Malgovik Belvedere in a tent. Day 4: Dog sledding day following the Reindeer trails An altitude hike with a view today (700m high and 35 km long). Lunch in the open. Arrival at the altitude hut in the afternoon. Accommodation is in an altitude hut with average comfort. Day 5: Descending through the Taiga to end the trek in Vilhelmina. 50 km circuit. Campfire lunch. Ride through Vilhelmina.
Arrival at Myrkulla in the afternoon. Sauna. For Dinner we deliver at your cottage: homemade pizza or dinner pack. Accommodation is at Myrkulla. Day 6: Choice of activities: Dog snowshoeing, Ice fishing or visit of Vilhelmina. Sleep in. Track the powder on snowshoes with the help of a dog. Ice fishing (can be combined with Dog snowshoeing). Visit of Vilhelmina: Sami handicraft museum, local produce shops and other shopping available. Arrival back at Myrkulla. Relaxing time and Sauna. Accommodation is at Myrkulla. Day 7: The package deal offers: A day of Snowmobile or Half a day of Driving on Ice activity. Pick: The allday Snowmobile trek, 80 km to the Bear Mountain. Or: The halfday experience of Driving on Ice on a secure track. After the Induction, the instructor stays in the car with you and you can lap a 2 km circuit. Inform us of your choice on time of booking so we can organise it for you. Accommodation is at Myrkulla with the Sauna available. Day 8: Departure day, we hug, we cry and you get back to harsh civilized world! Airport transfer We sure hope to see you again! The daily organisation of this programme can be subject to changes, for your safety we reserve the right to make executive decisions in order to respond to weather changes or fitness ability. Price of this Safari: 15 500 SEK
Price: Price includes: Accommodation with all meals provided from evening n 1 to morning n 8. Your transfer (including luggage) from Vilhelmina Airport. Car transfer to every visit or museum specified in the programme as well as the entry fees. Management teams such as Professional Musher or Mountain leaders and equipment during all activities (Dogsledding/ Ice fishing/ Dog snow shoeing/ Snowmobile/Driving on Ice). The lease of your North Pole equipment. Sauna costs every night at our property. Price DOES NOT include: Flights and Airport taxes. Your transfer (and your luggage transfer) from any other airport than VilhelminaAirport. Depending on time of arrival/ departure: we DO NOT include meals for breakfast and lunch on Day 1, as well as lunch and dinner on Day 8. Drinks other than the ones on offer during meals and Saunas. Any car rentals. Your personal expenses. Everything that is not mentioned in price includes. To be ADDED on top of Safari s price: Bus transfer to Umeå: from 800 SEK (go and return)/person. Price will be assessed depending on the number of bookings. Access: Arrivals and Departure are to be organised on a FRIDAY. By plane from the StockholmArlanda Airport: To be advised: Be careful flying with RyanAir CompanyWe do not recommend using their company as they use a different airport and transfers are a lot more complicated. Arrive at Vilhelmina with Next jet ( 90 min flight) Arrive at Umeå with SAS ( 60 min flight) then Bus transfer to Vilhelmina with departure at 7.30 PM every Friday ( 250 km to Vilhelmina 2h30min trip). The price will be share amongst passengers. For your information: flights to Umeå are more regular and cheaper, but if you consider the price and duration of the bus transfer it is sometimes a better option to land directly in Vilhelmina Airport.
