Chill Out, Look Up

A trip to Sweden's Arctic Retreat finds days packed with physical fun and nights aglow with the northern lights

- Eva Szalay

I was butchering a block of ice the size of a tombstone, trying to etch out a jukebox with a sharp chisel, when there was an enthusiastic shout beside me. I tried to remain focused on my task—determined that my husband and I would beat my parents at ice sculpting; their own slab was starting to resemble its assigned goal, a bar stool.

We were standing in the middle of the frozen Rane River, in Sweden’s northern reaches, carving out this ice bar as the first activity on an action-packed birthday trip. This is just one of the many seemingly harebrained—but physical and fun—tasks you’ll find yourself engrossed in during a typical stay at the Arctic Retreat. But our guide, Staffan Wallner, was urging us to look up. I diverted my gaze to meet his. No, he said. Up up.

The sky sat so low it felt close enough to touch, and in the swiftly fading light we saw a small iridescent splotch. It shimmered like celestial mother of pearl, with swirling oily pinks, limpid blues and mercurial greens blending into a small cloud. “Wow,” I said, impressed in the way parents are when their second child stands up the first time: It’s exciting but possible to move on relatively quickly. After all, we were here to see the northern lights, not clouds—and, according to our weather app, the chances of doing that were high this very evening. And this chiseling waited for no one.