Narvik now
The city. The heights. The history.
Imagine it’s 9 April 1940. Ten German warships steam toward Narvik, in the far north of Norway. On board are 2,000 elite soldiers, ready to invade the city. The port of Narvik is one of Scandinavia's most strategic military targets because of the Swedish ore carried there on trains.
Nazi Germany wants to control it.
But the German troops meet strong resistance. Norwegian, British, French and Polish troops fight valiantly against the Germans. Three fierce sea battles end with all the German warships sunk.
On 28 May, a Norwegian battalion and the French Foreign Legion recapture Narvik. It is the Allies' first major victory on land against Germany in World War II. Think about it: the Allies' first major victory on land.
But Hitler takes his revenge. German airplanes bomb Narvik to smithereens. And the Allies are forced to withdraw, drawn south by the unfolding of the war in France.
BUT WHY WRITE about the Battle of Narvik? Isn’t this a simple article about skiing in spectacular mountains? Shouldn’t our focus be on the ski lifts, the slopes, the speed, the jumps, the tricks and the snow? Shouldn’t we be concentrating on fat skis, big goggles, awe-inspiring views and pizza and beer?
No.
Not this time.
For Narvik is so much more.
Narvik is a legend.
NARVIK’s GEOGRAPHY is like poetry. The municipality is located in the Ofoten district, with Ballangen to the west, Evenes to the northwest and Skånland, Gratangen, Lavangen and Bardu to the north. What about the east, you ask? That would be Sweden. Cheap stores, helicopter skiing, the wilderness.
And iron ore.
If not for that Swedish ore, Narvik today might be hardly more than a gathering of farms.
Between 1898 and 1902 several thousand workers toiled to push a railway through the mountains between Narvik, Norway, and Kiruna, Sweden.
They made Narvik a city.
They made Narvik a destination for people carrying skis.
A MAGICAL landscape spreads out before you as you stand outside Fjellheis Restaurant, 600 metres above sea level. You have ridden the gondola up – a tiny speck of a gondola – and now it’s lunchtime. Afterward you will continue your upward journey, first by chairlift to Linken, then by foot toward Andretoppen, or “second summit.” Maybe you will ski the vast drop-off called Mørkholla, or instead go on to Tøttatoppen – Narvik’s own Matterhorn. There are so many options around Narvik. The off-piste opportunities are both tempting and infinite. The slopes, so incredibly steep; the people, so nice. With the right snow conditions, skiing at Narvik can be one of life’s peak experiences.
Trust us on that.
LATE IN THE EVENING, after eating; after a drink and perhaps admiringthe northern lights or the midnight sun; after you admiring a handful stars or the cloud formations; after all of that, you find yourself in the centre of Narvik and think: This is no ordinary ski destination. This is no ordinary ski holiday. This is different. It’s more Arctic. There’s more history, more culture.
More soul.
Text: Eivind Eidslott
Photos: Chris Holter & Vegard Breie