By Bus: Lapplandspilen is the Company that runs the line that links Stockholm to Vilhelmina. It is the cheaper option. It offers a departure From Stockholm every Friday morning at 9.30 AM with an arrival in Vilhelmina at 8.10 PM From Vilhelmina every Thursday night at 8.30 PM with an arrival in Stockholm at 7.00 AM This is a 10 to 11h trip on the bus. By Car: From Stockholm or Umeå with the usual car rentals companies such as: Hertz, Avis, Europcar. Accomodation: At the Lodge or La Cabane : Traditional and warm La Cabane has a real cosy feel. This log wood hut isn t connected to the normal electricity network. But it uses a battery system and solar panels so you will be able to charge up any of your electrical appliances such as phone, computer or camera on a 220 v plug (European version) and access internet at our house. Lighting is provided with LED lights as well as petrol lamps and candles for an authentic atmosphere. Heating is with wood, you will have to take care of your wood stove, and we will provide animal fur! ;) Two dry toilets are available: one inside your accommodation if you are sensitive to cold the other will be in the woods for the dreamers! We will provide drinking water in bottles for your everyday needs. Shower will be taken at the Sauna, the Swedish way! We will provide 20 L of boiling water to mix. All up 40 to 50 L per day and per person for your showers (It s plenty even if you have long hair!) During the multiday trips: In Bed & breakfast type sleep over, you will get all classic comfort. In altitude huts sleep over, huts are heated and they generally offer bank bed or dormitories. In tents, we use a wood stove for heating and will sleep on floor mats (performant camping type ones) topped with reindeer fur. Proactivity will be asked in regard of organising camp during overnight stays.
Food: Breakfasts: Your breakfast is at your lodge la cabane where a small kitchen is available, except during multidays treks. Lunches: Generally we will organise a camp fire in the wild Dinners: Dinners will be held in our living room (at our house). One night a week we will deliver at your cabane a meal or pizzas. Homemade wood fire cooking! Menus composition: We pride ourselves in using local produces and traditional recipes using reindeers, fish and other local goodies that we get from farmers and hunters from the community. We offer as well limited stocks of vegetables and jam from our garden. Please LET US KNOW of any specific diet requirements we can organise accordingly. Level: How to understand the physical ability required in the different safaris on offer? Dog sledding is a physically active hiking activity involving standing on the back of a sled being pulled along various terrains by a team of dogs. Similar as mountain biking, cross country skiing or kayaking you will have to control your speed and steer your sled according to what the terrain will throw at you. The dogs do the hardest part and love it more than anything, but you will have to hop off, and walk along on some uphill sections. Anybody can have fun; make sure you pick the level for your safari holiday trip according to your physical ability. This is to be taken very seriously; we reserve the right to change the program if we judge that any member of the team doesn t have the ability to safely negotiate technical difficulties along the way. We hope that this next page can help you understand completely what you are getting yourself and others into, especially if you are booking a holiday for someone else. Please make sure every member of your team is aware of the physical required. Feel free to contact us directly with enquiries regarding different safari tours and their level of difficulty, we ll be happy to help you decide which one is more suited for you, your group or your family. EASY level: Average physical ability needed, armchair adventurers welcome! Aiming at people with a desire for great outdoors with a wish to discover winter in Lapland. Treks are short (3 to 4h tops), without any specific difficulties. Accessible to kids from 12 years old (If between 9 and 12 years old, please contact us prior to booking).
