Walking across the frozen sea with frozen eyelashes and a heart full of wonder.

It’s almost spring here in Ljubljana now, but the snow we had earlier this year made me think of the Swedish winter and one of the most amazing experiences from when I lived there during my studies. Every winter between January and April depending on the season, Luleå becomes the site of the longest ice road in Sweden. Now, an ice road is not just a frozen road, but an actual road over the sea that freezes due to the harsh winter temperatures up north, so walking on it feels just as surreal as it sounds.

The sea ice has to be around half a metre thick before about 25 km of proper, drivable ice roads are ploughed into the snow all across Bothnia bay and you can drive or walk on them to the nearby islands. The weight limit for vehicles is 2 – 4 tons and the ice is checked every morning before the road is declared open or closed depending on the conditions. Although it is perfectly safe to walk and drive on the ice, bringing a lot of luggage is discouraged and you are advised to not have your seatbelt on just in case a swift evacuation from the vehicle would be necessary. You can also rent a snowmobile or borrow one of the popular small snow sleds, and you will see the Swedes engaging in all sorts of winter sports on the ice road.

Obviously I had to experience the ice road miracle as soon as I found out about it and the photos below are from several occasions in 2019. Most of them are from January, when the winter cold was really biting deep with temperatures below -25°C. My mother had come up to Sweden for a visit back then and nearly froze solid when we walked to Gråsjälören, the tiny island closest to the mainland, so double check your gear for warmth and do not underestimate the winter before you head out.

Impressions of the ice road

While it is bizarre enough to walk on the ice road at its best, because the sea just isn’t supposed to freeze like a shallow local pond, the ice road in January felt almost like an extension of the beautiful fluffy winter landscape all around and was not as mind boggling as it became later on in the spring. My final walk on the ice road in 2019 was in mid-April, when the road was not officially open for cars anymore, but the inner parts of the Luleå harbour were still deeply frozen and it was still possible to walk under the bridge. The ice was no longer all shiny white-blue and covered in deceptive mounds of snow, but rather an almost black dark blue, with white cracks and an eerie transparent quality. My mind had apparently not fully grasped the concept of walking on the frozen sea and just how very wrong that is until then, and it almost felt like looking into a bottomless abyss. There were certain moments when I half expected a dramatic screamer movie scene, where the abyss would look back and some prehistorical mega sea beast would come swimming up from the depths to bump its head against the ice… Luckily that didn’t happen or you wouldn’t be reading this right now. I survived every time and can only recommend this as one of those wondrous experiences that everyone should get to experience once in their lifetime, so go for it!

Some photos by M. Yousri and my mother.