Homeboy Ski Blog - Ski Gear, Ski Resorts, Interviews, Reviews, Tips & Tricks

This is my first post since April since I took a decent break from blogging, and actually from my so-called “everyday life” too. We had a big renovation coming on and, because of all the hassle I stayed at home with the kids and took almost 3 months off from my day job too. I was also without a proper internet connection for almost a month and discovered that there is life offline too and it is not so bad after all.

But back to the actual topic…

Ramundberget is a very snow secure ski resort located in Sweden

At the end of  April I took a two-week family trip to a small ski resort called Ramundberget ski resort in Sweden. Because of my heavy schedule at work over the winter it was only possible for me to do this trip late in the spring. I knew that there would be great spring skiing  and/or high mountaineering type of routes available in places like Chamonix (see e.g. this pretty crazy and impressive line by two of my friends! Reported by a Swedish guy who skied the route solo… Yes, they all rule). Anyway, this time I was traveling with my family, so I was looking for a bit different kind of experience – a place where both adults and small kids (I have two daughters of 2 and 5 years of age) could spend some good time together.

After doing some web-based research and chatting with some Finnish guys who know Scandinavian resorts well (thanks go to Jan-Erik “Blumi” Blumberg and Petri Kurki), I became interested in the Ramundberget ski resort in Härjedalen, near the Norwegian border, some 600 km from Stockholm. The location is quite far away from any big cities but after checking some snow statistics I made the decision to go. The place (and surrounding valley area, Funäsdalen ) is one of the most snow secure in the whole Scandinavia. The fact that the Ramundberget area doesn’t (and doesn’t have to) use any artificial snow on the slopes tells quite a lot – and real snow is always better than artificial, no matter in which form (powder, packed, spring corn, slush…)

About the surroundings of  Ramundberget  – Funäsdalen area

Ramundberget ski resort is located in the fell highlands of Funäsdalen, average height of the surroundings is about 750 meters above sea level and the whole area is protected from the west by the ridge of the Norwegian Scandinavian Mountains. The nearby Helagsfjället (1797m) offers great views, the southernmost Glacier in Sweden and also some heli-skiing opportunities. There are a few other sharper mountain tops like Skarsfjället (around 1500m) and the ridge of Skarvarna near Bruksvallarna fjell resort (the home of snow cat operation and a location for several freeskiing comps too).

Ramundberget has had tourism since the 1930s and the first lifts were installed in the 50s.  People have lived in the fells for at least 4000 years. In the fellmuseum of Funäsdalen one can enjoy the local history. Nearby Sami (Indigenous Northern European) villages Tännäs and Mittdålen still gain their livelihood (at least partially) from reindeer herding.

The days tourism is certainly the biggest economic activity in the area. What is neat though is that the hotels and lodges are located quite sparsely around the valleys and there are no signs of mass tourism anywhere. The vibe is pretty mellow and most of the visitors seem to be either Swedish families or somewhat older people who like to spend their holidays in the peaceful, quiet fells.

The skiing in Ramundberget resort

For a small-scale resort Ramundberget has a very wide variety of skiing: from lazy blue cruisers to 700-800 vertical meter heli-ski runs down Helagsfjället. The only complaint could be that the lifts itself only offers some 350 meter of vertical (that’s about 1150 feet). But much depends on personal preference. On quiet weekdays that vertical was enough to get my legs burning and I got some pretty enjoyable corn snow turns in perfect steep glades (I usually spent the afternoons with the kids and my wife went for her snow fix).  So, it is not always in the sheer numbers…

Most of the runs in Ramundberget offer variable, mid-level (blue and red runs) skiing in beautiful fell surrounding. The upper part of the mountain is pretty flat and offers a few nice green runs even for absolute beginners and small kids. That’s a nice change since usually the green runs are located at the bottom of the resort. I took my five year old daughter to the “upper hill” and we enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate in the “Tusenmeterstugan” (”Thousand meter hut”), and I count it as one of my all time ski-experiences when my daughter learned to link some proper turns on the green run of ”Ängarna“. There is also a nice, well prepared terrain park on the upper hill with clear and smart signs of green, red and black lines. The park had a lot of fun-looking, creative jibs (I am too old for that stuff…) but a few well sculpted kickers too. And the black line starting monster booter is surely “black” (think JOI size step-up jump!).

