Ski Sweden
Skiing & snowboarding in Sweden offers unique snow experiences that are underrated by most, but not us. Ski Sweden and get loads of snow, the most northerly ski resort in the world, midnight sun skiing, aurora borealis viewing (ooohh, aahhhh!!), huge freeride terrain plus superb helicopter & backcountry skiing, making it a Powderhounds bucket list essential.
For families, Swedish ski resorts are amongst the best in the world and worth a visit for something completely different. Lovers of alcoholic beverages will need to be cashed up or drink in moderation. Alcohol is expensive in Sweden, so prepare to lose and arm or leg or just enjoy the purity of the Swedish air and water!
Swedish Skiing & Snowboarding
Ski resorts in Sweden are typically Scandinavian - relatively low elevation, extremely cold and delightfully snowy. There are allegedly over 100 ski resorts in Sweden, but let us face it, most of them are best described as 'small & slightly crap local hills'. Several notable exceptions exist and provide the basis for some tasty ski experiences.
Åre ski resort, with a respectable vertical drop of nearly 900m, 41 lifts and 111km of piste trails, is Sweden's largest by a far margin. The closest ski resorts of note to the capital Stockholm are clustered around the town of Salen. Six smallish ski resorts with skiable verticals of less than 400m are spread along the 50-odd km between Stoten and Klappen. Between Åre & Salen, the medium-sized Idre Fjall has over 40km of trails, albeit on only 300m of skiable vertical.
Up north above the arctic circle in Swedish Lapland, Riksgränsen provides some of the great skiing when the weather plays the game! It bills itself as the most northerly ski resort in the world. Together with the relatively nearby ski resort of Björkliden and the off-piste lifted ski area of Abisko, long seasons, endless freeride terrain, lift-assisted backcountry ski-touring, and heliskiing are the main draw cards. Riksgränsen often has perfect powder and as much backcountry adventure as you can handle, but patience is required to get it. When it warms up in May, the lifts sometimes turn at midnight for a truly unique ski experience. Due to the long hours of darkness during the northern winter above the arctic circle, the Swedish Lapland resorts don't open until late February, but stay open until June if conditions are good.
North of Aare, but south of Riksgränsen, the resorts of Hemavan & Tärnaby provide reliable snow cover on interesting terrain in a region suited to the more adventurous ski traveller.
An outlying ski hill with an interesting freeride pedigree is Svanstein on the border with Finland. Svanstein has one of the world's most creative trail maps, giving a clear insight into its ethos.
Where are Swedish Ski Resorts?
Sweden's ski resorts are spread south to north along 1,400km of highlands and mountains near the western border with Norway. Ski resorts (we use the term loosely!) to the south are small hills of less than 200m vertical. The real ski resorts start near Salen, about 335km northwest of Stockholm. Åre is over 600km northwest of Stockholm and is directly accessible via a 7 to 10hr long train ride from Stockholm Central Railway Station.
The northern ski resort of Riksgränsen is a delightful 18hr overnight train ride from Stockholm, over 1000km north as the ptarmigan flies. Abisko and Björkliden are on the same train line and have their own railway stations. Unless you absolutely love overnight train travel, each is best accessed via Narvik in Norway (the other end of the railway line!) or Kiruna in Sweden. The small ski resort of Svanstein is over 850km northeast of Stockholm.
Gateway airports for skiing in Sweden are Stockholm (ARN) (35km north of central Stockholm and connected by an 18min train ride), plus , for the 3 main Swedish Lapland ski areas, Evenes (EVE) (near Narvik, Norway) & Kiruna (KRN). A host of smaller airports are closer to the ski resorts, including the important Åre Östersund (OSD), which is of course near Åre. The airport near Trondheim in Norway can also be used to access Åre & another intriguing small Swedish ski hill called Storlien.
Reasons to Ski & Snowboard Sweden
Sweden is still untamed in winter, but the people are wonderful, everything works well and travel is safe & easy. The weather in the mountains and in Lapland can be challenging, but so can anywhere in winter! Skiing and snowboarding can be done well into June during days of 24hr sunlight. In the depths of winter, snow is cold and stable - perfect for backcountry skiing and adventure. At either time of the season the light, particularly further up north, is amazing to ski & experience. Sweden also has many opportunities for heli-skiing. And really, who wants to die without observing the amazing Aurora Borealis firsthand? Ski Sweden.
Reviews
We finally visited the Swedish Lapland ski areas in March 2023. It was certainly interesting, with some challenging weather to navigate. We scored the holy trifecta at Riksgränsen - powder, no wind, blue sky. Even if it was only for a few hours it highlighted to potential payoffs from a visit to this region. See our impressions via the ski resort overview pages.
See how the Swedish ski resorts compare on the Sweden ski resort ratings page and to the rest of the European ski resorts on the Europe ski resort ratings page.
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