A northern star

Offering great conditions well into April, Sälen in Sweden is perfect for a family ski holiday

BY Rebecca Miles

Booking a skiing holiday in the Easter holidays can be a risky business. For families tied to term dates, the Easter break is one of only three options available throughout the winter, and with Christmas conditions becoming less predictable and February half term eye-wateringly expensive, that just leaves Easter. But with often sunny and slushy conditions in the Alps by early April an Easter ski holiday can leave some fans wanting more. The answer? Head north, to Sweden.

Sälen is Sweden’s largest ski resort and is made up of four connected areas – Lindvallen, Högfjället, Tandådalen and Hundfjället. At the latter, you’ll find the SkiStar Lodge Hundfjället, a smart hotel full of self-catering apartments and suites sleeping up to 12 (the Swedes generally like to be autonomous on holiday and shun half-board options) and only a handful of hotel rooms, that opened in December 2021. From the outside, the eight-storey lodge wouldn’t be out of place in a North American ski resort, but inside it has a Scandinavian flair with a hint of Soho House suave that makes it impeccably stylish but also impeccably laid-back and friendly.

Built at the foot of the slopes and with its own ski rental shop and one of the fanciest ski locker rooms I’ve ever known exiting directly on to the snow, it couldn’t be more convenient, which is a huge plus for families. What’s even more of a plus for families with children of an impressionable age is the

Winter holidays

Trollskogen (trolls’ wood) ski run. An enchanted forest in the Hundfjället area, it’s home to Sälen’s trolls who play and sing (yes really) throughout the day. My six-year-old daughter was utterly enchanted and would have happily skied this run on repeat for our whole stay. A gentle slope through the trees with narrow snow-covered tracks dipping and diving off to each side, we see the trolls do everything from attempt to ski jump to go to school, get married and even sit on the loo. With the smell of wood smoke coming from the self-service barbecue–ready huts (complete with logs and grills for all to use) and Våffelstugan waffle house it makes a sociable focal point at mid mountain.

The ski area in Sälen is so large that we – my husband and I, our daughter and my parents – don’t manage to cover it all during our stay, but what I do ski in Tandådalen and Hundfjället is ideally suited to intermediates, and both easy to access by fast chair lifts and T-bars, and easy to navigate. There’s also plenty to do off the slopes, including