THIS TOUR IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE!
FROM COAST TO COAST:
THE HIGH ROAD FROM SUNDSVALL TO TRONDHEIM FJORD
Post- congress tour to northern Sweden and mid Norway
Period: June 29 – July 4
*Dates and schedules are subject to change.
**Trip confirmation requires a minimum of 20 participants.
This excursion takes you coast-to-coast over the Scandinavian mountains of Sweden and Norway, while exploring the industrial ecosystems of the boreal landscape. The expedition take you from the culture of Stockholm, to the northern forestry capital of Sundsvall, through the alpine resort of Åre, before arriving in the viking centres of Stiklestad and Trondheim on the North Sea.
We follow state-of-the-art digital supply chains of Nordic forestry to the latest industrial adventures of forest products refining. Including, of course sauna, hiking and fishing in between. You will experience the forest landscape and its people: the forest owners associations so typical of Nordic forestry, the co-existing Sami culture of reindeer husbandry and the managers driving development of sustainable and competitive forest industries.
Tännforsen – largest waterfall in Sweden >
Åreskutan – the most famous hiking trail to experience the true beauty of Åre >
Mountain fishing in Åre >
The Sauna Raft (Bastuflotte) on Åre Lake >
SPA adventure Hotel in Åre >
Stiklestad National Cultural Centre >
Trondheim – guided tour >
FORESTRY HIGHLIGHTS IN SWEDEN
Sundsvall; the forestry capital >
Industrial adventure to alpine resort Åre >
Crossing the highlands of the Scandinavian mountain range >
FORESTRY HIGHLIGHTS IN NORWAY
Norske Skog Skogn >
Biokraft Skogn >
Meråker Brug >
Bymarka >
Tännforsen – largest waterfall in Sweden
With a width of 60 meters across and a height of 38 metres Tännforsen is by far, Sweden’s largest waterfall. Tourists have come here for over 150 years and long before that pilgrims passed on their journey to Trondheim. The melting snows and ice in spring creates the most impressive falls and results in an earth shuddering waterfall. It’s estimated that the spring floods creates an unbelievable 791 cubic metres, flow of water, every second.
Åreskutan – the most famous hiking trail to experience the true beauty of Åre
The hike offers magnificent mountain views over Åre and the surrounding area such as the mountains om the Norway side, Härjedalen and Sylarna.
We take the easiest way to reach the top of mount Åreskutan and hike from the mountain station of the cable car.
You also get the opportunity to have coffee at Sweden’s highest located café Toppstugan which is located on the top of Åreskutan 1 420 meters above sea level while enjoying a mile-wide view of mountains and lakes.
Mountain fishing in Åre
We start with a simple hike of approximately 10 minutes before we reach our campsite by a tarn (a small mountain lake) and get a short introduction about today’s fishing, mountain trout and trout. Trout over 3 kg have been caught! The fishing methods used are spin fishing and fly fishing, so after the briefing we spread out along the beaches and in boats and hopefully we manage to catch some fish to put on the fire. The fire burns on the campsite and, of course, there is delicious, brewed coffee to enjoy throughout the fishing trip.
The sauna raft on Åre lake
In this wood-fired sauna, you can experience a new dimension of Åre. From this charming raft you have a beautiful view of the lake and you can witness the magical Swedish sunset.
Regardless of the weather, it always is warm in the raft and cold in the water so the combination is guaranteed to create memorable contrasts. The raft is winched out to a buoy where it is anchored while you are enjoying your sauna.
SPA adventure hotel in Åre
The hotel is centrally located in the village, just between the mountain and the lake. In the adventure pool complex and sauna world, energetic watery pastimes are mixed with Finnish sauna traditions and Roman bathing culture. No-one leaves here dry behind the ears!
Stiklestad national cultural centre
The cultural centre in Verdal conveys the exciting story around the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 AD and the part of Norwegian history linked to Stiklestad and Saint Olav.
Stiklestad is a large area with numerous houses with different histories. They have year-round medieval storytelling, permanent and changing exhibitions with interesting themes, a large folk museum with 30 historic buildings from 1600-1800ʼs, Stiklestad Church from 1180 AD, an amphi theatre and a Catholic chapel.
History is still very much alive at the Stiklestad National Culture Centre, which every year stages Scandinavia’s largest open-air theatre, the Saint Olav Drama.
Trondheim – guided tour
Take a guided tour in historical, charming, and tasty Trondheim, with emphasis on old and new wood-based architecture.
Trondheim was founded by the Viking king Olav Tryggvason in 997 AD and is Norway’s third largest city. Trondheim is famous for its wooden architecture, especially the colourful wharves along the Nidelva river. The oldest wharves date back to the 1800th century.
Trondheim also has an official royal residence dating back to the 1770ʼs, which is the largest wooden palace in Scandinavia. Trondheimʼs architecture has been shaped by a number of disastrous fires, which has wiped out large parts of the city many times throughout the centuries, and lead to periods where wooden architecture was replaced by widespread use of other building materials.
Today, Trondheim has entered a new era of wooden architecture, with widespread use of timber also in larger structures such as public schools and apartment complexes. Some examples of such modern wooden structures are the nine-story, y-shaped student accommodation towers in Moholt made of cross-laminated timber and Huseby public school, which is built as a passive house without the use of fossil fuels at the construction site, also in cross-laminated timber.
A local guide and a representative for ”Trebyen Trondheim” will take us on a guided tour of the city’s finest wooden architecture.
Nidaros Cathedral, Nidarosdomen – the world’s northernmost Gothic cathedral.
