Summits on the Air Norway (SOTA Norway) is a national interest organisation for radio amateurs participating in the international SOTA programme
On this page you will find well-intentioned advice and information about activating SOTA in Norway
Mainland Norway (LA) has in January 2024 registered 6504 peaks in the SOTA programme. In addition, there are 1422 peaks on Svalbard (JW) where only a handful of peaks are activated as most of the peaks are inaccessible. The most inaccessible peaks in Norway are found on Jan Mayen (JX) and Bouvet Island (3Y) where no peaks are activated.
The Norwegian right to roam
In Norway, you can hike nearly anywhere you want. Outdoor recreation is a major part of the national identity, and access to nature is protected by law. You are free to enjoy the great outdoors – as long as you pick up your rubbish and show respect for nature.
The right to roam applies to open country, sometimes also known as “unfenced land”, which is land that is not cultivated. In Norway, the term covers most shores, bogs, forests, and mountains. Small islands of uncultivated land within cultivated land are not regarded as open country.
The right does not apply to “fenced land”, which is private, and includes cultivated land, such as ploughed fields with or without crops, meadows, pastures and gardens, as well as young plantations, building plots and industrial areas.
However, you can access fields and meadows from 15 October to 30 April when the ground is frozen or covered with snow. Note that “fenced land” does not need to actually be fenced.
https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-tips-a-z/right-of-access/
The Norwegian right to roam the countryside
https://www.environmentagency.no/areas-of-activity/right-to-roam/about-right-to-roam
Hiking in Norway:
https://www.visitnorway.com/things-to-do/outdoor-activities/hiking/
Friluftliv
We also highly recommend this article that describes the Norwegian love for the outdoors
https://www.visitnorway.com/things-to-do/outdoor-activities/friluftsliv/
The Norwegian Trekking Association
The Norwegian Trekking Association (in short DNT) is Norway’s biggest outdoor activities organisation. The local member associations operate 550 cabins across the country, mark routes and ski tracks. Together they maintain a network of about 22,000 km of marked foot trails and about 7000 km of branch-marked ski tracks.
MAPS:
We recommend a combination of SOTLAS and the UT.no app.
SOTLAS (https://sotl.as/ )
Remember to select “Norkart” in the map selection in SOTLAS when you are in Norway, this provides a very detailed map with trails, but is only available when you have mobile phone coverage. To activate SOTA on Svalbard, select TopoSvalbard in SOTLAS’s map selection
ut.no https://ut.no/
UT.no is DNT main planning webpage. Ut.no have information about wheather the cabin a staffed, selfserviced or unstaffed, opening hours, summer routes, winter markings, opening hours and much more.
We are sorry that it is all in Norwegian. You have to to use google translate until they manage to do the english version.
ut.no is also an app to your smartphone. (and you can have offline maps, remember to download before your trip)
Mobile phone coverage
Norway has relatively good mobile phone coverage, but in some places there is no mobile network coverage. We recommend that you check the coverage for the road/trail and at the summit (for self-spotting) before you start your SOTA trip.
Once you have found out which provider you are using, you can check coverage maps for the two main mobile phone providers here:
Telenor: https://www.telenor.no/dekning/#map (scroll down to map)
Telia: https://www.telia.no/nett/dekning/
Examples of activation reports from foreigners in Norway
W3QP July 2023: https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/visiting-norway-report/32973
EA4HIH august 2024: https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/norway-is-worth-it/36171/1
LA1SOTA activations
Here you can find a film from the SOTA Norway gathering at Venabygdsfjellet in September 2023
Contact us: Summits on the Air Norway can be contacted at the following email address: styret(at)sota.no