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full screen The storm Ingunn has moved in from Norway. In the Swedish mountains, hurricane-force winds blow in places. Image from Norwegian Harstad. Photo: Simen Loholt/Iharstad/NTB/TT
Hurricane winds of 47 meters per second on the mountain and things flying around down at the tourist station. About a hundred guests are stuck at Abisko tourist station in the Ingunn storm.
– It tickles your stomach when you look out the window, says Paula Vendel, operations manager at the station.
It is blowing and snowing heavily during Thursday afternoon at STF’s tourist station in Abisko, an area where SMHI’s red weather warning applies.
– We stay indoors so the guests neither come from here nor come here. In principle, it is not possible to walk any longer distances, things blow around in the air, which makes it dangerous, says Paula Vendel.
Winds of 26–30 meters per second have been noted at the mountain station. But up on the mountain, where it is at its worst, it has been blowing 47 meters per second during the afternoon, she says.
– Up there on the mountain there is no living person now. But it’s a shame about the wild animals that are out on the mountain in the storm, I hope they find shelter.
Huge work ahead
The tourist station has prepared carefully for the storm. Among other things, they have unscrewed chairs in the lift and lashed down loose objects. Even so, a lot of work is expected once the storm is over.
– Tomorrow we will have a huge job of hacking away all the ice to get the cable car up and running and have to hunt things down, says Paula Vendel.
– Until then, just stay inside. So far we have electricity and it works reasonably well, which is nice. It is not extreme cold either, but six or seven degrees below zero.
“A white wall”
Jan Aikio, who runs Café Sport Luossavaara in Kiruna, has been temporarily closed since Sunday due to severe weather. The staff who manage the lifts under municipal authority are at home, while he passes the time with preparations such as major cleaning.
– It’s blowing somewhere between 30 and 40 meters per second, so you just have to stay indoors. It’s like a white wall out there – you can’t see anything at all, he says.
Despite that, he takes the storm in stride.
– We are quite used to blizzards and harsh weather up here, after all we live in the mountains.