Skuleberget is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

on the west side of the E4 motorway a few kilometers north of Docksta in

Kramfors municipality Kramfors Municipality () is a municipality in Västernorrland County, northern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town Kramfors. The rural municipality of ''Gudmundrå'' was in 1947 made one of the last administrative cities of Sweden and got ...

Ångermanland Ångermanland ( or ) is a historical province (''landskap'') in the northern part of Sweden. It is bordered (clockwise from the north) by Swedish Lapland, Västerbotten, the Gulf of Bothnia, Medelpad and Jämtland. The name is derived from the ...

(

Västernorrland County Västernorrland County () is a county ('' län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. The name ''Västernorrland'' means "Western Norrland", as it was in the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Skuleberget is near, but not part of the Skuleskogen National Park, as the national park is on the east side of the E4. The mountain falls almost vertically along the side facing the highway, creating a dramatic effect that can easily be seen from the road below. Up on the mountain there are a number of paths and

Via Ferrata A via ferrata (Italian language, Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other Alpine locations. The protection includes steel fixtures such as ...

climbing trails, which start next to the ''Naturum Höga Kusten'' information center at old Riksväg 13 ("Rikstretton"). A

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

is also available for use during both the winter and summer months to carry people to the summit. At above sea-level, Skuleberget has the worlds highest coastline. The mountain, as part of the large High Coast region, is considered a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Geology

During the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, the area was repeatedly covered by continental ice sheet, specifically, the Fenno-Scandian ice sheet. Approximately 10,500 years ago, when the ice began melting, most of the

High Coast The High Coast () is a part of the coast of Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Ångermanland province of northeast Sweden, centered in the area of the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik. It is notable as an area for ...

(Swedish: ''Höga kusten'') was covered by the

Mastogloia Sea The Mastogloia Sea (also Early Littorina Sea, Initial Littorina Sea) is one of the prehistoric stages of the Baltic Sea in its development after the last ice age. It is characterised by distinctive deposits of the calciferous shell of species of ...

, with only the highest mountain summits cresting above the water as islands. After the ice receded to modern levels, the landmass started to rise up to every year. The once nine-meter-high island today has the world's highest marine boundary/coastline. Due to Skuleberget's history as a prehistoric island, the mountain is one of few

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

-capped mountains in the High Coast-area. The summit has a layer of sediment and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

, while the

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are com ...

that were under sea level after the ice age were

eroded Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is disti ...

by the glacial movements.

History

Skuleberget, and the High Coast in general, have been mentioned in the earliest travel logs from the

region, with the remnants of fishing huts, villages, and ships still preserved in the wilderness.

Cave

Likely formed from erosion by waves thousands of years ago, ''Kungsgrottan'', or King's Cave, has long been the main attraction on Skuleberget. Area folklore also tells of the cave being used as a haven for bands of robbers looking to attack travelers and local passers-by. According to the Nordic Museum's folk memory archive, robbers came to Skuleskogen by sea sometime during the 17th century. When the bandits came into conflict with the locals, they took refuge in the cave. This led to the cave also being called ''Rövargrottan'', or Robber's Cave.

Flora

The steep eastern slope of Skuleberget captures the heat of the sun and provides a warmer local climate and longer growing season than the surrounding area. This provides optimum growing conditions for plants that normally would not be able to thrive as far north as the mountain is. The mountain claims one of the northern-most outposts of

hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...

and

tilia cordata ''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...

. Also found in the area are polygonatum odoratum,

geranium robertianum ''Geranium robertianum'', commonly known as herb-robert or, in North America, as Robert's geranium, is a species of cranesbill that is widespread throughout the northern hemisphere and introduced to some countries in the southern. It is common i ...

, and

asplenium trichomanes ''Asplenium trichomanes'', the maidenhair spleenwort (not to be confused with the similar-looking Adiantum, maidenhair fern), is a small fern in the spleenwort genus ''Asplenium''. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide ...

Recreation

Various tourist facilities are located in connection with the mountain, which is also part of the tourist destination ''Höga Kusten Turism'' (High Coast Tourism).

's largest

alpine ski ''Alpine Ski'' (アルパイン・スキ一) is an alpine skiing arcade video game released by Taito in 1981. The player controls a skier on a vertically scrolling video game, vertically scrolling course who can move left, right, or increase for ...

resort with three lifts, including a fixed four-seater lift, opened in midsummer 2021, which replaced the two-seater lift from 1965, and four slopes (six slopes with two link passages). The chairlift is also run in summer for transporting pedestrians. On the south side of Skuleberget is the ''FriluftsByn'' attraction, an outdoor village which includes a play area, social areas, and a beach, and a former labyrinth.{{Cite web , title=FriluftsByn , url=https://www.hogakusten.com/en/friluftsbyn , access-date=2022-06-24 , website=Höga Kusten , language=en , archive-date=2022-07-01 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701040310/https://www.hogakusten.com/en/friluftsbyn , url-status=live

References