From Narvik to Tredjetoppen
The surroundings of the world-famous port of Narvik, far above the Arctic Circle, are one of Norway's renowned ski touring paradises. The tour to Tredjetoppen (1272 m), however, is more of a "walk" straight above the town to a panoramic summit above the ski resort.
Route overview: car park by the ski resort (100 m) – up along the edge of the pistes to 250 m – a mix of open terrain and pistes to Linken (1003 m) – a gentle climb of just over a kilometre to Tredjetoppen (1272 m) – descent across the plateau in the upper part – lower down through the ski resort or open terrain depending on the snow.
Narvik became widely known in spring 1940, when heavy fighting between the Germans and the British took place right in the port, around it and in the nearby fjords, where a number of destroyers were sunk. Narvik is also known as the transhipment port for iron ore brought here by rail from Kiruna in Sweden.
The ascent from Narvik to Tredjetoppen (1272 m) combines fitness ski touring with classic ski touring. If you return to the starting point you don't even need avalanche gear, as you stay within the ski resort. Above its upper limit it is a gently rising ridge walk with about 270 metres of height gain.
Through the ski resort to Linken (1003 m)
From the car park start along the edge of the floodlit blue piste. Climb it for roughly the first 150 vertical metres, then either turn off into open terrain or continue up the red piste no. 12 – off-piste is of course the better choice. Weave your way up to the top station of the gondola at 650 m, home to the Fjellheisrestauranten and a great view of both Narvik and the water.
From 650 m, depending on the snow, climb either through open terrain or along the red piste to the summit of Linken (1003 m). On top there is a transmitter visible from far away and a building to shelter behind in strong wind.
From Linken (1003 m) to Tredjetoppen (1272 m)
Those who don't want to go further can stay on Linken or ski down to the restaurant. For everyone else there is a gently rising plateau similar to Loftet in Jotunheimen. In fine weather the bonus is a fantastic all-round panorama the whole way up. Take care mainly in poor visibility, as the final section to the summit runs above vertical rock walls dropping to the north and then, from the summit, to the east. Definitely don't try what we saw there: a local digging through a cornice right above an almost vertical slope so that he could jump into it on skis.
Descent to Narvik
From the summit of Tredjetoppen (1272 m), which is also popular with paragliders, there are several descent options both to the north and to the south. As this tour sits on the border between fitness ski touring and ski touring, we leave the harder variants for another time and in the first part ski down along the ascent route. Once back on Linken (1003 m), continue on a combination of red and blue pistes or through the sparse forest, as you prefer. Don't count on the restaurants down below for food, but the Kiwi and Rema 1000 supermarkets are close at hand.