Kittelfjäll with children – Vitterbacken, Borkaskogen and the powder all around

Kittelfjäll lies at the very top of the Vojmå valley in Lapland, 90 km north-west of Vilhelmina and not far from the Norwegian border. The village is around 200 years old and sits beneath the steep Kittelfjället mountain, and the resort has a reputation bigger than itself: dry powder snow, natural ravines and off-piste straight from the lift. That is true, but it is not the whole picture. Kittelfjäll also has two proper children's areas, and with preschool-age children, that is where you will spend your week.

A small ski resort with two children's areas

The ski area has four lifts, nine groomed runs and 420 metres of vertical from the lift. The two lifts that do most of the work are Hotelliften and Jan Express, and by them you will find parking, warming huts and toilets. There are green and blue pistes from both lifts, and that is also where you will find Central Park, a fun park with jumps, rails and boxes for beginners and intermediate skiers.

Borkaskogen (B on the piste map) is to the left of Jan Express, seen from the car park. It is the youngest children's area, with a children's carousel where they can learn to stand and go round slowly, and a rope tow for those who are starting to manage on their own. There is a sledging hill, and sledges can be borrowed at the Jan Express lift hut. The lift attendants' old snowmobile is still there as a play area.

Vitterbacken (A on the piste map) is right above Hotell Kittelfjäll. Take Hotelliften and get off to the right at exit 1. There is a slow-paced button lift here, and the children can get off wherever they like. On the slope there is a jump course, a slalom course and a ski tunnel. This is also where you will find Minigrova, the children's own off-piste run, where no adults are allowed.

Both children's areas have lean-to shelters with barbecue spots, two in Vitterbacken and three in Borkaskogen, and there is always firewood on site. You can buy sausages for the barbecue at the ski shop by the hotel if you have forgotten them. Sometimes the mascots, the reindeer Renis and Tjenis, come along and ski or grill sausages with the children.

Pack a picnic. Lunch at the barbecue in Vitterbacken is part of the Kittelfjäll experience, and it makes it easier to get a tired four-year-old through one more afternoon.

Lift passes and ski school

Children up to and including age seven ski free, provided they wear a helmet. After that, the youth pass applies up to age 17. The lift pass is bought online and loaded onto a keycard, which you collect from the pick-up box by the lifts. Passes valid for one to eight days include evening skiing. Monday to Thursday there is a weekday offer, and for parents there is a season pass two adults can share when they take turns with the children. Current prices are shown when you book.

The ski school is run by a partner company and only operates during the Christmas, winter sports and Easter holidays, at set times. Private lessons in alpine skiing and snowboarding can be booked in other weeks too. Check the age limit when you book.

Children's equipment can be hired from Kittelfjäll Outdoor by Hotelliften. The children can swap ski size or length at no extra cost during the rental period, which is handy if the boots turn out to be too small after the first day.

The off-piste – and the rule for families with children

It is the off-piste that has made Kittelfjäll famous. Within the ski area there are 25 ungroomed runs through ravines, sparse birch woods and rolling ridges, marked in orange on the piste map. They are ski routes with natural obstacles, in other words not pistes. Outside the ski area, ski tours such as Sadeln and Norgesvängen await, as well as heli-skiing on the peaks around the valley.

For a family with children aged two to ten, the rule is simple:

• The children ski the pistes, the children's areas and Minigrova. The orange ski routes are only suitable for children who are already confident in steep, uneven terrain.
• No off-piste outside the ski area with children without a guide. Avalanches are a known hazard in the mountains around Kittelfjäll, and the terrain looks gentler than it is.
• Read the avalanche forecast. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) publishes avalanche forecasts in winter, and Kittelfjäll is in the Södra Lapplandsfjällen area. The forecast covers the mountains outside the ski area.
• Adults who head out on their own must carry a probe, a transceiver and a shovel, know how to use them and never ski alone.

Within the ski area, the ski patrol handles avalanche control, markings and closures. If one parent wants to head out into the powder while the other is on the children's slope, there are local guiding companies that run guided ski tours and avalanche courses.

Spring skiing – Kittelfjäll's best time

Kittelfjäll is a long way north, and the season is long. According to the provisional opening times for 2026/27, the winter looks like this:

• 28–29 November: season opening.
• 4–13 December: Friday to Sunday.
• 18 December–11 April: every day, nine to four.
• 16–25 April: Friday to Sunday.

During the winter sports break (sportlov) in weeks 9–10 and over the Easter holidays, there is also evening skiing on certain evenings between four and seven. So with an Easter holiday in week 12, 13 or 14, it is full season in Kittelfjäll – see which week your municipality has in Easter break 2027. In spring, Fjällspåret is also groomed up on the bare mountain when the weather allows, and in the village there is a 3.5-kilometre floodlit trail for a short cross-country outing with the children.

Over Christmas and New Year, the lifts have their own programme with a Christmas present hunt in Borkaskogen, Renisrännen – the children's own cross-country race on Christmas Day – and piste-grooming demonstrations.

Accommodation in Kittelfjäll

The village is small, and most things are within walking distance. Hotell Kittelfjäll has double rooms and larger multi-bed rooms that suit a family, close to the ski area. Kittelfjäll Vandrarhem has self-catering rooms in the middle of the village. You can rent cabins through Kittelfjäll Skilodge, Kitteln Lodge and Camp Kittelfjäll, among others, and several of the cabins are ski-in/ski-out. Hotell Granen has both cabins and hotel rooms, with a restaurant and pub.

If you want somewhere quieter, Grönfjäll is a ten-minute drive away and Gränssjö by the Norwegian border is about 40 minutes away. With small children, though, it is easiest to stay in Kittelfjäll, close to the children's areas. The village has a grocery shop and a petrol station, and the restaurants are close to the lifts.

Getting to Kittelfjäll

Kittelfjäll is around 800 km from Stockholm and 350 km from Umeå, Skellefteå and Luleå. With children, flying is the easiest option.

• By air: Amapola flies from Stockholm Arlanda to Vilhelmina. From there it is 130 kilometres, about an hour and a half to two hours by hire car. Hemavan, Lycksele and Umeå are alternatives, but then the drive is longer.
• Bus: from Vilhelmina, Länstrafiken's line 417 runs up towards Dikanäs and Kittelfjäll in about two hours. Some services must be booked in advance, and the Sunday services from Kittelfjäll must always be ordered ahead. Lapplandspilen runs from Stockholm to Vilhelmina.
• By train: SJ to Östersund and then the bus, a long journey but with no driving.
• By car: from the south, head for Vilhelmina and follow the signs for Kittelfjäll. Fill up or charge in Vilhelmina or Storuman before the mountain road.

Kittelfjäll or its neighbours?

Kittelfjäll suits families who want a quiet village, short distances and nature, and where one parent would like to go off-piste with a guide for a day. If you only have small beginners, there are bigger children's areas elsewhere. Hemavan and Tärnaby is the neighbour in the Västerbotten mountains, with more lifts and an airport close to the slopes. At the very top of the country is Riksgränsen, where the season runs even later into spring. Further south there are family resorts such as Klövsjö, and all the Swedish mountain resorts are compared in ski trips in Sweden. What the children need to bring is in the ski trip packing list.