Travel Report Ramundberget

During Easter 2011 the Myslopes.com was a guest at Ramundberget in the Härjedalen region in Sweden.

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Ramundberget is one of the best kept secrets of Sweden, as was assured to us by some of the insiders. This year Ramundberget was celebrating its 75th birthday, so we thought this was a special occasion we could enjoy.

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The slogan that has been used in this area for years is 'Bara äkta Vara', which means 'only natural products', brought us to the middle of Sweden.

The journey
From Stockholm we drove by car to Ramundberget in about 7-8 hours, a very nice drive. It is also possible to fly to the nearby airport of Röros in Norway. These tickets are easy to book through the ski resort itself or throughSkyways. In that case, you will fly to eather Stockholm or Oslo first and then with Skyways to Röros. From here it is only a 40 minute drive, which you can do by rental car or bus. Another airport which is 2 hours away by car is Sveg, which also has a direct connection with Stockholm. Tickets for Sveg airport can be booked through Nextjet.

The accommodation

Hotel Fjällgården we can highly recommend for its nice rooms, the cosy lounge area and the restaurant. The buffet and dinners we had here were of high standards each time, with many fresh local ingredients. Besides the breakfast buffet, the hotel offers a 3-course dinner at night. Compared to other Scandinavian ski resorts, Ramundberget and especially Hotel Fjällgården is really a more luxurious holliday destination.

The hotel also had a spa, pool and play room for kids, as well as activities and excursions which can be booked. The location of the hotel is perfect, it is directly accross from the ski slopes. Ideal. especially for families with kids.

Besides this hotel, Ramundberget offers a large number of Stugas/Apartments for rent, where you can cook you own meals. In the closeby village Funäsdalen are alo some more hotels and apartment buildings. None of these options however, in our opinion, are as nice and complete as Hotel Fjällgården.

The ski area
The nearby destination Funäsdalen also include the ski resorts Funäsdalsberget, Tänndalen and Tännäskroket even though they are not connected. But even though there are several of these other resorts nearby, a holliday in Ramundberget is mostly a visit to this ski resort. We chose to have a look at both Ramundberget and unäsdalsberget, and were mostly fan of Ramundberget. This area has about 35 different ski slopes, with te unique situatuin that it is possibly the only resort in Sweden which only has natural snow (so no snow machines). When it snows in Sweden, you can be sure that it is pooring down in Ramundberget. This also means that is has to uphold its famous name regarding natural powder snow.

These perfect snow conditions make it possible for both beginners as advanced skiers to find the right challenge in Ramundberget. The slopes go from the east (Ost-hang) to the west (Väst-hang), and almost all get back down into the village. The slopes we really liked were around the Väst-hang and around the 'Svarte Petter'descent.

For kids there is the 'Lil'Ramis'kids park with a seperated short slope which is perfect for parents with kids. The mascotte of the area is Mickelina, which often comes for fun and entertainment. Also on top of the mountain, where the normal slopes are, there is a kids slope with animals as obsticles to ski around.

For the real die hards, there is the option to go heli-skiing in Ramundberget. This sounds as a strange activity, but the helicopter goes at least 4 to 5 times a day and brings you to the descents full with fresh, white powder snow. The helicopter can bring you to the most southers gletcher of Sweden, in the Helagstoppen which is about 1700 meter high. Another exciting activity in Ramundberget is to ski behind a piste-bully. This is called 'ski-joring', and is fun because you can ski on freshly prepared slopes, especially for you.

Other winter activities
Besides skiing and snowboarding, Ramundberget has lots of other winter activities to offer. It is known for its enourmous network of cross-country tracks. In total there are more than 300 km of cross-country tracks, with a beautiful route which takes you to a small restaurant called the Östsjöstugan. Here you can enjoy for example a nice warm waffle. Also dog sledging, ice climbing and scooter safari's are possible in Ramundberget.

Restaurants & Apres-ski

Besides the good restaurant in Hotel Fjällgarden, the restaurant on the slopes called 'Tusen'(named this way because it is on located on a hight of 1000 meter) is a perfect place to eat and sit in the sun. This desigh restaurant also used local ingredients, and serves good pastas and Swedish meat and fish dishes which will give you plenty of energy for afternoon skiing. Restaurant Tusen is proud of the use of natural materials also in the construction og the building, which fits very well within its surroundings. We loved the terrace of Tusen with comfortable relaxing chairs to enjoy the sun (see picture).

Another nice terrace is that of restaurant Solbrännet, at the bottom of the slopes. One afternoon we went into the nearby village Funäsdalsberget and discovered a nice, cosy coffee/lunch place called Villan 1951. Here as well, we were lucky to sit on the terrace in the sun and enjoy the great views.

Besides these restaurants, there is a night club in Ramundberget, next to the slopes and accross from Hotel Fjällgarden; Nattklubb Rudolf. The apres-ski, or after-ski as they call it in Sweden is short but powerfull. Usually Apres-ski starts about 1-2 hours after skiing ends. In the evenings Rudolf is also openend often until later. During our stay there was an entertaining Swedish country-dance act in this night club called Rednex Annika (see picture).

The Swedish Kitchen
For those who have never been to Sweden, the Swedish kitchen is known for its 'smorgasbord'. This traditional breakfast buffet was the start of our day with pickled harring, knackebrod (crackers) and typical Swedish meats. Off course this was complimented with local baked bread and cereals.

Lämmels

Because we visited Ramundberget late in the season, we had the nice company of other local mountain residents in the village and on the slopes, the so called Lämmels. These are small hamster like animals which live in the mountains. A cute site to see.

Conclusion
To conclude, we can warmly recommend Ramnundberget. It is surely not the biggest ski area of Europe, but it has a lot to offer, especially for families with children. But advanced skiiers will also enjoy themselves with powder snow and heli-skiing!

For more information about winter sports in Ramundberget in Funäsdalen or direct booking, please visit www.Ramundberget.se