An iconic building you shouldn’t miss in Trondheim. You might even meet some of the pilgrims that have hiked the famous St. Olav Ways – the main pilgrim path through Norway. The route is becoming one of the most popular long-distance hikes in Northern Europe.
Sundsvall – the forestry capital
After the final congress sessions we start the first leg of the trip from Stockholm to Sundsvall. On the way we stop at a harvesting site to snack and stretch our legs with an introduction to digital management of wood supply operations. After arrival in Sundsvall, the forestry capital of the north, we will be treated to an overview of the sector-wide digital infrastructures which track 80 million m3 of annual wood production, deliveries and sales. Our host is Biometria, an organization of 850 professionals providing the Swedish timber market with impartial measurements and transactions for it’s 250+ members between forest and industry.
Industrial adventure to alpine resort Åre
After a short introduction to the industrial ecosystem of this region we visit the SCA Östrand pulp mill, just north of Sundsvall. With its annual production of 900 000 tonnes of bleached softwood kraft pulp, the wood consumption is just over 4 million m3, requiring sustainable and secure wood supply. The mill tour will present the mill operations, their market situation as well as sustainable development of competitive logistics solutions. In addition to managing their annual turnover of approx. 12 million m3, the SCA forest division manages 2,7 million ha of own forest in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The next leg of the voyage goes to the interior of mid Sweden, where forestry shares the resource base with the first-nations Sami culture with historical rights for reindeer husbandry. Swedish Lapland is home to approximately 250 000 reindeer and their 4 500 owners, distributed over 50 Sami villages. Our hosts (Sami Federation, Sami village) will give an introduction to the development of reindeer husbandry in the region as well as the political and planning processes for co-existence with forestry and industrial interests. This day also brings us to the touristic centre of Åre, with alternative activities including the traditional Nordic sauna, as well as hiking, fishing or just relaxation in the midnight sun.
Crossing the highlands of the Scandinavian mountain range
Day 3 takes us to meet Norra Skog, the forest owners association of northern Sweden, at a harvesting operation in the highlands close to the Norwegian border. Here we will receive an introduction to the management of non-industrial private forests via the association services. The harvesting contractor at the site will also lead us through harvesting practices for sub-arctic climates. The 27 000 members of Norra Skog manage just over 2 million hectares which supply their three sawmills, as well as pulp mills in the region.
The final stop on the Swedish side of the border is lunch at Enaforsholm, the mountain station of the Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. The station is located in climate zone 8, the coldest in Sweden, with an exemplary collection of circumpolar larch, fir, pine and spruce species. The station also holds a garden with an equivalent collection of the most frost-hardy shrubs (80), perennials and bulbous/tuberous plants (170), all of which can be viewed during the visit.
Norske Skog Skogn
This is a guided tour, with emphasis on the value of wood processing and complete value chains to forestry and society. A talk from Biokraft on their products and role in the bioeconomy.
Norske Skog Skogn is one of the largest newsprint mills in Europe. It was founded in 1962, and the first newsprint machine started its production in 1966. Serving demanding customers worldwide, the mill has its own port facilities, and operates regular lines to the UK and Continental Europe. Norske Skog Skogn can also produce interliner.
The company complies with the UN’s sustainability goals, and works actively for the green shift and global circular economy by creating value from renewable raw materials such as spruce trees and hydropower. In addition, waste fractions such as collected recycling paper and biofuel are used. The timber they use comes mainly from Trøndelag county and Jämtland county in Sweden. There are 370 employees at Norske Skog Skogn.
Norske Skog will tell and show us how they produce paper from timber and how they look upon the future for their production.
The mills traditional advantages: a huge resource of timber in reasonable distance, ice free port, close to railway and main road, and renewable energy from hydro power.
Biokraft Skogn
Biokraft Skogn is located next to Norske Skog. This is one of the biggest plants of its kind in the world. They stated production of liquid biogas in 2018. The raw materials for their biogas production are waste and by-products from industry, including residuals from fish farming and sludge from Norske Skog. This means we are able to run busses, trucks and ships on climate-neutral, renewable fuel, produced from waste. Customers are for instance busses in Trondheim and some of the Hurtigrute ships.
The bioresidue left after the fermentation is nutritious and well suited as fertilizer in the agriculture.
Biokraft will tell us about their business from making waste into climate-neutral, renewable fuel.
Meråker Brug
For more than 100 years, Meråker Brug was owned by a private foundation. When it came for sale in 2022, the state-owned company Statskog (State forest) bought it. It will still be runned as a separate unit. The property has been managed very well and is today in a good state and highly productive.
The property is 1 200 km2, with 200 km2 productive forest. The rest is mainly mountain terrain. Forestry is an important source of income, as is other kinds of use of the outfield for hunting, fishing, and recreation.
Meråker Brug will tell us about how they run the property, concerning forestry and other businesses, and how they take environmental considerations.
Bymarka
Trondheim Bydrift gives a talk on combining rural recreation area and large-scale forestry.
Trondheim municipal forest consists of about 24 km2 of productive forest, and large areas of wetlands and mountainous area. In the 1870’s, the forest was almost completely gone, due to deforestation due to the high demand for wood-fuel, building materials and grazing land. In 1872, a large-scale reforestation project was started, which sought to reestablish the forest. Today, it is hard to believe that just 150 years ago, this landscape looked completely different. Today, the forest is managed for recreation, biodiversity, cultural landscape and wood-production. They also work on restoring drained wetlands. A representative from Trondheim municipal forest will give a talk on how they balance these different goals in their forest management, and we will go for a walk in the forest.