MEDIUM level: Require people with experience in trekking. If you go mountain biking every week end, or hike long walks and exercise on a daily basis; you probably have a medium level of fitness. For safari of medium level, we need people with a strong desire of spending most of their time outside in the open with the dogs. You will be constantly exposed to the weather and the cold temperatures. Treks are a lot longer; it can be up to 5h on the sled. Accessible to kids from 15 years of age ( between 12 and 15 years old, please contact us prior to booking) ATHLETIC level: This level is for the adrenaline enthusiast! The ones that love extreme conditions! Most people would qualify 2 hours of activity at that level as: very extreme/ intense or even: not human! An athletic rated safari requires people that practise outdoors activities on a regular basis and have had experienced, treks of several days before. You must be physically healthy and very well trained. If you are ready to surround yourselves with wilderness and the immensity of a frozen landscape for the duration of your journey, if you can survive in the middle of nowhere better than in a big city and wish to learn how to be selfsufficient with a sled and a team of dogs then this level will deliver! Treks are long with steep terrain involving climbing sections that can get very physical. The packing of the sleds involve a lot more equipment and the risks are higher. Depending on the weather the Athletic type expedition can be highly challenging: sometimes, even more mentally than physically. Accessible from 18 years old, (from 15 to 18 years of age, please contact us prior to booking). Security: Immensity of Nature and harshness of the climate are a reality in Lapland. The weather can turn bad and change quickly. It can be complicated to turn around or get air evacuation assistance. We can assure you that we will put together all our experience and the technical appliances such as GPS, first aid kit and Satellite phone as well as reliable equipment to guaranty your safety. You will need your own private travel insurance. Be aware that most travel insurances do not cover the Arctic as a locality, or dog sledding as well as Ice fishing. So it is your responsibility, to make sure those activities are included in your package, and yes we are located in what is called The Arctic. On time of booking you will be asked to forward us a copy of your insurance certificate(s). We reserve the rights to refuse any person with heart condition; anyone needing ongoing medical treatment, pregnant women, disable people as well as anyone we feel may not be able to accomplish the journey safely.
Equipment advised: The list below is just to give you an idea of what can be handy to have but you do not need everything. The only items you must have are the one we will supply for you, and good footwear is highly recommended. We will supply (per person): A pair of over boots that will fit around your own boots. A North Pole jacket (waterproof, wind proof and extra hot with furry hood! ;)) Over gloves A 50 L waterproof bag A 1 L thermos A head lamp Multilayering is the best technique to keep warm: (Reading this next page might make you think this is crazy or over the top, please trust us and be aware that fighting against the cold temperatures is a constant challenge in Lapland) 1st layer: is in contact with your skin, tight and isolating it is made out of synthetic or wool fabrics. 2nd layer: is insulation from the cold, the idea is to keep warm air around your body. 3rd layer: has to be waterproof, stop the wind and has to be breathable in order to get the sweat out. NO COTTON! Cotton fabrics will hold moisture in. The multilayering technique will allow you to make adjustments weather you are on the sled (where you need to protect yourself from the wind) or if snowshoeing, the main cause of cold is your own sweat. Please try out your clothe and wash them before your trip (get rid of itchy tags), make sure they are efficient and they are big enough to allow multilayering in a comfortable manner. Avoid clothe that would be too tight and would cut the bloodstream. You have to be comfortable! In your luggage: For Head and Neck: This is the most important! The warmer your head is, the less air comes into your underlayers, the better you hold your body temperature. A beanie, a balaclava (wool or silk fabrics) or a warm beanie that will protect your ears well, A chapka (or Russian style fur hat), a neoprene snow face mask. Neck warmer: a couple can be good one warm (thick polar fabric), the other can be lighter. A good pair a sunglasses (fashion is not their purpose here, sun reflection can be a problem, we advise a minimum of Cat 3) or Glacier snow glasses. If using ski goggles, we advise anti fog type ones, they will be essential during windy/snowy conditions.
