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Letters from 68 degrees, Kiruna

Blog at 68 degrees

What's happening here at 68 degrees, a bed and breakfast in Kiruna.

web page: www.68degrees.se

‘We did it!’

Here at 68 degrees Posted on Wed, February 17, 2016 12:44:15

I understand how desperate people can feel trying to see the northern lights. It’s hard to accept that it’s down to the weather, and good luck, and nothing else. People are willing to do anything – anything – to see them, and they think that, like believing in fairies, if they just believe enough, they’ll see them.

I have to break it to them gently. Their determination to see them won’t make any difference. They can’t buy them on a Northern Lights tour. And there’s absolutely nothing they can do to increase their chances of success, except staying awake.

People don’t want to hear this. It’s tough love, when I explain. Afterwards I send them off to one of Kiruna’s restaurants with the consoling thought that, after all, unpredictability is what makes the aurora so wonderful. Just relax, I advise them, because there’s nothing you can do.

At least that’s what I thought until yesterday.

There were a couple of people here determined to take good photographs of the lights. They were not casual visitors – they’d been planning this for some while.

They’d invested in boots so they could stand out on the ice in minus 70, waiting for the lights to appear. They’d bought the tripods and the special camera equipment for taking photographs in dark conditions. They’d got the ‘app’ for telling them the current kp prediction, and they’d tuned into the nearest source of detailed local weather information. They’d rented a car so they could ‘chase’ the lights, and they were prepared to drive many hours in the hope of ‘catching’ them.

During the day they’d gone out on a ‘recce’, searching for suitable places to return to later with their equipment. They drove for many hours, looking for the perfect spot. It was a whole day’s work, preparing for the main activity later that night.

They took only a short break back here, resting for an hour or so before going out and buying energy drinks to keep them on their feet during the long night. They packed up all their equipment in a huge rucksack, and then set out again, driving back down the same long road in the snow to their chosen spot, where they would spend the rest of the night, waiting in the darkness and the cold for the clouds to move away and for the lights to appear.

We went to bed, knowing they wouldn’t be back until the following morning.

The next day they were all smiles. ‘We had a really hard time’, they told us, ‘but – we did it!!!’.

Through sheer force of will and a lot of very expensive equipment they’d won through. Fearlessly, they’d gone out and they’d made those tricksy northern lights appear.

And there was I thinking the lights were created by solar activity and geomagnetic forces!



Strange behaviour

Here at 68 degrees Posted on Wed, February 17, 2016 12:28:51

We’re fully booked, and there’s a constant flow of guests arriving, going on tours, looking for the northern lights, having breakfasts, and leaving.

Our guests may stay up all night for the chance of seeing the those tricky lights. They’re out all day exploring the landscape, and they come home late at night, flushed with enthusiasm, having driven for a couple of hours along dark roads in the snow. Then they sleep soundly and are up early for breakfast, eager to fit in more activities in the next day. We’re running to keep up with them, wishing we had as much energy.

We can’t help but notice that Kiruna, on the other hand, seems to have fallen asleep. At the weekend there’s little or no traffic on the road. There’s been heavy snowfall, but there isn’t a snow plough to be seen. The usual groups wandering up the hill into town late on Saturday must be wandering somewhere else. Where is everybody?

I usually warn guests that at the weekend they’ll need to book ahead in the restaurants, but recently booking has been unnecessary. There seem to be only other tourists eating out. What’s happened to all the locals?

Whisper it if you dare.

‘Melodifestivalen.’

Sweden, and especially Kiruna, loves ‘Eurovision’. These are the days of the qualifying rounds, deciding who will represent Sweden in the song contest. Every weekend people stock up on snacks and drinks and settle down on the sofa for hours of intense viewing.

We, on the other hand, are more likely to be down the bottom of our garden, staring out at the north eastern sky where the green swirling lights are most likely to appear. It’s a surprising thing that if you’ve lived here all your life you don’t really notice the northern lights. They must wonder why we stand there, sometimes for an hour or so, staring at their house. Local behaviour can indeed be strange.