Narvik’s Huge Upgrades Ahead of 2029 World Championships Due To Be Completed Next Winter

Major improvements to Europe's northerly Narvik ski area on Norway’s coast up in the Arctic Circle are due for completion during the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Narvik announced the multi‑year upgrade to its lifts and slopes, priced at €53 million (approx. NOK 720 million), after the FIS awarded it hosting of the 2029 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.  The work includes five new lifts and several new slopes, one of them especially to host World Cup standard races.

Construction is reported to be progressing largely on schedule with major components already in place with all work currently on target to be completed by March 2027.

The upgrades include a new 10-seat gondola, a 6-seat chairlift and three new T Bars. The new six-seater Linken Express chairlift, which was completed earlier this year, with the new Nordlysheisen upper T‑bar (replacing the old Lift 3) also on schedule. Work on a new gondola and two more new T‑bars (Lift 1 and Lift 2) is underway.

One major new development is the 3km (2 mile) long Panorama Downhill Course built specifically for the 2029 Championships. There is also a new family area with and easy slopes created by the upper gondola station at 656 m.

A new family-friendly slope will go from the intermediate plateau down that is approximately 2.9 km long, with an average gradient of 15%, and a width of between 25-30 metres from top to bottom has been completed.

“This is guaranteed to be a new favourite in Narvik!” a spokesperson for the resort commented.

The centre has also been working on adding new snowmaking as well as widening, reshaping, and safety‑net infrastructure are being installed across all championship runs, with completion also targeted for 2027.  

Narvik is installing a new reservoir, snowmaking pump station, booster station and a fully renewed pipeline network, alongside 100 new snow guns and a dozen new slope groomers. A new electrical substation will help provide power for lifts, lighting, and snowmaking.

Planning is underway for a new finish zone, spectator facilities and a commercial centre around the new gondola base station.

Narvik most recently hosted the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in 2020, which were curtailed by the Covid pandemic and again from March 5 to March 15, 2026 earlier this year.

Besides its skiing, Narvik is famed for its ski runs down to wards the sea and for its spectacular coastal scenery, with ski runs appearing to descend into the sea, sometimes enhanced by the northern lights above. 

The resort is located on the other side of the border from Sweden’s Riksgränsen which has an unusual March to June ski season. The opening periods of the two ski areas overlap for 6-8 weeks each year and the two launched a cross-border joint ski pass last winter.