En Easy Story

After two years of construction, the revamped version of Åre’s signature trail, Easy Rider, is now ready to be enjoyed with four kilometres of upgraded flow winding through the wild high zone of Mount Åreskutan.

Text: Tobias Liljeroth

For many years, cycling in Åre’s high alpine zone was a decidedly advanced affair reserved for equally advanced riders who had both the courage and skill to launch themselves among the boulders on the two dedicated trails available at the time. But as cycling in Åre grew and became more inclusive, the need for slightly easier trails in the high zone also increased.

When Easy Rider finally opened after two years of construction for the 2007 season it was a minor revolution for Åre and for Swedish mountain biking in general. The trail was graded blue, and suddenly, Åreskutan was no longer reserved for riders with a death wish. It became accessible to a much broader group of cyclists.

A Logistical Nightmare

Building a trail in the high zone, however, was a monumental task. Just getting an excavator up there was a feat. On top of that, many areas lacked enough soil to even sink a bucket into the ground, which created serious challenges. The solution? Helicopter in tons of soil and gravel just to have something to dig into. Add unpredictable weather with brutal winds, along with the annual snowmelt that threatens to wash away everything in its path, and it’s clear this was a mad undertaking from start to finish.

Perhaps most famously, during the construction, the owner of the then Stormköket Restaurant in the cable car station Kabinbanan would drop Swedish punch rolls wrapped in napkins as parachutes from the cabin to the crew below. It was a small gesture of encouragement for those workers who huddled in rain gear with their hoods pulled tight for protection from wind and precipitation. Naturally, that part of the trail became known as “Punschrullen” (The Punsch Roll): A tribute to Åreskutan’s trail-building heroes.

The Punschrulle, also known as “dammsugare”, is a classic Swedish pastry with a taste of arrack and punch. The name “dammsugare” translates into “vacuum cleaner” due to its resemblance to the old-style, tubular, vacuum cleaners from the mid 20th century.

A Broader Audience

The four-kilometre trail (along with the jump line Shimano) turned out to be the injection of life Åre’s biking scene needed. Suddenly, there were both depth and variety—and adventures that even newer riders could take on.

Although parts of Easy Rider have been rebuilt and updated over the years, the passage of time had worn down what was once a super-flowy trail. And considering how much Åre’s biking scene has grown in recent years, it was clear that Easy Rider needed a total overhaul. Easy, quite frankly, was no longer very easy.

So, once again, up went the excavator, and back came the helicopter loaded with materials, this time with the goal of bringing Easy Rider up to the standards of the 2020s. After two years of construction, problem-solving, and battling the elements, the trail is finally ready to be enjoyed in the summer of 2025.

The 2025 Makeover

But unlike previous rebuilds, this is a total makeover from the ground up, based on knowledge that SkiStar’s trail crew has gained from 35 years of building trails in the mountains. First and foremost, it’s about creating the kind of flow that modern riders seek and which the modern biking product demands. But it’s also about knowing how to handle the often-intense water flow without having the trail wash away into Västra Ravin or Susabäcken, and building a trail that can endure thousands of rides every summer. And, of course, making those rides as enjoyable as possible.

Because, in the end, biking is all about enjoyment. There’s something truly special about stepping off the Gondola on a sunny day, gazing east toward the Oviksfjällen, west toward Storulvån and Sylarna, and down at the shimmering, steel-blue waters of Lake Åresjön, 870 vertical metres below.

You get on your bike, test the brakes, and begin your descent, through the iconic boulder fields on the top and onward into a winding, flowy journey through Åreskutan’s rugged landscape, taking on turn after turn after turn, feeling like an eternity. A short rest by “Cognagstenen” (the Brandy Rock), then into the slalom-like curves of Punschrullen, and high-speed flow across the flats toward the next rest stop on top of Svartberget.

Have a brief pause, take out your phone to capture the moment with Östra Ravin in the background and Förberget on the horizon. Then, the final turns down toward Mörvikshummeln. Four kilometres and 484 vertical metres of biking unlike anything else in Scandinavia—or, indeed, the world.

Easy Rider v3 proves how far Åre’s cycling has come since that day in 1987 when the village’s pioneers brought their bikes up in the cable car for the first time. The location is the same, the views unchanged—but everything else belongs to a new and upgraded era.

What will never change, however, is the exhilarating feeling of riding downhill in the high alpine zone, in harmony with the mountain’s ever-shifting conditions. That feeling defines Åre—then and now.