Kirkenes Snow Hotel

 Kirkenes Snow Hotel 

 

 chilled out husky at Kirkenes Snow Hotel.

We were in port at Vadsø at the start of breakfast at 7am and it was light. Not surprising as we were further east than St, Petersburg and Istanbul. It was two more hours of steaming east to reach Kirkenes at 9am. We boarded our coach to take us to the Kirkenes Snow Hotel.

                                 
Before visiting the hotel, we went to see the huskies at the husky farm. 

I lost count of how many there were but lots will have to do and it was noisy with all their barking. Some just chilled.

A dog team was ready to set off so we had to wait to cross the road. Six dogs were pulling two guest adults sitting in the sleigh plus the musher at the back. It shows how powerful they are but also despite the weight and the 'work' they have to do, they just love going for a run and will not stop.

This is important to know as if you are standing in the way, they won't stop, they will just run over you, so you must be aware of your surroundings. Also if you are mushing and fall off, do not let go. The extra drag factor, especially if the sleigh has also fallen over as well, means that the lead dog may realise something is wrong and may stop. Usually the lose of weight is a bonus for the dogs and they will run on and away, and in the wild, may not be seen alive again.

Also if you are mushing, even if the dogs have stopped, do not get off the runners until you have applied the snow anchors, the equivalent of a hand brake on a car. It is a pice of metal like an ice axe with several spikes that dig into the ground and are attached to the sleigh by rope so that if the dogs do starting pulling, the spikes just dig in deeper.

Two dogs share a kennel but the musher must take care to pair them up correctly for temperament to avoid fighting. They are also chained. Leather leashes are impractical as the dogs will chew through them. They need to be chained rather than just left in a compound or they will escape. It is not that they want to escape poor treatment, they just want to run.

Another chilled out individual.

Another dog team came running past. There is a circuit through the woods, with a few turnings for shorter or longer rides. Guests can have a ride which must be both fun for them and fun for the dogs, not to mention exercise to keep the dogs in good form. 

And another team came past. I wanted to have a go and not as a passenger but as a musher as I have mushed before and know the commands. I hadn't taken a team o dogs out for a while and just wanted to have a go to remind myself of the fun of doing it. The dogs are controlled by voice commands but there are several different systems and languages in use but these were all Alaskan huskies. I was not allowed to have a go.

It was time to go and see the snow hotel. The winter entrance, not in use until the day time temperature never rises above zero. At other times, guests must use the restaurant entrance at the other end.

The restaurant housed in a converted barn.

A wood fire and seating outside.

The old ramp up to the barn but the pedestrian entrance is to the right up steps where the gentleman with the red top and blue trousers is walking. We change dour shoes into a pair of their boots with spikes to grip the ice floors inside. It is difficult to clean the icy insides so these are the only footwear allowed inside the snow hotel.

The entrance to the snow hotel is down a short passage from the ground floor of the barn via several curtains to keep the cold in and the warmer air of the restaurant and facilities out of the hotel. The hotel is a single corridor with bedrooms off it plus an ice bar. Privacy is maintained by drawing a curtain across the entrance to the bedroom. All the facilities such as toilets, showers, sauna etc on on the ground floor of the barn under the first floor which is the restaurant, another bar and a communal area, all on the other side of the insulting curtains.

The ice bar.

The ice bar with cloud berry juices to welcome guests...

One of the tables in the ice bar...

...a giant snow sculpture of a reindeer opposite the bar...

...the central corridor...

...a family room. The beds rest on a wooden frame on which the mattress lies with reindeer skins over the top. Hotel guests are provided with a sheet and a polar sleeping bag.

A sculpture in the corridor...

...more animal styled sculptures...

...an owl in one of the bedrooms...

...a bedroom for a couple...

...there are even ice friendly modern connections...

...more sculptures...

...an ice bear at reception...

...and inside the main winter entrance, ready for Christmas with Santa's sleigh...

...and a Christmas tree, a fire and presents.

The seating area in the restaurant where we were treated to reindeer sausage and flat bread with a choice of sauces washed down with hot cloud berry juice...

...the service area...

...and the communal area.

We walked up to the reindeer enclosure to see some reindeer close up. Our guide leading them over and they come, partly because these are now tame, but also in her bag, see has some of their favourite food, lichen.

A few more photos of reindeer. These are all male but as they have been castrated, they only loose their antlers every two or three years.

And the last picture of a reindeer before we piled back onto the coach to return to the ship.