The world's most northerly major ski area, Riksgränsen, has announced it will reopen for skiing and boarding for three days over midsummer this June.
The resort, located 250km north of the Arctic Circle, has traditionally opened for Midsummer but in recent years, due to the pandemic and climate change impacting snow cover, has not opened for midsummer so often. When it does do so, it is usually booked up far in advance.
Along with skiing or boarding under the Midnight sun, guests will be able to enjoy traditional Scandinavian midsummer activities including dancing around the equivalent of a maypole and dining on herring and potatoes when the resort will re-opens from June 20-23, 2024.
Although widely regarded as Europe and the world's most northerly ski resort, there area bout a dozen ski areas at more northerly latitudes, although they are all smaller with just one or two draglifts in most cases.
Riksgränsen was the only ski area that remained open through all waves of the pandemic, arguing in spring 2020 that it had adequate in-house medical facilities to cope with any outbreak of the pandemic there.
Riksgränsen opened for its 2024 ski season on February 24th and will remain open to later May, closing for a month before re-open for the Midsummer ski. 24-hour daylight begins there in early May and the centre offers skiing and boarding under the Midnight sun on several evenings a week for the final few weeks of its season.