Very Difficult
Skåla rises to 1,848 metres above sea level, starting from the fjord at Loen. That means you climb nearly the full 1,848 metres from the village, making it one of the biggest elevation gains from sea level you can do in Scandinavia. The trail is 8.2 kilometres long with an average gradient of 22.5 percent. This is not a casual day hike.
At the top of the lower summit, at 1,843 metres, stands a round stone tower. Doctor Hans Henrik Gerhard Kloumann from nearby Innvik had it built in 1891 as a shelter for mountain tourists. You might read that it was built to cure tuberculosis patients, and that story has been repeated so often that most people believe it. But local historian Ove Eide has shown that no written source mentions tuberculosis until 1991, a hundred years after the tower was finished. There were no facilities for doctors or nurses, no way to transport sick people up, and the building has nothing in common with the verandah-style sanatoriums actually used for TB treatment. It was always about tourism.
The tower, called Skålatårnet or Kloumantårnet, has walls half a metre thick, two floors, and 22 beds. It is run by Bergen Turlag, part of the Norwegian Trekking Association. Next to it, a newer cabin called Skålabu opened in 2016. The path up was built at the same time as the tower, and in recent years sections have been restored with help from Nepalese sherpas.
From 2002 to 2022, Skåla hosted Skåla Opp, marketed as Northern Europe's toughest uphill race. The men's record is 1 hour 7 minutes, set by Turkish runner Ahmet Arslan in 2012. To put that in perspective: most hikers take 5 to 7 hours up and 3 to 4 hours down.
The name Skåla comes from skål, meaning bowl. The mountainside facing Strynsvatnet has a large depression shaped like one. In winter, Skåla is also one of the best backcountry skiing peaks in Norway, with a descent that makes the five-hour climb worthwhile.
At the top of the lower summit, at 1,843 metres, stands a round stone tower. Doctor Hans Henrik Gerhard Kloumann from nearby Innvik had it built in 1891 as a shelter for mountain tourists. You might read that it was built to cure tuberculosis patients, and that story has been repeated so often that most people believe it. But local historian Ove Eide has shown that no written source mentions tuberculosis until 1991, a hundred years after the tower was finished. There were no facilities for doctors or nurses, no way to transport sick people up, and the building has nothing in common with the verandah-style sanatoriums actually used for TB treatment. It was always about tourism.
The tower, called Skålatårnet or Kloumantårnet, has walls half a metre thick, two floors, and 22 beds. It is run by Bergen Turlag, part of the Norwegian Trekking Association. Next to it, a newer cabin called Skålabu opened in 2016. The path up was built at the same time as the tower, and in recent years sections have been restored with help from Nepalese sherpas.
From 2002 to 2022, Skåla hosted Skåla Opp, marketed as Northern Europe's toughest uphill race. The men's record is 1 hour 7 minutes, set by Turkish runner Ahmet Arslan in 2012. To put that in perspective: most hikers take 5 to 7 hours up and 3 to 4 hours down.
The name Skåla comes from skål, meaning bowl. The mountainside facing Strynsvatnet has a large depression shaped like one. In winter, Skåla is also one of the best backcountry skiing peaks in Norway, with a descent that makes the five-hour climb worthwhile.