Invitation to LA SOTA Gathering in Trysil 21-23 August 2026

LB8CG · 1 May 2026 09:01

Invitation to LA SOTA Gathering 2026 • Trysil • 21–23 August 2026

On 21–23 August 2026, Association Summits on the Air Norway will arrange a yealy weekend gathering in Trysil, open to everyone interested. This year’s base will be around Trysilfjellet LA/HM-168 (1132 m ASL). The area offers many opportunities for both SOTA and POTA. The event itself is free of charge, but each participant must take care of their own accommodation and meals. We plan to arrange a joint dinner on Saturday.

From a radio point of view, everything is set for a weekend full of Summit-to-Summit, Park-to-Park and Summit-to-Park contacts, in addition to other QSOs — and not least eyeball QSOs with like-minded people.

This is an informal gathering, and it is of course possible to take part for one or several days. Many of us will arrive on Friday afternoon, after having activated summits and parks on the way to Trysil.

The event has only a few fixed points in the program, and you can activate POTA or SOTA as you wish. Some prefer to activate alone, while others prefer to activate together with others. The gathering also gives you the opportunity to bring your better half along, for example for mountain hikes combined with “a little radio”!

Norwegian participants speak English quite fluently, and many also speak decent German, so we do not expect there to be serious language barrier.

We look forward to seeing you in Trysil! Please indicate your interest so that we can plan the joint dinner on Saturday evening and send you detailed program of the event.

Registration form

Program

Friday afternoon: Arrival in Trysil. Activation of summits and parks on the way.

Friday evening: Informal gathering at a pub in Trysil town centre for those who would like to join and are able to.

Saturday: Joint SOTA activation of Trysilfjellet LA/HM-168 (1132 m ASL) for those who wish. Free activation of other summits and parks during the rest of the day. 2m S2S party.

Saturday evening: Joint dinner for those who wish.

Sunday: Free activation and departure. A great opportunity to include a summit or park on the way home.

At previous events like this, we set up a fixed station LA1SOTA on one of the summits to facilitate local and global S2S contacts, as well as real-time tracking of all participants to coordinate S2S opportunities.

A detailed program, a list of suggested 2 m operating frequencies, and tracking instructions will be sent to registered participants shortly before the event.

Accommodation tips

Accommodation and meals must be arranged by each participant. Trysil has a wide selection of hotels, apartments, cabins and campsites. Here are some suggestions:

Hotels

SkiStar Lodge Trysil – by Trysilfjellet.
We recommend that participants stay at this hotel, so that they can also socialize outside the program. This is the most reasonably priced hotel which can fit all of participants we found in the area. It is located in Fageråsen, at the same place on the mountain where we will start the hike on Saturday. Please note: there is a toll road up to Fageråsen.

Trysil Hotel – in Trysil town centre, with its own restaurant and brewery.
Radisson Blu Resort Trysil – in Trysil town centre
Trysil-Knut Hotel – in Trysil town centre

Overview of more hotels and accommodation options:

Cabins and camping

Trysil Hyttegrend & Camping – by the Trysil river. Tents, caravans, motor-homes and cabins.

Trysilelva Camping
trysilelvacamping.no

Trysil Hytter & Camping — approx. 10 km from the town center
trysil-hytter-camping-booknow.booking.site

Apartments and alternative accommodation

Rental apartments are available both in Trysil town center and at Trysilfjellet.

Airbnb also has a large selection in and around Trysil.

How to get there

By car from Europe:
Trysil can be reached by car from continental Europe via Sweden or Denmark/Sweden.

From Oslo Airport Gardermoen (OSL):
By rental car, the distance is about 180 km, with a driving time of approximately 2 hours 10 minutes.

From Torp Sandefjord Airport (TRF):
By rental car, the distance is about 350 km, with a driving time of approximately 4 to 4.5 hours.

About Trysilfjellet LA/HM-168

Trysilfjellet is 1132 meters above sea level and is Trysil’s most popular mountain hike. There are marked trails from several starting points. The summit offers fantastic views over the village of Trysil and the surrounding forests — and it is a perfect SOTA summit with good coverage in all directions.

Access: Toll road up to Trysil Høyfjellsenter/Fageråsen. Park at one of the large car parks and walk past Restaurant Pilgrimmen. Walk or cycle approx. 2 km along the road, following the ski lift for the first section, up to where two ski lifts end. From there, continue up to the cabin, approx. 300 m towards the south-west. The total ascent to the summit is approx. 300 meters.

