These days, the first rays of direct sunlight begin to peak above Abisko’s snow-covered mountaintops. If you are visiting now you may still feel that the days are a lot shorter than what you are used to at home. Yet if you look closely at the faces of the people around you’ll find a spark that lights their eyes and lifts the corners of their mouths. Polar night — the darkest time of the year (a phenomenon you should experience at least once in your life if you get the chance) — is coming to an end.
The eight seasons of Swedish Lapland
In a place like Abisko, where nature rules over everything, people have, for thousands of years, not only lived in but with nature. They’re accustomed to picking up on the smallest of changes. Of colors. Of light. Of temperatures. In Swedish Lapland, nature shapes ways of life — the fast and the slow and the in-between. Thus, a depiction of only four seasons as they are known around most places of the world has never quite sufficed to describe nature’s intricate though prominent changes so far up north. Instead, the Samí have taught us to think of a year made of eight seasons, each one of them an extraordinary testament to the Arctic’s immense diversity: dálvi (winter), giđđadálvi (spring winter), giđđa (spring), giđđageassi (spring summer), geassi (summer), čakčageassi (autumn summer), čakča (autumn), and čakčadálvi (autumn winter).
Yin to the Yang: The beauty of polar night
Polar night, the time of year during which the sun does not rise above the horizon, teaches patience. The particularity of a peaceful, seemingly infinite quiet. A time that calls on people to stop in their tracks, to become aware and reflect. Meanwhile, those pastel colors in the sky! Short days, well-lived. A spectacular inward and outward journey that impacts and changes people, forever remaining one for the books. Should you visit Abisko during polar night, you still wonder? Well, the answer is simple: Yes, you absolutely should!
The beginning of a new season of light!
Now, the end of polar night paves the way for giđđadálvi as the Samí call “spring winter” — the return of light and warmth after months of peaceful darkness. For the time being, before the world begins to spin a little faster once again, Abisko still awaits its guests in all its wintery glory. From the crispness of morning that you will experience during a hike inside the national park to the scenery’s intricate display of colors and lights that call to be captured through a camera lens: Make the most of our daytime activities in Abisko, explore the most scenic and epic places in and around the national park on foot, on a snowmobile or a sled, and enjoy the peaceful quiet that allows your mind to marvel and wonder. Not to forget the spectacular northern lights that Lights over Lapland’s guides will show you in their favorite places.
Have you always dreamed of exploring the incredible beauty of Swedish Lapland? Let this be your calling!
