Experience real life in the Arctic

This service based husky week Sweden has been prepared with service and fun in mind – unlike any other school trip, this is an adventure and will give students a huge sense of pride, accomplishment and fulfilment and will truly offer students an experience they will never forget. Our exclusive husky apprentice service programme gives real value to the students and staff and has a direct impact on the health and wellbeing of their dog teams – providing everything the dogs need to be fit, healthy and to do their jobs.

The wilderness location of the kennels gives a fantastic opportunity to see the Northern Lights if they are on display. We pack in some amazing tours to the Ice Hotel, a bucket list experience for many and a trip to meet some local reindeer and learn about the traditional Sami culture. In addition, an important part of the trip is experiencing unique wilderness skills, as taught by our guides to Ray Mears the world renowned survivalist, whilst having lots of fun.

Package includes:

  • Flights from London Heathrow to Kiruna, Sweden, Via Stockholm – return
  • All local transfers
  • Winter clothing – thermal suit and boots
  • 5 Nights’ Comfortable, basic accommodation will be in warm huts, Lavu, with heating inside
  • Full board – breakfast, lunch, dinner each day + some snacks between.
  • Survival Skills: Making fire in winter time, clothes, shelter/Igloos
  • Husky: Helping with training, students will get a chance to drive using pro sleds
  • Kennel work, feeding, cleaning, preparing teams for guides, etc.
  • Icehotel visit
  • Sami visit – an opportunity to meet the reindeers
  • ATOL and ABTA Protection

Please note: timings/days of activities are approximate and subject to change. The itinerary is indicative only and is not fixed. The Northern Lights: We hope you’ll be lucky enough to see them but we can’t promise!

Sample Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrival & Introductions

  • Flights London Heathrow – Kiruna via Stockholm with SAS
  • Arrival at Kiruna Airport
  • A bus is waiting for you right outside of the arrival hall.
  • Transfer to Wilderness Husky Kennels for 5 Nights – Full Board
  • Collect and fit winter clothing
  • Warm clothes rental during whole stay.

In the afternoon you will meet the kennel staff and huskies and split into small groups of 5 students per group, you will be mentored by the husky guides and learn about what you will be doing at the kennels over the coming days.

Over the course of the week the students will in turn take part in the following:

Survival Making fire in winter time, clothes, shelter/Igloos
Husky Helping with training, they will get a chance to drive themselves 3 pro sleds.
Icehotel visit Visit to Icehotel
Sami visit Visit to the Sami centre to meet reindeer
Kennel work Kennel work, feeding, cleaning, preparing teams for guides, etc.

Over the duration of the trip, the programme will revolve around these 5 components – it can of course change day by day as the programme and the group size may change depending on the day to day responsibilities of guides however all 5 groups will do exactly the same by the end.

The students love being with the huskies!

Huskies and students in Sweden

Day 2 – 5 - Life with the Huskies

Key Themes: Service, Environment, Nature, Adventure, Fun

  • Days at the kennels will be split with kennel tasks which will either be in the morning or afternoon and will be decided daily during the trip. Tasks will include mucking out, repairs, dog feeding, grooming, training and harnessing.
  • There will be the opportunity for husky sledge driving in teams (possibility to drive sledges with minimum age 13 and 50kg weight with some exceptions) kennel tasks
  • Wilderness skills as taught to Ray Mears – Arctic survival, shelter building, navigation, food finding and fire starting
  • Students will visit the world leading Ice Hotel
  • Students will visit the Sami Centre
  • Teacher led activities during free time may include snow races, snow Olympics, quizzes and so on. We encourage students to take playing cards/board games/books for down time. The cabins are in the wilderness and there aren’t any video games.

Day 6 - Departure Day

  • Say goodbye to your husky friends and check out of husky kennels
  • Transfer to Kiruna Airport
  • Flights back to London Heathrow Via Stockholm

Students will be experiencing life on a real working husky farm so will need to be prepared for some degree of flexibility to the programme. This isn’t an easy programme, students should expect to get stuck in and be prepared to work hard to ensure, when looking after the dogs, the welfare of the dogs is always their highest priority.

Timings/days of activities are approximate and subject to change. The itinerary is indicative only and is not fixed. If the service based husky week sweden is too specific for your school’s objectives then a mixed package including different activities can be seen in our Sweden package 

Husky and students in Sweden