Big open terrain perfect for cruising and modern freeride. Solitary lines, world class forest skiing, terrain for skiing with an alpine taste, charming cabins, snow safe area, accesible lines for beginners and easy access to more complex terrain. What else do you need?
This article is meant as a guide to understand the skiing opportunities and challenges of the central mountains of Voss between Voss Resort and Myrkdalen Ski Resort.
Ski touring around Reppabotn and Skreiavatn.
Freeride in Lønahorgi from Voss Resort.
Freeride from Myrkdalen ski resort.
Close proximity to Voss. Access from two ski resorts. Relative high parkings.
By car, you can reach the access points of Afdal, Lund and Engjaland relatively easy within a 20 to 35 minutes drive from Voss. Those access points are fairly civilised, meaning that the land owners tend to be quick plowing the road and making the parking accesible. All of those access points have a specific parking and an stablished paying system through the Vipps app, or bank account transfer. Hence if you pay your parking and you do everything correct, you are not in conflict with the land owner, the neighboors or the skiing comunity.
The parkings have good capacity, specially Engjaland and Lund. Beware that during heavy storms and icy conditions those parkings may be hard to reach. You want to drive with a 4×4 car with spike tires most of the winter days. From the time you leave the main road you will gradually get into narrow gravel roads that have steep sections. You will most likely drive over hard compacted snow with some gravel spreaded on top. During spring, those gravel roads can get muddy, soft and will occasional deep holes and hard snow patches. This will be a concern for low cars without a strong transmision.
Snow safe area.
The east facing valleys between Voss Resort and Myrkdalen are some of the most snow safe areas in the west region of Norway.
Abundance of powder days.
Voss has mostly oceanic climate. We are on the middle of the atlantic storm belt. Here it both rains a lot and snows a lot. We are very exposed to ocean storms and they carry a lot of moisture when they hit our mountains. At the same time, the storm has enough time to cool down while rolling through the plateau of Stølsheim and can deliver a lot of snow on the East faces. Even after the storm has passed, the mountain plateau can remain loaded with snow, and some of that snow will gradually continue to blow into the east facing valleys over the following days. We do not have a shortage of Powder days, at the same time, powder days means stormy days. Been able to choose sheltered areas with soft snow and enough visibility is key. Locals tend to keep quiet about the best forest for powder days.
In between storms, Voss has Continental climate.
These days are dominated by sun, little wind and cold temperatures. That means that the good snow does not tend to get spoiled once the storm has passed.
Long season.
Late november, december and January have always beautiful days, but can have tough days to manage. Februry and March tend to be winter wonderland. April into mid Mai can be some of the best months for skiing touring.
Calibrate your plan with the current conditions.
Early winter can bring magical crispy sunny days with a very special blue ligh. At the same time heavy snowfalls, low temperatures, sour winds and dim light in altitude is a common experience. Do not get discouraged, those are the days for seeking lower elevations, sheltered peaks and forest skiing. On early winter stormy days, powder laps in the forest can be some of the best deep snow experience you may find in Europe.
Spring can bring sun, more stable snow in the big open faces and invites for seeking higher terrain. In late spring, or whenever it has been raining or is warm in low elevation, it may be smart to plan your trip using the ski lifts from Voss resort or Myrkdalen. This can save you a long approach in less interesting snow.
Winter 2026 was one of the worst winter regarding amount of snow in the south of Norway. Several ski areas struggle to have open ski conditions during big periods of the winter. Around Voss, we had to recalibrate plenty of our trips, but in this area we found reliable conditions for the whole winter and spring. Actually most of the pictures of this article are from winter 2026, the winter with less snow ever in this area.
The terrain characteristics.
Varied terrain.
Big open terrain, great for cruising. Most of the mountains offer terrain class 1 and 2. you can find plenty of sectors for modern freeride, but requires terrain knowledge and understandment of conditions.
Modular terrain.
Some of this sectors offer both great terrain for someone having their first guided ski touring experience, as well for advanced and well seasoned skiers seeking more challenging lines or two descents in two different aspects of the mountain in the day. All from the same parking.
Relatively little traffic.
Sectors in proximity to the ski resort can get busy on a weekend with sun and good snow. At the same time during weekdays and several weekend days it would not be unusual to be alone or one of the few teams on the area. A large percentage of the people skiing on this terrain, tend to follow the normal route, leaving plenty of terrain without tracks. This has to do as well because so broad terrain can be difficult to navigate and identify from above. Have you heard of roll overs?
Beware of roll overs!
Several of the big lines in these mountains start with a roll over. If you are mostly used to ski mountains of a constant angle, or alpine couloirs, managing roll overs will be something new and challenging. Basically, you are transitioning from a mountain plateau into a steep face, and the transition is a blind angle. Roll overs tend to be weak points for avalanches and tend to be the start of small cliffs. You won’t always be able to identify your ski line from above. Taking references, triangulating yourself, knowing the terrain and having good navigation skills is key to avoid terrain traps. If you doubt about your skills or the conditions, it tends to be easier to ski back down following your tracks back.
