About the club

Finnsnes Skiklubb - a brief look at the history

Originally not being from Finnsnes it’s of course bold of me to try to describe the history of the ski slope in Sandviklia. That being said, this article would not be possible without good help from Alf Brustad and a few old stories.

Ski sports held a strong position in Finnsnes from the beginning, primarily in the form of cross country and ski jumping. Alpine disciplines started in organized form around 1970, in 1972 a competition was held in the old slope of Sandviklia. In the fall of 1973 construction of the new alpine slope in Sandviklia began, the builder was “Finnsnes tur- og skiheis”. A 1000 meter long t-bar lift was constructed. Because there was no road leading to the slope all the equipment had to be brought in by helicopter. Another consequence of the lack of road was that all skiers that wanted to use the slope had to carry all their equipment up from Einvaldfeltet. In time floodlights was installed on one side of the slope and a log cabin was constructed on the top of the slope, giving skiers a chance to regain a little heat between runs.

The story about construction of the facility can’t be told without mentioning one of the driving forces behind the construction, the businessman Korn Leiknes. History would have it that Korn told the others that the masts of the lift where to be casted in concrete instead of bolting them down as were the usual approach. This would later on be a very good decision. In the 90’s the club got in financial trouble and the creditors wanted to sell of the belongings to get their money. When they saw that the masts where cast in concrete they realized that they could not disassemble them without damaging them, which would lead to degradation of their value. So the lift stayed in place. Big thanks to Korn for being so foresighted!

The new slope in Sandviklia was the start of a very active period of alpine skiing for Finnsnes, with the first contests held in 1976. At the end of the 80’s several national and local competitions was held there. In addition to hosting several competitions the club had active alpine skiers competing all over the country, the annual Donald Duck competition in Kongsberg, main national competition, Coca Finale, Junior National Championship and Kalottkampen amongst others. As a result of these activities Finnsnes Skiclub had several skiers that were national champions. At this time Finnsnes Skiclub also consisted of a cross country team, but in the annual meeting of ’87 it was decided to end this activity and the skiers transferred to neighbor clubs SOIL and Pioner.

In the 80’s construction of new floodlights and a road to the facility was undertaken. The club also invested in a new machine for slope preparation, a snowmobile and equipment for timing runs. I’ll bet the kids was happy finally to have a road, but I’m not sure that the parents who now had to drive them all the way up. In 1985 the cabin on the top of the slope burned down, and a new club/service building was erected in the bottom of the slope. This was completed in 1988. Many of those who remember the cabin on the top still reminisce about it, one may wonder what went on up in that cabin that makes people in their 40’s ask to have it reconstructed?

Around 1990 the alpine sport decreased in popularity in Finnsnes, and the facility became more of a commercial operation run by a ski club. The economy of the club suffered, and bankruptcy was almost a reality. But as mentioned earlier, Korn’s decision about how the masts should be set up saved the facility! Luck changed for the club in the late 90’s, and with increase in activity the clubs economy got back on its feet. This opened up possibilities to make the facility better, and a new cabin from which the lift could be operated was erected in 1999. Along with this a new automated ticket system was installed.

In the years after the millennium the club once again focused on competitions and cultural activities. The Winter Festival saw the light of day in 2002 and was held three years in a row before Arctic Weekend was a reality in 2005. In the same period both the alpine and the snowboarding crowd was growing.

Many will claim that the club reached a historical peak when The Arctic Challenge (TAC) with Terje Håkonsen held their halfpipe competition in Finnsnes. Living legends of snowboard like Shaun White, Andy Finch and Risto Mattila with the whole snowboard circus invaded our little city. Not many saw the importance of such an event… Things turned out alright, 1200-1300 people found their way to the slope to see the competitions in halfpipe, bigjump and quarterpipe. We remember it as it were yesterday.

In the following years we have maintained a focus on the alpine sport. The ski club keeps pace with time and in 2009 the Funpark was opened. We are still viable and ready for the future!

Kind regards 
Finn Folke-Olsen