After sampling the trails in Jarvso, it’s hard not to applaud the team’s hard efforts. The park really offers something for everyone, and that in a very tasty package. The intricate trail system is meticulously built to a state close to perfection. The flow is ever apparent, whether it’s on the machine made jump trails or any of the singletrack. No, you won’t find a plethora of gnarly foot–out–flat–out off–camber turns or point–and–shoot sections, this place is more about riding than racing. What you do find on the other hand is the pure unadulterated joy of pointing a bike down a hill and following along for the ride.

Every day a small trail crew tirelessly sets out to smooth out any damage caused by nasty weather or biker traffic. Braking bumps? Na, not here. Pot holes? Nope, not those either. And if a jump proves to not work out as well as expected it gets fixed until it does so. The flow and the quality of the riding simply comes first and last here. Jarvso takes pride in being one of the most well shaped parks, not in Sweden, not in Europe, but in the world. It’s simply that good.

Even though the relatively small number of trails, Jarvso has a variety that few parks in the world can match. And with a bit of imagination and puzzling different pieces of trails together that number grow substantially. In fact, riding Jarvso creates a similar feeling to that of Whistler. The quantity of trails or the massive vertical can’t be found here for obvious reasons. But as far as the quality of the trails go, or the diversity, it’s not far behind. Jarvso has used every tiny bit of its relatively small hill to its advantage. It’s non–stop action from the get go to the very last pedal stroke. There are no dead spots, the trails are packed with action all the way from top to bottom. Basically, Jarvso is a mini–Whistler, morphed into the Swedish countryside.

What’s even more impressive is the seemingly endless imagination of the trail builders. Jarvso has turned into something of a testing ground for Tom Pro and the Gravity Logic team to try out new and wacky ideas for the first time. With the installation of the newly constructed jump trail, Twist Twist, this coming summer, trail building has been taken to a whole new level. The name is scarily fitting, it’s bike riding cranked up to eleven. It’s yet another trail that cements Jarvso’s place as one of the most progressive and exciting bike parks in the world today.

Whatever the future holds fro Jarvso, one thing still remains the same for the time being; that quirky old chair lift. It’s a slow but beautiful ride. From my rusty seat up in the air, I see a seemingly endless pine forest spreading out as far as I can see in every direction with small red farming houses dotting the few clearings in the otherwise dense forest. Sweden at it’s most Swedish.

I get off the chairlift, jump on my bike and head for a small ladder bridge leading onto a super fast rock slab with plenty of twists and turns. A short pitch of open gravel road shoots me into the trees once again into a tight left handed berm.

This is En Tuff Brud (A Tough Chick, another Barbro Svensson ‘classic’), a hand built, very flowy, singletrack packed with alternative lines, a myriad of small boulders and more features than you can shake a stick at.

Rolling rock to right hander. Left onto a gigantic timber bridge, three metres up in the air above Barbro. Super steep roll–down into more rocks as the suspension fights to stay on top of things. Small doubles. Another left onto a 360º bridge. Bounce between even more rocks and roots, this time only faster than before.

Two different line choices. In an instant, I choose right. Small rock drop, land and cross yet another bridge. High speed section right into a steep, blind, rollover. Berm, rock drop into another berm. The G–forces pull my suspension together only to shoot me into the next berm and out into the flats leading back to the chairlift. It’s like I’ve been thrown into a tumble dryer for three minutes then suddenly spat out without hardly knowing what happened in the meantime. It’s a rollercoaster of a bike ride, one that I could do over and over again without ever getting tired of.

My hands are shaking, neurotransmitters flooding and clogging my system. The corners of my mouth start twitching until I reach a hysterical state of giggle. I get back on the rattling lift without even thinking twice about it. That’s what Jarvso does to you. It’s mind boggling to think that a little over three years ago, this whole thing didn’t even exist. And now this. What comes next? I can’t even imagine. We’ve only heard the beginning of the fantastic tale of the little bike park in the depth of the Swedish woods so far, of Barbro and her songs and family. What I do know is, I want to hear more of it all.

INFO

Eleven trails for all skill levels. 200 metres of vertical.

Jarvso’s trails work well with everything from a sturdy enduro bike to a full–on DH sled. Just bring whatever you’re most comfortable on, it’s more a matter of personal taste and preference than the trails.

Scott Gambler 20 bikes for rent, including safety gear and protection. The park also has a fully stocked work shop with experienced mechanics should something break down on your bike.

More info at www.jarvsobergscykelpark.se or phone +46 651 76 91 92 (English spoken).

Jarvso lies three hours driving north of Stockholm. Take the E4 freeway to Tonnebro, then highway 83 to Jarvso.

There’s a daily morning train from Stockholm central that makes a stop in Jarvso. www.sj.se

The Harjedalingen bus is another convenient means of transport from Stockholm. harjedalingen.se

There’s a number of well priced lodging alternatives right next to the bike park. en.jarvso.se