The Through the Lens series offers insight to some of the best destinations in the world from the perspective of some of our favorite photographers.

By Josie Collier

Swedish ski photographer Mattias Fredriksson keeps a piece of his heart in Swedish Lapland—the northernmost province of the country that extends up into the Arctic Circle. The seemingly endless Arctic light and epic mountains are the easiest of reasons for Fredriksson to keep returning to a place he considers home, even after relocating halfway around the world to Terrace, British Columbia seven years ago.

Fredriksson has been shooting, skiing, and exploring the quiet mountains of the region since he was a teenager and over the 30 years since has published photos for some of the most notable outdoor magazines in the world including Backcountry, BIKE, and POWDER. Now, he is the editor-in-chief of Interstellar, an international mountain culture magazine. Through the lens of Fredriksson, here is Swedish Lapland.

Best Place for an Alpine Break

Låktåtjakko Mountain Station. It’s Sweden’s highest mountain station, just shy of 2,100 meters and has really good skiing. The station only seats 18 people and is also Sweden’s highest bar and library.

Favorite Season

My favorite time is in the spring because you can ski very late in the evenings. I have been skiing powder in June there—it's not unusual. Sweden also has a fifth season, gidádálvve, a sort of spring-winter. Because winter is a bit later and goes on for so long, late March into April offers sunny spring days but still has cold snow. Swedish skiers all come together in the spring.

Best Sunset

In the mountains. The Arctic light is really beautiful and becomes a photographer’s dream when the sun starts to set and everything gets really golden.

Favorite Place

Riksgränsen and Niehku Mountain Villa. Riksgränsen is a ski resort where you can cross into Norway and it has only about four lifts. The Niehku Mountain Villa is located at the resort and only has 14 rooms. People from all over the world stay there. You can travel there by train from Kiruna passing by villages of only a couple hundred people. In between the villages are small huts and one of them has a waffle menu where they handpick the berries they put on top and make the jam too.

Favorite Tourist Trap

This area is one of the best in the world to watch the Northern Lights and it is super popular because it's going on quite often.

Must-Try Cuisine

Swedish Lapland is known as one Sweden’s premier food regions. There’s lots of reindeer and that meat is super lean and not a lot of fat which is really great. It’s also a traditional Swedish food. Again, the waffles will always be king.

Why Swedish Lapland?

There’s not many people that live there, but it gathers a passionate backcountry community that has a special draw. I used to have an old photography mentor say something like: “If you are or want to be something in the Swedish ski scene, you pass by Riksgränsen.”