Sweden goes with the flow

Experium at Salen Installs a FlowRider®

It gets cold in Sweden in the winter. Oh you betcha. Coooooold. When the earth tilts away from the sun and favors the southern hemisphere, Sweden does a pretty good impersonation of the Ice Planet Hoth from Star Wars. Everything freezes. The rivers, the lakes, even the ocean freezes and the people of Sweden turn away from swimming and wakeboarding and turn to the hard stuff – ice and snow.

The southernmost point of Sweden is on the same latitude as Moscow and Ketchikan, Alaska. The northernmost point is Treriksröset. At 61° north latitude, Salen, Sweden is closer to the Arctic Circle than it is to the equator, and it’s also home to the largest ski resort in Sweden. The Lindvallen, Högfjället, Tandådalen, and Hundfjället ski areas cover 90 miles of terrain, linked by 100 lifts and hundreds of miles of cross-country pistes. Ski resorts around the world from Silver Mountain, Idaho to Trysil, Norway have caught on that putting in waterparks can keep guests moving and entertained year around. And now Salen, Sweden has joined that list, as their Experium indoor entertainment center had its grand opening in December of 2009.

Urban Jansson, the managing director for Experium AB expressed high hopes: "This is an immensely important venture for us and a major investment in tourism in Sweden. Sälen is already the single largest tourist destination in Scandinavia and with Experium we will now be able to provide families with a complete portfolio in terms of experiences and holiday activities."

Covering four floors, Experium has everything from bowling to yoga, several restaurants, a 3D cinema and cafes. The main feature is the waterpark, with waterslides and Sweden’s first FlowRider®.

The FlowRider experience at Experium is almost like being on another planet – a very cold planet. The Swedish are happily stripping down to bathing suits and frolicking in warm water, while the temperature outside dips down to -20F. Locals and tourists alike are having fun flowing and falling and flailing as they get used to the experience of flowboarding. They're new to it, but that snowboard background should kick in soon and then we'll be seeing some kickass footage coming from up North.

Maybe some of the tropical Wave House venues could look into pulling off a reversal of Salen and installing some snow machines?