Skiers Head North to Snow-Sure Scandinavia as the Alps Heat Up

It’s just below freezing along Sweden’s western border and the sun is starting to peek out through the clouds. In the busy queue to the six-seater World Cup Express chairlift at the Stöten resort—roughly six hours’ drive from Stockholm—skiers are chatting away in Danish, Dutch, English and German.

These days, more of those who have a short drive to the Alps are opting instead to make longer trips north, to the colder mountains of Scandinavia. With a weak Swedish currency, it’s cheaper—never mind that day passes here cost about $50. And with rising winter temperatures in the Alps, people increasingly value the virtually guaranteed snow even if the peaks are not jagged or the villages as picturesque as in Switzerland or Italy. More than a quarter of Alpine resorts are already shut for the season and Austria had its warmest winter ever. Stöten, on the other hand, had almost a meter of snow in October alone, and the flakes just never stopped falling from the sky.