Close to the mountains. Far from the pressure to perform.
My name is Sofie Werner, and I run Strövtåg from Handöl, a small mountain village of around forty permanent residents on the border between Sweden and Norway. Here, the mountains of Jämtland are my backyard. I guide small groups on Nordic backcountry ski tours, mountain hikes and fly-fishing trips – and I am always happy to cook local food over the fire along the way. But Strövtåg is not about going highest, furthest or fastest.
It is about getting closer.
Closer to the mountains, the people and whichever season happens to be at its very best right now.
Welcome to find your favourite season.
My philosophy
For me, outdoor life has two simple rules:
It must never become a competition. And it should not be about performance.
The mountains treat us all equally, regardless of our title, the money in our bank account, our experience or who we come here with. That is why there is room for both beginners and experienced mountain travellers on my tours.
What we share is a curiosity about the mountains, a love of good food and a wish to experience something together with others in a small group. We adapt the pace to the group and the day to the weather. Sometimes the goal is a particular place. Sometimes the best moment of the day is coffee by the fire, the light over the mountain birches or the silence that appears when nobody needs to say anything anymore.
That is also what makes a tour with Strövtåg personal. No day in the mountains can ever be copied.
My compass is built on respect, care and love – for you as my guest and for nature.
Care in practice
To me, sustainable nature tourism is not a certificate on the wall. It is found in the large and small decisions I make every day.
I work with small groups, local businesses and people in the area. Whenever possible, food, accommodation, equipment and services come from the local community and elsewhere in Jämtland.
I choose each tour according to the weather, visitor pressure and what is happening in nature. If a trail is heavily used, there are other paths. If the reindeer or other animals need space, we go somewhere else.
That is good for nature – and it often gives you a more personal experience as well.
I want the children of today to grow up with the chance to experience unspoilt mountains, abundant wildlife, biodiversity and water they can drink straight from a mountain stream.
We are guests here. Let us live accordingly.
[Link: Read my sustainability promises]
About Sofie
I was born and raised in the mountains of Jämtland. Skiing in winter, camping, fishing and spending long days outdoors have been part of my life since childhood.
Before starting Strövtåg, I spent many years working as a television camera operator. It taught me to see stories in light, movement and small details – the things we easily pass by when we are in too much of a hurry. I still carry that way of seeing with me on every tour.
I enjoy the simple things in life: local food, a fire, a fishing rod, a pair of wooden skis and enough time to notice what is happening around me.
Since 2017, I have organised and guided mountain experiences through Strövtåg. I am a certified Mountain Leader and trained in Wilderness First Aid. In 2023, I was named Tourism Personality of the Year in Jämtland Härjedalen.
But the most important things I bring into the mountains are local knowledge, care and curiosity.
I want you to feel safe enough to relax – and curious enough to discover more.
I provide Kammarkollegiet’s Travel Guarantee through Visita and hold the permits required to arrange hikes and activities in the mountains.
Safe in the mountains
When you book an experience with Strövtåg, you receive:
- a certified Mountain Leader with local experience;
- guiding adapted to the group, weather and conditions;
- small groups and personal attention;
- knowledge of safety, equipment and life in the mountains;
- help with planning, accommodation, travel and local contacts when needed.
Strövtåg has lodged the required travel guarantee with the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency, Kammarkollegiet, through Visita, and holds the permits required for the activities and arrangements offered.
Do you have questions about the level, equipment or which tour would suit you? Please get in touch. You do not need to know everything before you arrive – that is part of the reason for going with a guide.
Sofie Werner
Strövtåg Mountain Adventures
Handöl, Jämtland, Sweden
Phone: +46 70 525 40 33
Email: sofie@strovtag.com
Instagram: @strovtag
The nine seasons are the heart of my business
The world divides the year into four seasons. The Sámi people, who have called these mountains home for thousands of years, have always known better. They see eight.
I see nine.
The South Sámi seasonal calendar is not a curiosity. It is a precise, living map of how this landscape actually behaves — built over generations of intimate knowledge, reindeer herding, and quiet observation. Each season has its own light, its own smell, its own silence.
This calendar is the heart of everything I do at Strövtåg. My activities are tied to the seasons — which means you come when it is truly at its best. Not when the calendar says summer. When the mountain says summer.
The mountain is changeable, here the weather and the season control everything that happens. My activities are tied to the seasons and that’s why you can come along exclusively when it’s at its best! So what are the eight, or nine seasons if you ask me?
The eight seasons of Jämtlandsfjällen:
Gïjredaelvie — Spring-Winter
The sun returns. The crusty snow carries us everywhere on skis. The evenings are bright. Nature is slowly waking from its long hibernation.
Gïjre — Spring
The Great Snipe plays over the bright nights. The wind is warm but the birch leaves have not yet opened. The mountain becomes a nursery for all its animals.
Gïjre-giesie — Early Summer
The birch buds. The rivers roar with snowmelt. The prime time for bird watchers at Lake Ånnsjön arrives.
Giesie — Summer
Everything moves at speed. The mountain birch glows green. The last snow patches disappear. This is when I take you to the hidden gems — far from the crowds.
Tjaktje-giesie — Late Summer
Dark evenings, spectacular sunsets. Blueberries, cloudberries, chanterelles. The light turns golden before it turns away.
Tjaktje — Autumn
The landscape burns — orange, red, gold. Warm days, cold nights. The earthy smell of frost and wet earth. The first snow on the peaks, a preview of what is coming.
Tjaktje-daelvie — Autumn-Winter
The colour disappears overnight. Ice snaps and roars on the lakes. Candles and crackling fires replace the sun.
Daelvie — Winter
Deep cold, deep silence. Diamonds in the snow. Anyone who has not experienced a winter in these mountains does not know what darkness truly is — or what light means when it returns.
But the ninth season?
Those are the weeks when the sun warms enough that we ski in shorts. We hang the dried meat outside. The mountains are still white and perfectly still, just before life rushes back to nature.
It has no name in any language. It sits between spring-winter and spring, and it is my favourite.
Welcome to find your favourite season.
