Trip Report | 2024 Norrøna Sales Meeting
In preparation for the Spring 2025 sales season, the Summit Sales team journeyed to Norrøna's homeland and spent some time getting in depth knowledge of Norrøna as a brand and how they produce the innovative, premium products we love at their headquarters in Oslo, Norway. As part of our time in Norway, we were also able participate in the largest ski touring festival at the iconic Turtagrø lodge in the Jotenheimen region of Norway's mountains, sharing stories, talking shop with other reps around the world, and bonding over skiing long Norwegian corn runs.
Oslo, Norway - Norrøna HQ:
Arriving in Oslo, our first few days were devoted to reviewing new product and connecting with various Norrøna departments to view the entire 2025 strategy at Norrøna's HQ. Norrøna's history is robust. As a company founded in 1929, it was great to see some of the history presented throughout their facility. The first ever Trollveggen GTX jacket from 1977 was hanging on the wall as well as every generation of this style since 1977 to it's current version. Not only was this the first GTX jacket distributed in Europe, it is also the longest standing style in Norrøna's catalog. Jørgen Jørgensen, the 4th generation owner, also gave his presentation of Norrøna's history from an idea of making high end saddles, to outdoor products like ruck sacks, to making the gear we know today. Through this presentation, Jørgen shows his passion and commitment to not only his family's business but to how the company can operate at a high level in the best way possible. These day's it's uncommon to hear a CEO say they want to continue to stay private and family owned - this is exactly Jørgen's plan.
Touring the HQ, not only was it set in a pristine location by a waterfall flowing through town, it was great to see the behind the scenes of development where and how Norrøna produces products. Their design facility houses all colors of thread, types of zippers, and additional componentry to support their robust prototyping process, perfecting each piece through multiple phases of testing before being sent to our factories. Over 600 hours of ambassador testing in total goes into each product. Each time they review, instead of having our factories produce a prototype, Norrøna is able to make these changes quicker, in house, with precision to their specifications and standards to continue testing. A great highlight was a lofoten Jacket design schematic showing the amount of detail that goes into each jacket piece by piece that could be seen hanging on the wall.
Jotunheimen Skiing and Turtagrø Festival:
6 hours north of Oslo is the Jotunheimen National Park and is host to one of the largest ski touring festivals in the world called Turtagrø. Here we got to experience the largest Norwegian ski touring festival where ~1000 visitors for the weekend were expected. This is no ordinary ski touring festival however. Instead of staying in plush camper vans or ski lodges, everyone was sprawled out in tents across the landscape, living "life in the free air" which has been a staple of Norwegian culture. "Friluftsliv" is the Norwegian lifestyle that no matter what the weather forecast for the weekend, it will be spent outside. No weather is bad weather if you have the right gear, and Norrøna's Norwegian heritage definitely plays in to how they view producing technical products.
We made the most of our time at Turtagrø, skiing for 3 days during one of the hottest heat waves that spring in Norway. It was hard to stay cool and those of us from out of town wished we had gotten the memo that we could've been skiing in a pair of falkentind Flex 1 shorts and an equaliser T-shirt like the rest of the Norwegian festival goers! I was lucky enough to trade in my pair of lofoten GTX Pro pants to demo the new møre GTX Salopette. Being much lighter, lower, and roomier bib fit than the Ski/Snowboard Bib attachment, I appreciated the better breathability and ventilation through the bibs and compared to day one much more comfortable. What we appreciated more was the swimming hole at the base still partially frozen over to flash freeze our sun baked bodies.
Overall, we left Norway feeling a deeper appreciation for Norwegian culture with their focus on living life outside, and a better understanding of Norrøna's focus on creating the best performing products in the most responsible way possible.