For Upper body/ Chest: Thermals or Long Underwear (long sleeves), commonly called Skins or Merinos. They are a technical fabric made to keep you warm and let the sweat out, no cotton and you can easily find them in the outdoor ski section of the store. Warm polar fleeces. As an extra comfort: feathers are ideal! You will find weight down puffer jackets or vests that are highly comfortable and offer the best warm efficiency! If you want to treat yourself this is the way, to go the extra distance in fighting against cold! A wind proof jacket, type GoreTex or Stop wind. If you own a good snow jacket or an arctic parka, it is time to get it out of the cupboard! If you find it hard to understand the type of clothing you need, go to any outdoor shop and ask for technical clothing to suit temperatures below zero. You can use google photo to get a visual idea of what you are looking for. Feel free as well to send us an e mail; we can give you some good website to order from. For the hands: Silk Undergloves (they can be merinos) and are often called glove liners. Good skiing gloves or/and Mittens. It is important to have waterproof/ Gore Tex gloves. A pair of warm gardening/ tradie s gloves or an old pair of any kind of gloves will be very handy to take care of the dogs or to go and get some wood. For the legs: Long Johns underwear that you can layer up. They can be Merinos, polar or synthetic. Once again no cotton! Some days you might wear one on top of the other so bring a few of those and be aware that the long ones are better. A pair of cross country ski pants would make a great second layer. A pair of ski pants or over pants. They have to be waterproof and resistant. If you are not too familiar with waterproof clothing, this is what you have to know: manufacturers use numbers to describe the waterproof breathability of their fabric. The higher the number, the more waterproof the fabric (it ranges from 5 000 mm to 20 000 mm). Ski pants and jacket must be no less than 20 000mm. If you are not sure try out your jacket and pants in the shower for a couple of minutes and see for yourself! For your feet: Silk socks, wool socks and good warm sky socks. Bring many sets. Winter hiking shoes (warm, waterproof and preferably with removable liners and insoles that can be pulled out to dry at night). Sorel s are great or altitude hiking type boots. Do not hesitate to take one size above your usual size in order to fit thick socks and still be comfortable. You will layer up your socks if cold temperatures. As well you need to make sure of their comfort by walking for long hours wearing them out when new. Mountain gaiters A pair of afterski boots for the evenings.
Make sure you have plenty of spare socks/underwear/fleeces etc. Spares will always be useful! Once again this list is to show you what can be useful for your comfort, if you have some of those items take them, but don t go overloading your luggage by buying too much if you don t think you will reuse any of it. We will supply the essential. Extra equipment needed: Pocket knife (Do not store in your carryon luggage if you are flying to Sweden, it will be taken off you by security on time of boarding). Head lamp with spare batteries. Sleeping bag liner (polar or silk fabric). Swimmers and towel for Saunas. Camera. Sunscreen (for high exposure), lip bean and personal toiletries Little antiseptic, strapping tape, BandAids, blisters type BandAids, pain killers, personal medication. Hands and feet warmers. A couple of waterproof bags ( resealable sandwich bags are ideal) WARNING: Electronic appliances and their batteries DO NOT like cold temperatures, think about protecting them in wool socks or special pockets. Same for your favourite water bottles! Recommended luggage: A small 30 L backpack: it can be your carryon on the plane and will be needed during our day trips to keep with you thermos, camera, spare socks etc A bigger backpack (hiking type). It has to be waterproof as it will be loaded onto the sleds during our treks and exposed to the weather. If the safari tour you ve picked doesn t include a multiday trek of 2 or more days, you can just use a normal luggage that will stay in your accommodation.
Practical information: Entry into Sweden: You will need a valid passport or if member of the eurozone just a valid ID card. Note that most companies won t allow you to board the plane if your passport is not valid for at least 6 month after your departure date. Health: Think about asking your health insurance for a European card prior to organizing your trip (allow delays). Subscription to separate travel insurance is recommended. No vaccines are required. WARNING: The area we leave in is often considered as high risk, so is the activity of dog sledding. So make sure you tick the right boxes when choosing your travel insurance. Include Ice fishing, Dog sledding, Snowmobile and Driving on ice (if you have selected those option in your safari holiday) and the geographical zone called the Arctic must be included (Vilhelmina s region is situated in the north of Sweden and is part of the Arctic). Insurance: Medical Evacuation and Repatriation are compulsory. They must be specified in your medical cover. You must forward us a copy of this certificate on time of booking. Currency: The Swedish Krona (SEK). The exchange rate with the Euro is about 8.5 SEK to 9 SEK / 1 Euro Local time/zone: UTC +1 (Same as France) Be aware that Sweden uses daylight savings as well as other countries. Communication: Most Swedish people speak very good English. Swedish language being very hard to pronounce, a small English dictionary can be more useful than a Swedish one if English is not your first language.