Sweden, New Year 2026
Christmas. Skating on the sea near Kåge.
The blue, red and black lines show our track on 23, 24 and 25 December. Shift-click a track link to open it in nakarte.me.
23 December
It was fairly cold, and the sea near Skellefteå was frozen. There was hardly any snow, and it was possible to skate across the bays.
The frozen sea near the village of Kåge.
The ice is lightly dusted with snow, but it does not interfere with skating at all.
Large boulders near one of the islands in the bay.
In some places the ice had cracked and refrozen. We skated up to the edge of the thick ice. Beyond it was thin black ice, which we decided not to venture onto.
This is open water. In the distance you can see the chimneys of a timber processing plant. It looks like late evening, but it is still early. At this time of year it starts getting dark at 2pm.
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Tracks of a sea otter: paws and tail clearly visible. |
Ice crystals by the shore.
Ice balls on the ice. They were the size of a cannonball.
24 December
The next morning we returned to the same place because we liked it here.
Between sky and earth.
Yasha is measuring the thickness of the ice with a special little device.
The boundary between white and pink ice.
At this spot a wave had washed over the thick ice, creating a snow-free skating rink.
In the open water we noticed a few seals. From time to time they popped their heads up to see who was making the noise.
Clouds are reflected in the water covering the ice. It is no longer clear where there is ice and where there is open water. The main thing is not to confuse them!
Near the shore the water sometimes seeps through the ice.
25 December
We were skating again in the Kåge Bay. It had become much warmer (up to +8 °C!) and all the snow had melted.
If you did not know there was ice beneath the water, it would seem as though we were flying over the sea.
The ice under the water is very smooth, so you can build up considerable speed.
We skated up to the open water to look at the seals.
Small pieces of ice thrown onto the surface by the tide.
The tide is mesmerising. And beneath us the ice is full of bubbles.
As if someone had punched a hole in the ice.
Sonya is skating through a puddle. It is her first time on the ice this year.
Ice hockey.
Near the shore stones emerge from beneath the ice like mushrooms from the ground.
The little ice caps are gradually melting.
An arrow-shaped cloud.
