Today’s mission? Morkhala-3,600 vertical feet of long, steep, and iconic Norwegian skiing. Narvik may be a tiny coastal town you’ve scarcely heard of but with fjords to our left, fiords to our right, and fiords behind us, spring days on the 68th parallel north are long and rewarding. It’s almost 8 pm and the skiing is only beginning.
Our guide Micke Ekenstam has led us swiftly to the top. (For his real job, a senior energy-environmental consultant at one of Norway’s high-powered consulting firms, Micke regularly wakes before 6 am, summits by 730, and skis down to his desk for 9.) Just another Narvik day for Micke, we had begun the skin up in slush on the western aspect yet the higher we climbed, the drier the snow. At the top, Trcdjetoppen – Third Peak-we perched at 4,173 feet and paused for a
well-deserved Fika, Scandinavian for a snack with coffee or tea. Below us, glittering seas, pure powder, and the big reward:

Micke drops in first, his turns smooth, powerful, and Sea to-stylish.
Other Norwegian names may be better known among foreigners-Lofoten Island, Troms0, the Lyngen Alps-but among Norwegians, Narvik is the place to be. Often tipped as the best ski town in Scandinavia, its local lift-served area, Narviksfjellet, is one of the great urban resorts-a city ski area on steroids with more than 2,600 vertical feet and a world of big-mountain terrain that surrounds. Narvik provides near-endless possibilities for ski touring, often beginning with a lift ride and ending in a completely different valley-a clever way of gaining maximum vertical in the least amount of time. Back down at the base, the Arctic sunset regularly paints the mountains orange and pink as the sun slowly sinks below the rugged horizon. Over a beer and a bite of tasty reindeer meat, we make plans for the next fiord and one more adventure into the Narvik night.

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