Suggested summit hikes

In addition to the joint summit, Trysilfjellet, on Saturday, there are many nice SOTA summits in the area. Here are some suggestions in no particular order:

Two in one go — Kampflåhøgda and Storelthøa

Kampflåhøgda LA/HM-167:
https://sotl.as/summits/LA/HM-167

Route suggestion, UT.no:
https://ut.no/turforslag/1112155781

Storelthøa LA/HM-232:
https://sotl.as/summits/LA/HM-232

Peakbook:
https://peakbook.org/no/peakbook-element/6910/no/Storelth%C3%B8a.html

Two in one go — Svarthammaren and Østerhogna

Drive along Engerdalsvegen and turn onto Lortseterveien, approx. one hour’s drive from Innbygda, then continue onto Nyseterveien.

Svarthammaren LA/HM-234 — stop the car along Nyseterveien and walk south-west towards the summit. There is no path.

Østerhogna / Härjehogna LA/HM-233 — drive along Nyseterveien to Nysetra, park there and follow the GPS track on SOTLAS to the summit.

**

73 de SOTA Norway**

LB8CG · 17 August 2026 08:12

Dear participants of the Trysil gathering,

Here is some practical information and the program for the SOTA gathering in Trysil.

Meeting points and program

Friday, 21 August

From 18:00 – Informal gathering for those who are able to join us, at the Lodgebaren bar at SkiStar Lodge Trysil.

Saturday, 22 August

09:00 – Meeting point at the car park outside the main entrance to SkiStar Lodge (61.32870, 12.16437).

From there, we will make our way to Trysilfjellet, LA/HM-168:

We will carry out a joint SOTA activation using LA1SOTA for those who would like to participate.

19:00 – Group dinner

We have reserved a private room at Steakhouse T at SkiStar Lodge. A table has been booked for the group, but everyone will order and pay for their own food and drinks.

During the 09:00 meeting, we will pass around a list where everyone can select a 1-, 2- or 3-course menu. We will then forward this information to the restaurant.

Sunday, 23 August

Sunday has a free programme. At previous gatherings, some participants have travelled home early, while others have used the day to activate one or more SOTA summits.

Common radio frequency

145.550 MHz will be used as our common frequency from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon.

The frequency can be used to:

get more participants into your log from summits and parks if you cannot reach each other on HF
arrange and make S2S, P2P and S2P QSOs
keep in touch with other participants throughout the weekend
or simply have a chat

Several participants have already announced activations during the day on Friday as well as on Sunday, so the frequency will probably be quite active throughout the long weekend.

Opportunity to use LA1SOTA

On both Friday and Saturday evening, we will hold a draw to decide who may use the LA1SOTA callsign.

The condition is that the callsign must be used for SOTA activations, not POTA activations.

Friday evening:
A draw will be held for the use of LA1SOTA after the joint activation on Saturday. The draw will only take place if nobody wishes to remain on Trysilfjellet and continue operating with the callsign later in the day.

Saturday evening:
A draw will be held for the use of LA1SOTA throughout Sunday.

LA1SOTA is a popular callsign among SOTA chasers, Summit-to-Summit stations and radio amateurs hunting special callsigns. Those who get the opportunity to use the callsign will therefore normally have a good chance of making plenty of contacts.

Important information about logging

Everyone using LA1SOTA – both during the joint activation and when using it individually – should log their own QSOs made with LA1SOTA in their own log.

The log should then be uploaded through your personal account, using your own callsign, to the SOTA database. This ensures that the activity and points are credited to you personally.

Follow participants live on the map

LB8CG has created a website/app that allows you to share your position and follow other participants live on the map.

This can be particularly useful for seeing who is heading to which summits and for finding opportunities for S2S contacts.

Map:

Installation and setup guide:

We need to know your callsign in order to register you in the system. Everyone who has registered for the SOTA gathering will be added.

Signal group

We will also create a dedicated Signal group chat for the event. We can use it to share practical messages and information during the weekend. Please contact us at styret@sota.no to be added to the group.

At the moment, 19 radio amateurs have registered, in addition to a few partners/companions.

We look forward to meeting you all and to a great SOTA weekend in Trysil!

73
Summits on the Air Norway

W6NEA · 17 August 2026 10:21

@lb8cg

Sounds like a fun event.

What is the weather forecast given it seems to have been quite wet recently in Norway?

Paul

LB8CG · 17 August 2026 11:17

The weather is always a bit of a gamble in Norway. During the main activity day, however, we should get pretty decent weather — a bit humid, but nothing serious. Below is the forecast for the local 4-point summit. It will be slightly better on Friday and Sunday. It’s not too late to join ;).

W6NEA · 17 August 2026 12:12

I’d love to but I flew back from Oslo to Edinburgh a few days ago.

Hiked 22 miles (35km) last weekend in non stop rain just west of Jotunheimen as a part of a planned 6 day hike.