Close to nature

At Smuksjøseter mountain lodge you can spend the night in a single or double room, in an apartment or in a cottage. The cottage is located at the border to the Rondane National Park next to a beautiful lake. Smuksjøseter has fantastic views and unique surroundings. In winter, you can only get here on skis or by the snow coach, which has daily departures from Høvringen. We serve homemade meals in our restaurant.

The history

Roar Skaugen was born and raised on a farm in Sel called Ulsvold, as the third child of four. Ulsvold was a ski station with accommodations before the railway was built, and the farm had 14 horses on the stable. One of the carjolies (trolley) is still on the farm, and it was used between Otta and Åndalsnes. The farm had a mountain farm in Høvringen, which was also used as a lodge. In 1943, Paal Skaugen took over the farm, and his sister took over the mountain farm which is today called Høvringen mountain lodge.

Three rooms with a wood burning stove in the hallway

Three rooms with a wood burning stove in the hallway Roar's parents started from scratch - without a building and without a road. A house that was used for drying grains became the fireplace room, an old barn was turned into a dining room, and eventually three bedrooms were built. The rooms shared one wood burning stove in the hallway, and anyone who wanted heat in their room had to sleep with the door open.

At the lodge there were cows, chickens and pigs on summer pastures, and in the cookhouse, the “budeie” made cream, sour cream and cheese. The lodge offered accommodation with food for mountain hikers, and in 1964/65 seven new bedrooms were built. They had a shower in the hallway, a sauna and there was also a separate cafe. The lodge also got a generator that produced 20 kwa.

The first snow coach at Smuksjøseter was a "gråtass " with iron belts, and a trailer with a chapel to sit in. In 1965, the first Bombardier snow coach arrived. It seated 12 people, and it had a heater. From the winter of 1965 the mountain lodge was not only open at Easter, but throughout the winter season from early February.

In the summer of 1973, the road was improved and it became a very good mountain road, as it is today. Roar Skaugen and his wife Kari took over the lodge in the spring of 1977.

Ski room, table tennis room, exercise room and saunas

In 1980 we bought a newer Bombardier from Finnmark Fylkesbåtrederi. It was named "Samen" and it is still in daily operation during the winter season.

Furthermore, there was remodeling for shower and WC in the old rooms. In the fall of 1983, we started building 15 new rooms. We also built a warm ski room, table tennis room, exercise room, ladies' and men's saunas, single rooms, double rooms and family rooms - all with shower and WC.

Roar and Kari had children, and they needed a private home. We built it in the fall of 1987, and at the same time we built an underground corridor between the main house and the private home that we could use during the winter.

Canadier’n – a snow coach for the winter plains

The next few years were spent on maintenance, and in 1990 we got our new Prinoth snow coach. It has 20 seats and will run in all kinds of weather. It is also this vehicle we use when there are accidents in the mountains.

In late autumn of 1997 Roar was in Canada where he bought a Bombardier which got the name “Canadier’n” (“the Canadian”).

2000s - with focus on comfort

In the fall of 2002, we built a new garage with parking, waiting rooms, storage, and dry garages for storing the snow coaches. Some winter guests ski from us down to Høvringen, where they can wait for the snow coach.

Over the years, we have refurbished 21 bathrooms, refurbished the cafe and tried to keep the space in good condition.

The period from 2009 to 2010 was also hectic. We built eleven new apartments, the largest with fireplace, massage bath and sauna. All of them with kitchen and TV. We also made an underground corridor into the main house. We started in August, and the apartments were ready when the first guests arrived in February.

In 2011, we built a new patio of about 60 square meters outside the house, right on the water's edge. Here we have created a small waterfall, a space where our guests can borrow rowboats, benches and tables. There is also a wheelchair access here.