Ride to Ride - Henna Palosaari
08 December 2025
Ride to Ride: A Bike-to-Splitboard Journey from the Fjord Up
Henna Palosaari and her friend, Karen Ekman, took on a 10-day bike-to-splitboarding mission in Sunnmøre Alps on Norway’s west coast—a place known for high valleys, deep fjords, and some of the best freeriding lines you can dream up. They had been there before for snowboarding, but this time they decided to ditch the car and took the bikes, curious about how that simple change would shape everything else.
Brace it
We postponed the start by a day, bracing for rain and moody weather to settle in for the week. But eventually we realized we might as well just get out there and see what the mountains decided for us. Outside, it wasn’t nearly as grim as it had looked from the window. Wet, yes, but that’s why we packed layers. And rain down low meant snow up high. If we were lucky, it could all pay off the next day.
It did.
Forty centimeters of deep, untouched powder—some of the best turns of the whole season. What started as skepticism slowly shifted into hope. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be a sufferfest after all.
Being in One Place at a Time
On day three, we spotted a couloir straight from the road. It looked steep and a bit questionable but doable, so we left the bikes against a fence at the end of a dirt road and booted up. I watched the snow sluff past Karen as she jump-turned her way down. One of the worst couloirs I’ve ridden—and also one of the coolest. You don’t just see a line from your bike and then climb it every day. The details didn’t matter. What mattered was that feeling of being exactly where you want to be, doing the thing you love.
Trips like this remind me how easily I lose that connection in day-to-day life. Always chasing tasks, crossing off lists, keeping up some kind of pace—sometimes I don’t even know why. To feel accomplished? Accepted? This trip pulled me back to the core: be where you are, do one thing at a time, and let that be enough.
All the Weathers in One Day
In Norway you can have all the weather in one day, which can be both good and bad. The high mountains, closeness of the coast makes it typical for weather to shift from one valley to another and the forecasts to flip around. This time we seemed to be on the lucky side of the coin, and the clouds on the forecast were slowly promised to be replaced by sun and warmer temperatures, more typical for this region at the beginning of May.
The warmth isn’t always good though, the next day we got to ride down on a sticky toffee. It didn’t freeze overnight so the snowpack kept all the moisture in. Luckily the upcoming clear nights would change that. And it did, the rest of the days we got to ride perfect spring snow.
“It’s only our second day on the trip, but it feels like we’ve been on the road for four. Time slows down on trips like this. Instead of running around doing ten things at once, you’re exactly—and only—where you are. Whether you’re biking through a snowstorm, packing and unpacking, eating, snowboarding, or touring, you’re there with every cell of your body. You feel the cold and the sweat, and somehow you end up experiencing more in less time.” —Henna Palosaari, journal entry, May 4, 2025
Ending on a High
“I don’t know if a perfect day exists, but our second-last day felt close. Slow morning, multiple coffees, a swim, a nap in the sun, lots of food, just hanging out until 5 p.m., when it was time for the last tour: a sunset mission to Skarrabben.”
Watching the sunset from the mountaintop, I felt both laughter and tears bubble up at once. Stepping out of your comfort zone—feeling uncomfortable—sometimes gives you exactly what you need. It forces presence, it reminds you of your resilience, and it proves that your body can handle far more than your mind initially believes. This trip wasn’t just about the snow or the mountains—it was about being fully present, one pedal, one turn, and one breathtaking moment at a time.
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