2_1_ScanMag_80_Sep-Oct_2015_Q9_Scan Magazine 1 15/09/2015 16:56 Page 70
Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Norway’s Autumn and Winter Highlights
Jotunheimen Haute Route – a challenge taking you to new heights It has an undeniable potential of becoming a ‘new Chamonix’, the central Norwegian area that attracts as many tourist hikers during summer as highly skilled skiing aficionados during winter. Here, for many years, families have found their mountain paradise and wildat-heart youths a variety of adventurous outdoor pursuits. Today, however, the magic of Jotunheimen is best sought through a combination of tradition and novelty. Thanks to the new Jotunheimen Haute Route mountaineers from around the world are discovering a true Norwegian alpine gem – and the popularity shows no sign of ending anytime soon. By Julie Lindén | Main photo: Johan Wildhagen, Palookaville
“Walking or skiing from cabin to cabin is nothing new in Norwegian sports tradition, but including some of northern Europe’s highest peaks on the route definitely is – at least up here,” begins Bjørn
70 | Issue 80 | September 2015
Andreas Ovesen of Spiterstulen tourism lodge in Jotunheimen. It was three years ago, he explains, that seven traditional tourism lodges in the exceptionally mountainous area (Jotunheimen translates as
‘home of giants’ in Norwegian) joined forces to offer skilled hikers and mountaineers a new challenge. “There is a longstanding tradition of moving between cabins in the Norwegian mountains, but these skiing trips, hikes and walks have nearly always excluded the higher peaks. There is little wrong with experiencing a variety of topography and Norway’s astounding shifts between steep mountains and deep valleys, but there is a great deal to be added to said experience – if you’re in good enough shape to tackle what will come your way, that is.”