The story behind the video

At the turn of last year, I - Scotty - started planning, studying routes, looking for local recommendations and watching videos to find the best trails in Norway's southern circle. It turned out that there wasn't much to find, and with the help of maps I quickly realized that it would take months, if not years, to properly explore the area. But we only had seven days to take in and ride as much as we could, and I'd say we did a pretty good job of it.  

None other than Martin Söderström accompanied me. In my own words, he's a well-known freeride athlete and something of a legend. I had never met him before and wasn't sure how much experience he had with this type of mountain biking and traveling. After the trip, and if I only had one sentence to describe him, I'd say he's a happy puppy who has the appetite of a Labrador and is generally up for pretty much anything - as long as he's had at least one "skolebrod" a day.  

We met at our northernmost point in Oppdal and started the journey. The ride there had been long but beautiful, and for hours I hadn't seen any real infrastructure. The town itself was quite modern, and after a good night's sleep we found the best café and bakery before setting off. I told them what I had planned and what our week would look like. It generally consisted of driving to our location in the morning and then riding in the afternoon and evening, hoping to catch a sunset.

Our first trail of the trip was to be the Gullstein, which translates to "the golden path", and it did not disappoint. A fairly accessible but long climb led to a hike of sorts on the bike, searching for the narrow, overgrown and marked trail. Eventually we arrived at a viewpoint overlooking the valley of Oppdal. It was beautiful. We rode over huge sections of rock slabs and followed a narrow band of singletrack that went over rocks, braking at the last moment on tight turns and trying not to ignore the impressive view. As we entered the forest, the ground was loose, mulch-covered and there were a few jumps. I followed Martin and watched as he jumped off at every opportunity and landed in nothing. After a quick refreshment in the village, we rode up to Rauhovdin for sunset, but I'll let the photo do the talking. It was Norway like a postcard!  

Day two we started with a four hour ride. Our next location was Valldal, and to get there we rode through the Troll Wall. Along the wall were some of the most inspiring views you'll ever see. It was breathtaking, and I think the ride took closer to six hours. When we arrived in Valldal, it was just as incredible. Pillars of rock, as high as you could see, jutted out into the fjords. It was almost unimaginable that we would be biking here. We started on a tarmac road, which quickly turned into a gravel track and then narrowed into a single trail. When we got to the highest point, I felt like I'd stepped into a Lord of the Rings setting. It was incredible - so rough, rugged and inhospitable. This time I led the ride and plunged into a section of trail that was on the edge of a cliff. The conditions were perfect, and a mixture of gravel and rocks led us down the mountainside. It was technical and we had to work on the bikes to find the flow. I don't think Martin had done many rides like this and I could tell he was loving it in his own way. The trail felt like it went on forever, but eventually the open mountain top emerged from behind the trees and we rode towards the sunset. There were still over 500 meters of elevation ahead of us, and we sped through the forest back to Valldal as darkness fell - just in time to discover a few local beers and eat a can of Pringles for tea. 

After another four-hour ride, two ferry crossings, a coffee stop and a skolebrod for everyone, we arrived in Sogndal. The plan was to tackle Molden, an open peak leading down to the fjords. It started with a fairly manageable climb, which was technical in places, before a short walk on the mountain bikes took us to the summit. Perhaps we had gotten too used to the views as we started the ride straight away. But the views were just as breathtaking as the days before. The trail looked endless as it undulated up to the horizon. Martin was the first to ride, and he read the trail very differently than I would have. His flow and attitude on the bike made him easy over the bigger hits, and he took every opportunity to jump off or pull a manual.  

We put in a second day in Sogndal, and after a casual morning exploring the coffee scene, we set out to explore the area around Kaupanger. We rode in a forest that Martin described as typically Scandinavian, and on the way up we were tempted by the downhill as we saw it on every hairpin bend. At the bottom, the trail was loamy again, with loose dirt between rocks, and this trail was perhaps one of my favorites of the trip. We navigated around the trees, took the turns and bounced through the rock gardens. I let Martin go first, and he really let loose. The loam just flew off his rear wheel. We laughed, cheered and had a great time. It was pure hero dirt mixed with trail perfection and we both felt like we were surfing!  

After another ferry and fjord crossing, we arrived in Hemsedal. That night we would camp and I would cook. There's something incredible about sleeping and cooking as a team in the wilderness. Everyone has to do their bit and there are no other distractions. The bikes were loaded up, Martin set up the camp area, I fired up the barbecue and prepared a salmon fillet for baking. While it cooked, we opened a few beers, sat back and reflected on the epic journey as we realized we were only halfway through.  

Hemsedal would be the first and only ski resort we would visit. Our plan was to explore some of the trails outside the bike park and we wanted to tackle the "Forgotten Trail". Starting above Hemsedal, the landscape had changed again. It was still highland, but the surrounding mountains were less rugged, more rounded, and dare I say it, even flat in places. Autumn seemed to have set in early, the colors changed, and we traversed rocky sections before descending into a birch forest full of roots. In typical fashion, we missed the last chairlift in the afternoon. At least we had the support of our Voltage e-mountain bikes, and the batteries had just enough juice to ride back up and down the Sentrumstien, a red-marked flow trail. I let Martin take the lead again and he was clearly back in his element. He took the jumps playfully, scraping over the waves, jumping out of the sidehits and carving the berms from top to bottom. We laughed our heads off and finally reached the Fyri Resort. We checked in and enjoyed the incredible infrastructure, which included a pool bar, because after five days of non-stop exercise, we needed a little rest.

Our penultimate stop was Nesbyn, a place we'd both heard a lot about. Here we met up with Will from "Any Excuse to Ride", who guided us so that we could make the most of the little time we had available. First we went to the Bear House bakery to... that's probably not hard to guess! The Norwegian baked goods were in a class of their own and filled the whole team up. Finally, we made our way up to ride "Beater", the trail that has been the subject of so much hype. And it lived up to those expectations. It was a mixture of natural and man-made sections, combined with long straights created by lumberjacks hauling wood out of the forest on horseback decades ago. I think this was one of the best trails we rode on our trip. But it's almost impossible to say definitively as each trail had its own uniqueness. Will then took us on a final lap of a secret trail he'd been working on - with no time for photos or video, just for fun - and let me tell you, it was sensational. I may or may not have recorded the GPS track of it.  

In the end, we arrived in Oslo and explored the small but beautiful hiking area of Ramsas. I think we were both surprised at how good the trails were so close to the city. Technical, rooty, mulchy and loamy were all words I would use to describe them and it was almost like a summary of the trip up to that point. It wasn't the greatest trail network, but it was a lot of fun to ride there. We found a few drops for our sessions and took advantage of the smaller hills to take a spin on the various trails.  

In the space of seven days, we rode from the remote wilderness of the fjords through the backcountry to the country's capital. We ate dozens of skolebrod and cinnamon buns, drank lots of coffee and beer and shared experiences that none of us will forget in a hurry. For me, it was about sharing the journey with Martin, both of us stepping outside our comfort zones and coming out of it as friends. We come from two very different disciplines of mountain biking and don't normally have the opportunity to meet up or share the trails. So Marty, thanks for joining in on my crazy plans, and here's to the next time - even if that means I get schooled by you at the skatepark.

Impressions from Martin and Scotty's trip to Norway