Last summer, SkiStar, who owns a variety of ski resorts in Sweeden and Norway, opened a dry ski slope at the Hammarbybacken hill in Stockholm. This summer, they’re installing an artificial grass ski slope at Sälen resort, which will be biologically composed of plastic that’s made from sugar cane. Snow Forecast reports that the site of the sugar cane slope will be on the Anna slope, which has 7000 square meters of skiing. The slope will include a terrain park designed by Jesper Tjäder.
SkiStar is spending big on the offseason activities. Some of their planned additions at Salen for the summer of 2023 include a mountain coaster, summer tubing, and a pedestrian path.
Stefan Sjöstrand, CEO of SkiStar AB, described why they’re adding more summer activities to their ski resorts:
“We want to get more people moving and to be able to offer an active and relaxing holiday all year round. We want more people to enjoy and access the amazing Scandinavian mountain environment even in summer. Previous years have also taught us that summer brings an increasing interest in well-being and in living and eating well. That’s why we’re heavily invested in overall experiences where we offer all of this, not least through our activity hotels and lodges…
With all these new attractions and investments, we’re taking yet another step towards becoming the leading year-round holiday operator for Scandinavia. We hope and believe that we will create many memorable mountain experiences for even more guests this summer, who want to experience both the joy of being active, relaxing and tackling a challenge. We always have something for everyone.”
These moves are meant to diversify its year-round offering in the wake of climate change’s broad effect on the European ski industry, which has been pretty noticeable this winter. In addition, it allows Swedish skiers and tourists to get some turns in during the summer.
Image Credits: SkiStar