Kids have their own “ski land” (Lill-Ramis) which has a clever philosophy of not encouraging parents to leave their children there alone but instead being with them and having good time. So, the idea is that someone (parent, grandparent, relatives…) is always there with their kid, playing and taking care of him/her. The area has all kinds of activities and services (small ski lift, drinks and small snacks, pens and papers, staff that have some scheduled program for kids etc.) but it is not a “kindergarten” by any means. Very Swedish and very smart at the same time, I have to admit. There is a thing or two we Finns can learn from the Swedes, and let’s not start with how to win hockey games…

However, the skiers who like to turn, and most likely in steep conditions and soft snow eventually end up to the lookers left side of the slopes, in an area called Osthang. With good snow even the most experienced and demanding skiers will have some fun there. The runs are steep, narrow and moguls form easily. Couple of the steepest runs can’t be operated by the snow cat – so prepare for moguls and occasional scarse snow paths in the spring or if it hasn’t snowed for a while.  The trees also offer several different routes, some easier and some more demanding – all of them only for experts though, it is steep and the forest is relatively tight everywhere.

The backcountry in Ramundberget and Funäsdalen

Here I have to admit a slight disapointment. But this was not certainly because of the geography or amount/quality of snow - I just hadn’t checked anything properly in advance. The last two weeks of April was very late in the season and for example the heli-ski operation was closed for the winter. The reason for this was that due to some laws about reindeer herding, the Helagsfjället and Skarsfjället (two of the biggest tops) areas were off-limits to heli from the beginning of April. I was informed that the high season for heliskiing is the whole month of March (well, maybe next time…). I also consulted some locals who advised me to hire a snowmobile. Well, I hate to admit but I have never even rode one (not the thing to do in Central Europe by the way), and I only had half days reserved for backcountry trips anyway. So I chose to use good old leg power and climbing skins and did some half day mini-trips to the nearby small tops. Skiing-wise that was nothing really spectacular but I enjoyed the views and the peace and got a few nice spring corn tele-turns here and there. In fact, the rolling terrain the area offered got me thinking about how  lighter, skinnier touring/cross country oriented tele-set up would be very enjoyable here.  I must be getting old, heh. But think about doing a day tour with great views, on perfect non-breakable corn snow, just flying on the snow, both up and down the hill, enjoying a cup of coffee in perfect silence, your only companion being the odd Rock Ptarmigan (Snow Chicken)…

Near the end of the trip I also found out that a place called Bruksvallarna,some 6 kilometers to the south of Ramundberget, offers snow cat operations to the nearby ridge at around 1000m high. And, yes, I also found that they had closed for the season about five days earlier.  That was slightly frustrating, but all in all we were having such a good time that in the end it didn’t bother me too much. Based on what I observed from the nearby road, the cat operation would have lead to some interesting terrain with a couple of decent-looking (around 250m vert) couloirs, although from the end point of the cat track (1050m, a top hut/lodge called Kariknallen) you would still have to do some serious hiking to get to the steeper, good skiing terrain. No wonder the locals tend to use snowmobiles! If you are serious about backcountry and/or want to log some more vert than Ramundberget or other Funäsdalen ski resorts offer, I recommend to take the heli-skiing option or hire a snowmobile. And contact these guys http://www.offpistcenter.com/ for information and backcountry packages.

Ps. Despite the very enjoyable trip, we also had some bad luck. On our return trip, while we were checking into a hotel in Stockholm, our car got robbed. I was away from the car for max fifteen minutes, couldn’t get all the luggage in one go, and my cell-phone, computer and a borrowed helmet-cam set-up were all stolen (and some sweaty old clothes too). Anyway, what pissed me off was that I had some decent helmet-cam footage from the forests. Without flattering myself too much I’d say that the stuff looked pretty damn cool…helmet-cam POV, my new rockered Armada JJ’s and some tight, steep glades with superb corn snow…oh well, you got my point – now the only footage is saved in my brains only. And of all the places in the world, we got robbed in Stockholm, the place I’ve always though of as one of the safest big cities in the world (which it is not anymore and that is quite sad actually).

Quick facts of Ramundberget ski resort:

Altitude: around 700m – 1050m (in the backcountry up to 1797m)
Location: Härjedarlen, Sweden
Season: Alpine skiing -December – May; cross country skiing – October – early June
Languages: Swedish (Almost all the people speak okay English too)

Annual snowfall: circa 5 meters

Snow covered days: usually from late November to early June

Freestyle snow park: yes

Halfpipe: no

For more information visit:

http://www.ramundberget.se/english/5177.winter.html