I'm going to write in detail about my experience every step of the way, so if you don't like spoilers, I'm gonna stop you right after this post. I think the check in process is rather important and informative for your planning purposes, so you should check it out before you reach Kiruna.
Fjällräven provides free bus transport from Kiruna airport and Kiruna train station to the base camp at Kiruna, so you don't have to worry about that. However, you have to make your way to Kiruna yourself, from whichever part of the world you're at. Now, I would recommend flying into Kiruna if you don't like long and unreliable train rides because it takes more than 12h to reach Kiruna from Stockholm by train and the train tracks got derailed so we had to take a bus from Bogden station, which took even longer ):
The base camp is at a school campus and it's very well-organised. When you enter the main hall area, there will be a queue for you to get your trekking pass and luggage tag, and thereafter, the trash bag, map, waterproof plastic bag, and then the freeze dried food. There is also a whole lot of information about the happenings during the week of the hike, bus timings, rules etc. on a noticeboard. If you have any questions, I'm sure the lovely volunteers would be glad to help you out!
Entrance to the main hall
Start of the queue for checking in!
Information Board near the start of the check in
Overview of the trek - We took 2.5 days worth of food because that's how long we felt we needed to hit the Salka checkpoint.
Overview of the trek - We took 2.5 days worth of food because that's how long we felt we needed to hit the Salka checkpoint.
Selection of Freeze-dried food by Real Turmat - they're REALLY good. I personally loved the chocolate muesli for breakfast. There's another muesli with berries and coconut option that's called "Light meal". It contains 700 kcal as compared to 400kcal for the chocolate muesli. Just something to take note of!
They give you recommended number of meals to take! I personally loved the Creamy Salmon with pasta.
More options! Beef stew with rice was good too. There were other options we saw along the trek at the Salka and Alesjaure checkpoints as well.
There is also a pop up store by Naturkompaniet selling Fjällräven goods and also the Classic Event t-shirts and hoodies. We personally bought a t-shirt and a hoodie each! They're so comfy haha.
The last thing in the main hall is the Trekker's cafe selling some munchies and drinks. Now, if you get the collapsible cup for 25kr, it's a free flow of coffee and tea. That seemed like a good deal, so we got it and we did not regret it because those cups came in so handy on the trek!!
Trekkers Cafe
Collapsible cup - it's also a collectible!
Outside the hall, there was another pop up offering samples of freeze dried food. So, we got to try them and then we actually went back to change some of our options to the ones we thought were more yummy! I really enjoyed their service at the base camp.
There is also another station for fuel and polar bread. This is the only time you'll get the polar bread, so we took 6 pieces. The bread tastes really good actually! It's like an aerated flat bread that's really light. Please make sure that your stove is compatible with the Primus gas, especially if your stove is new and it's not the Primus brand.
The last station is for luggage check in. We didn't do this till 6am the next day, when we were about to take the bus to Nikkaluokta. You will need your trekking pass for this - they will write down your number and it will be used as a method of identification at the end when you collect your luggage.
The whole process at check in doesn't take very long, but you can feel free to stay as long as you like to soak in the atmosphere!
Be sure to check back for my subsequent posts on the trek itself!
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