A Swedish proverb has it that “a loved child has many names”. This applies especially if two countries are involved. In Norway, Sulidälbmá is spelt Sulitjelma. In Sweden, the Sámi name is used. But it is the same area – alpine mountains and enormous glaciers, where the Norwegian Swedish border cuts right through the mountain massif, splitting the vast Sállajiegŋa in two parts.
Sállajiegŋa means ”crevasse ice” and is the biggest glacier in Sulidälbmá. To stand at its foot is the closest to the ice age we can get. The bluish-white ice colossus curves down, calving into a turbid glacier lake. Below the glacier, reindeer forage in summer, having come up here to escape the mosquitoes.
Did you know…
The Swedish Tourist Association (STF) was founded in 1885. One of the founders was Fredrik Svenonius. He came to the early realisation that the increasing tourism demanded transport, trails and overnight accommodation. Tarraälv River cabin was one of the very first to be built. The cabin was completed in 1889. The reason for building it was that at the time Sulidälbmá was thought to be the highest mountain in Sweden, and tourists and mountaineers would need overnight cabins along the 60 km route to Sulidälbmá. The trail from Kvikkjokk to Sulidälbmá is Sweden’s oldest tourist trail.