The different sectors:
Wild Voss has designed ski touring maps covering most of the terrain. We have divided them in different sectors. The routes are displayed on a topographic map with an ATES filter, highlighting terrain over 30 degrees (yellow to red). Please consider that the map of Sector Lund and of Sector Engjaland do not have highlighted runouts for avalanches. The two maps of Lønahorgi have highlighted in blue colours the runout of avalanches.
The lines marked in green correspond to terrain category 1, the lines marked in blue correspond to terrain category 2, and the lines marked in red correspond to terrain category 3.
Sector A: Skreiavatnet. Parking in Lund.
Sector B: Engjaland. Parking in Engjaland Fjellstovo.
Sector C: Svartahorgi. Parking in Afdal. This sector is visible on the second map of Lønahorgi (Lønahorgi north), further down the page.
Profiting of the infrastructure from the ski ressorts for fast access to freeride.
From Voss ressort, you can access plenty of freeride terrain around Lønahorgi. This is the closer we in Voss to a “Chamonix experience”, combining lift access, ski touring and freeride. The terrain around Lønahorgi will offer less of an extreme ski mountaineering experience, but has good terrain for carving on the hanging valleys of Lønahorgi surounded by cliffs. Quite an experience!
From the other end of the mountain chain, we have the ski Resort of Myrkdalen. Myrkdalen offers as well quick access to fantastic freeride terrain. The terrain around Myrkdalen will be less alpine than around Voss ressort, but of as good quality when it comes to crusing on big open faces leading to forest lines.
Freeride in Lønahorgi from Voss Resort.
From Voss Resort you have fast access to the top of the Horgaleten lift. From there you have a short tour to the top of Lønahorgi. The south ridge of Lønahorgi from the ski resort is a popular trip for new beginners. It is not the most impresive ski trip, but what most people do not know is how much impresive terrain for freeriding you can access in almost all of the remaining aspects of the mountain. Skiing the hanging valleys of Lønahorgi is a legendary experience. You can find terrain class two and above. I will specify that even the less complicated of those lines require solid terrain reading skills and to be able to work with a map well. Big terrain traps that needs to be identified and managed are present all over this mountain. Skiing down one of those lines will require you to hike back up to the ridge for coming back home. On the flip side, even though the skiing in Lønahorgi has a proper alpine taste, you can ski at speed with big turns most of the lines, and that is what makes it special. Bonus points: for the fittest and most experience skiers linking several of the lines in a day can be a very fun competition. Check further details on the article.
Freeride from Myrkdalen ski resort.
The ski ressort of Myrkdalen gives fast access to several sectors for freeriding that require very little approach from the lifts. Here you can find big open bowls that transition in forested gullies. On a good day, you can ski down to the road, hike back to the ressort and start all over again. Several of those bowls, such as Storebotn starts with a big roll over making it potentially very dangerous with significant avalanche danger. Roll overs tend to make the terrain hard to read from above as well. The forest gullies that lead down to the road tend to be have pockets over 30 degrees that will work as terain traps. Been in close proximity to the ski resort you have to be careful to not follow unsafe tracks. You may as well be exposed to an avalanche generated by other skiers above you.
Here is a little go pro video of a good day in Myrkdalen.
The Voss Haute Route.
Are you interested in linking all this terrain over several days sleeping in remote mountain cabins? Check our Voss Haute Route!
The route:
Here is an overview of the route over three consecutive maps. Click on the previous link to the Voss Haute Route for an in depth description of the trip and the different variations that can be done all the way from a weekend trip, up to a five day trip with a rest day in between.
Our goal is to ski from Voss Resort to Myrkdalen ski resort, linking up and down all the consecutive valleys along the mountain plateau. Here we can find really good terrain for modern cruising and freeride, and often solitude. A lot of the terrain that we cover, despite been some of the best in Voss, can be rather unconfortable for day trips, and hence it does not get skied so often. Skiing the whole traverse is a rewaring experience. Every time you come back to the mountain plateau, as you keep moving north, you get impressed by how far you are leaving behing the tower on top of Lønahorgi that you taget the first day. It keeps peaking further and further away and you just cannot believe you did all that walking. Spending a winter night in the mountain plateau of Stølsheim in one of the cabins of the hiking club (DNT), Tvinnestølen or Torvedalshytta, is a magical experience.
Discover this region with a guide:
Our local guides tailor the skiing holiday to your needs, whether you want fjord views, powder hunting, improve your avalanche skills, or go on a longer multi day adventure. All our ski guides are NF certified avalanche instructors so you can feel confident that your safety is taken care of.
Read more about our products and rates, or send us an email to post@wildvoss.no for a consultation. We are quick sending you an estimate of an apropriate plan and budget for your group.
Are you looking for further inspiration?
What about some fjord skiing from Voss?
What about Freeriding in another mountain range of Voss? Ccheck our article about Freeriding the Raundals ridge. This article is a compilation and guide of skiing the area with higher concentration of alpine mountains well suited for modern freeride in Voss.
