The Stryn Phenomenon

“STRYN IS ONE OF THE LAST SANCTUARIES IN NORWAY.”
The quote comes from Henning Reinton. He is the editor of the Norwegian ski magazine Fri Flyt and knows what he's talking about. He has been to Stryn so many times that he can't quite quantify it precisely. And like most others who visit this place, he is marked for life.
Stryn awakens something within us.
Stryn generates a natural enthusiasm.
A sort of summery euphoria.

IF WE WERE TO WRITE a factual overview of Stryn Summer Ski Center, it might include this information: this is a small, summer-operating ski resort located on the Strynefjellet mountain in Norway, 45 km east of the small village of Stryn. The ski lift goes straight to the sky right next to the “Gamle Strynefjellsvegen" road – a popular tourist attraction in itself. The road usually opens in May and closes as early as October. The ski resort typically opens when this road opens for the season – and runs until the snow has melted to the point where it is no longer safe to ski or snowboard up there.

Planning for the summer ski center started in the early '70s – and the first lift opened as early as 1972.
The chairlift came in 1986.

I CAME TO Stryn Summer Ski Center for the first time as a 16-year-old telemark skier in the early summer of 1993. I can still remember the mixed smell of burnt gasoline engines, warm asphalt, barbecue smoke, sunblock, and sweaty ski boots as I stepped out of the car in the parking lot – 1080 meters above our daily lives.
We had driven early in the morning from the city of Ålesund on the west coast, taken the ferry between Linge and Eidsdal, passed by the world-famous Geirangerfjord, and under mighty snow ridges on our way up to the summer ski center – all while Pearl Jam's debut album "Ten" blared out of the speakers, lacking bass.

I had Dynastar Ultra Bultra skis with a fluorescent pink base, black Asolo Morgedal leather boots, and Norrøna's legendary trollveggen Gore-Tex bibs in purple – purchased after saving my newspaper delivery earnings for three months.
We walked to the ticket booth that morning and had our lives ahead of us.

Stryn Summer Ski Center gave us this strong feeling that life was going to be truly magical.

THOSE OF US WHO WERE YOUNG in 1993 have perhaps grown old now. But Stryn Summer Ski Center is like a source of eternal youth, like an elixir, like an energy bomb. You can come here on a Saturday in May, or on a Sunday in June, and forget 30 years of your life. You forget about any gray hair tendencies. You forget the small wrinkles. You forget life's downturns.

Sitting on the chairlift – with the ski tips dangling over the Tystigbreen glacier and the sun roaring into your face – you only remember the highs.
If you had a slight breeze of pessimism in your life, it is soon replaced by a gust of optimism.
If you had any worries, they will all disappear in the first summer ski turn.
If you had any dark thoughts at all, the sharp light at Stryn Summer Ski Center will take care of them all.
This is not stated in any brochures.
This is not in any official papers.
This is not verified by psychologists.
But it is entirely true.

EVERY YEAR, the Norwegian ski magazine Fri Flyt organizes the Stryn Festival to celebrate this life-affirming destination – and to honor people of all ages who love to travel here. Skiers, mountain bikers, snowboarders, climbers, and paddlers gather at the small Folven camping site – located in the valley just below the summer ski center – for several days of thrilling activities, courses, lectures, concerts, and parties.
“The Stryn Festival is like a little break from reality”, says Fien van Zwieten, the young Norrøna ambassador known for going full throttle on skis and throwing big backflips in the high mountains.
“You enter the gates at Folven camping and meet a wall of laughter, ski and climbing bums, and everything in between." People walk barefoot and lounge on the grass. We share food and beer, meet old and new friends, shower in icy water.”
Fien explains that these annual festival days mainly consist of sweaty summer skiing at Stryn Summer Ski Center – with the speakers blasting out old rock tunes at full volume.
“People are sunburned and mega happy about it”, laughs Fien.
“We ride perfectly slushy runs with beautiful side hits. We do banked slalom. And we often swing by the park on the way down to the lift again. "Whether you come to ski, bike, climb, skate, or just to be, the Stryn Festival, Folven Camping, and Stryn Summer Ski Center are experiences worth having!”

“WINTER IS BEST IN SUMMER” has long been a slogan for Stryn Summer Ski Center. It is so well said that the originator should receive a medal from the Stryn municipality, a diploma from a poetic society, and a trophy from the Norwegian travel industry.

Here you can enjoy skiing and snowboarding without the discomfort of cold and strong winds. Here, you don't have to freeze. Here, you can cruise around in summery temperatures – perhaps only wearing shorts and a flannel shirt – and enjoy that your favorite hobby is more comfortable than ever.

Here, you can ski for two hours, have lunch on the ski center's sunny terrace for three hours, continue with mountain biking later in the day, maybe join some friends, do some bouldering on a massive rock, stroll around the campsite to meet a wide variety of personalities, sit in a sun lounger and discuss Greek philosophy or the price of a pint of beer, lay out dinner ingredients on a large grill and plan which line you want to ski the next day.
It never really gets dark.
Because it's June in Norway – and the sun rises around 04:00 and sets around 23:00.
The day is so long that you can live a whole life.

HENNING REINTON IN FRI FLYT has many of these Stryn-like experiences under his belt. “You can load up your Toyota Camry with climbing ropes, enduro bikes, and SUP boards”, he says.
“Anything goes." But for me, the core experience of Stryn is going all-in in a bubble-like world where you only focus on skiing from the chairlift, live in a tent at Folven, and eat whatever may be left of the groceries at the local store.”
When we ask Henning for good skiing tips, he responds:
“In modern times, skiing might be best along the cat-track under the chairlift. If you're hiking from the top, many are drawn to the line "Lange baksida" (the “Long backside”) or something steep and gnarly. But my tip is the line "SS Norway". It's wide, it's impressive, and "sustained," as a bearded Swede in the parking lot would like to put it.”

HENNING REMEMBERS MANY of his trips to Stryn, but two trips stand out:
“The very first one, when Lars Hallingstad and I took the bus Geilo-Gol-Sogndal-Stryn and stayed with current ski lift owner Idar Aaboen. One day I slept longer than Idar and Lars, and got to borrow Idar's Fiat Ritmo Abarth up to Strynefjellet. I probably never got a stricter message about taking it easy in the hairpin turns. I quickly understood why! Then, many years later, I was offered to come up to Stryn Summer Ski before the lift and road opened for the season – to make a magazine report on the preparations. We were supposed to get a ride from Idar, but he always wants to work, so he called when I was on my way and said he had left a snowmobile at Grotli for me and photographer Anki Grøte. It was just us, alone on that snowmobile, driving over Heillstuguvatnet mountain lake, one late evening in April. It's something I will never forget.”