On April 2, 2024, the time had come. We were standing at Zurich Airport, marking the beginning of a journey with the goal of bringing Timbaer to Sweden. After a two-hour flight, we were delighted to collect our full ski and travel bags at the baggage drop-off point at Gothenburg Airport. Once the rental SUV was fully loaded, we set off on a six-day "power promotion" tour through Sweden.
Bruket i Wiared in Bor å s
Our first stop was Borås . A tax-friendly city in southern Sweden, where the Spotify founder also lives. We didn't visit him, however, but Lorenz. We met Lorenz quite by chance in December 2023 at Gass 17 in Appenzell. He's originally from eastern Switzerland and was working at Bruket in Wiared in Borås at the time. A great place for experiences, events, and shopping. This concept location also includes a small furniture store, and we brought our chairs with us. Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted with the famous cinnamon rolls and showed the people in charge our chairs. We then spent the night in the charmingly furnished old villa, which is also part of the village. Highly recommended for all Timbaers from Switzerland, you should visit southern Sweden sometime. Välkommen - Bruket i Wiared
Second stop: Sälen
Our journey continued the next day. We had about a six-hour drive ahead of us to get to Fredric's place in Sälen. Lorenz, who runs the bakery at Bruket i Wiared, had prepared the best sandwiches in all of Sweden for us. The journey took us through "real" Sweden. Long and lonely roads led us to Sälen. There, Fredric welcomed us to a pub. In the fall of 2023, Fredric wrote to us on Instagram that he would like to become an ambassador for the Timaber brand. This was the second of three reasons that brought us to Sweden.
Fredric will show us the small Stöten ski resort in Sälen at its best. First, we had game specialties like reindeer and elk for dinner in a small, authentic hotel. It was simply fantastic. The following morning, by then our third day in Sweden, the moment had arrived: our first time skiing in Sweden, and Fredric's first time skiing on Timbaer. The grins on everyone's faces left no doubt. We were thrilled with Stöten, and Fredric was thrilled with our skis. Skiing in Stöten is an absolute experience: the snow, the slopes, and the surrounding Nordic scenery are unique. Truly worth a ski trip, even for all the Timbaer skiers from Switzerland.
Fredric is the head of the local ski school and introduced us to everyone in charge. Stöten, as a ski resort, is privately owned, and the owners have big plans. Our conversation with the sports shop was very promising. On the slopes, we also met Thomas and Anneli. They wanted to test our skis. Thomas has been testing every ski he can get his hands on since the 1990s, but he'd never seen anything as great as the Timbaer skis. We gladly accepted this compliment. That evening, we enjoyed another delicious dinner with Fredric and discussed the first projects for Timbaer in Stöten.
Skidanläggning in Sälen | Complete ski resort
Visiting Lin
On the fourth day, it was bye Fredric and hi Lin. We were incredibly lucky, because during the six-hour drive to Are, about 200 reindeer crossed the road right in front of us. It was impressive. After a six-hour drive north, we finally arrived: Are, the famous World Cup ski resort. It was just the Easter holidays, and the village was packed with tourists. Many come to Are from Stockholm. They travel to Are for one or two days of skiing, taking a sleeper train for eight hours there and eight hours back. They're truly crazy about skiing here.
Then the happy reunion with Lin in her homeland. Lin has been our ambassador for two years now and is the third reason for our trip to Sweden. At dinner on Friday evening, Lin told us about Skiers . It's a local ski community with around 400 members. All of them absolute ski fans and always on the lookout for the best equipment. They hit the slopes every Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and hit the slopes as hard as they can. These two things sounded great to us. So we registered online as guests and were excited about the next day. Unusually for Are, we had fantastic weather. Unfortunately, we were a bit short on time and the people in charge of the group were getting impatient and pointed out to us that they would be skiing properly and quickly by then. We nodded and didn't let it show.
On the first run, we seemed like a burden to the skiers . We felt a bit provoked before the second run and showed off our best skiing for two minutes. From that point on, the Swedes suddenly became very friendly and interested in Timbaer. Jörgen, one of the skiers , was so enthusiastic about the 180 All Mountain that he immediately ordered a pair, including bamboo poles. He is therefore the first Timbaer ski owner in all of Sweden.
After that day of skiing in Are with Lin, we truly fell in love with the skiing country of Sweden. It was an experience we'd love to repeat. We finished off the day not on the ski slopes, but with a snowmobile tour through the vast, snowy Swedish landscape. A dream!
On the sixth and final day, we drove to the airport in Östersund and flew back to Zurich with a lot of work and many amazing experiences under our belts. We'll report on what's next for Timbaer in Sweden in another story. Stay tuned.