Skylift

By: Jesse Hall

By KAVU

September 12^th, 2023

Norway-

Norway is known for its massive fjords and beautiful granite walls. But also, it’s rainy weather.

I have made many trips to Norway over the years; hiked, and camped, and done the most amazing jumps of my life. But I've also been soaked to the bone by nonstop rain.

Just a few years ago, a small town in the middle of Norway built an observation tram for tourists to see the unique and beautiful view. It also turns out to be an excellent place to BASE jump! So,I saw it as a chance to avoid hiking in the rain, and have a cozy place to hang out and wait out any weather from the top of the mountain. It seemed like the perfect excuse to take a KAVU trip to check out the new "Skylift", located in Loen, Norway.

Teamed up with friends and students, new and old, we headed deep into the countryside of Norway and were welcomed by the friendly local jumpers, and the most sunshine I’ve ever seen in this beautiful country!

Many locations in Norway (or anywhere) with a tram near large cliffs are overrun with base jumpers, and usually quite a scene of action and personalities. Loen on the other hand had a super chill vibe, and not too many jumpers at all! So, we got our tram passes and started to check the place out. The fjord leading in from the ocean was gorgeous, surrounded by aqua-blue lakes, the smell of massive pine forests, alpine tundra, and snowfields at the higher elevations.

The tram is essentially brand new and moves super-fast, leading you to a beautiful observation deck and restaurant with hot chocolate and fireplaces to keep you cozy in the early mornings.

Speaking of early mornings.... the sun essentially never goes completely down this time of year, and the birds never stop chirping all night. The super long days helped us achieve a ton of jumps; most days averaged five, but we did do ten in one day which was a personal record!

Each day, we would start early and try to keep the pace.... expecting afternoon showers and strong winds, or the next day to bring some spicy weather.

But, the sunshine kept coming and we kept jumping.

Non-stop KAVU Days!

The main safety concern of this location is the potential for a water landing.... and of course, without fail, one of us had to try it out… Our buddy came up maybe 40 or 50 feet short of the shoreline, and wearing his Wingsuit, jeans and a sweatshirt, immediately started to struggle to stay afloat. But, friends jumped in right away and helped pull him to the shore....

..... as if base jumping wasn’t exciting enough!

To keep each other in check, we decided to take some of the rules from soccer and give each other "yellow cards" for mistakes. If a jumper received two yellow cards, they were done for the day... and the third would be done for the trip.

Luckily everyone got to keep playing. Although, another yellow card was handed out due to a tree landing. Fortunately, the player only had scratches and a bruised ego;-)