The aim of this paper is to examine the author’s Swedish translation of French specific terms linked to a particular theme: mountain life in old time France. Which translation techniques are used, and how can these be related to the target text’s function? This is done from a functionalist point of view, where Reiss and Vermeer’s  skopos theory and Nord’s translation brief model provide a theoretical base. This approach is used in combination with terminological concepts and Vinay and Darbelnet’s different translation techniques. These are slightly modified to accommodate for other elements, such as the voluntary omission of a term. The source text is a chapter from a book on the Hautes-Alpes, translated for the Swedish Alpine Club’s imaginary jubilee book on mountain life around the world. A total of 98 different terms are identified and classified into three groups according to their characteristics: special terms, local terms and general terms. The approach is mainly a qualitative one, analyzing a selection of terms. Some quantitative data is presented as a reference point for the analysis. The results suggest that the definition of a skopos does not provide any clear indications regarding the translation technique used, and there does not seem to be any strong causal relations between the type of term, the skopos and the translation technique. The translation techniques using equivalence, modulation, omission and explanatory additions are the most commonly used. In each individual translation case, there is an interaction between the rule of coherence and the rule of fidelity. This requires a great deal of flexibility when it comes to finding a target text solution that is coherent for the reader identified in the translation brief. No standardized solutions are offered and the skopos oriented translation will use a wide variety of translation techniques.