Alexander Rydén - Stora Syltraversen in One Day
Alexander Rydén completed the Stora Syltraversen solo in a single day, starting and finishing at Storulvån. The 49-kilometre journey combined cycling, trail running, scrambling and climbing, with approximately 2,400 metres of elevation gain.
With more than 20 years of climbing experience and a background in Swedish elite competition, the technical climbing was the familiar part. The endurance was the unknown: Rydén had started running only the previous year and had never combined this distance and elevation with a long alpine ridge.
Sylarna is a mountain massif on the border between Sweden and Norway. Its highest summit, Storsylen, reaches 1,762 metres, while the Stora Syltraversen follows approximately 10 kilometres of exposed mountain ridge across the massif.
Rydén left Storulvån at 04:15 and cycled 16 kilometres towards Sylarna Mountain Station.
From Sylarna Mountain Station, he ran to the foot of the massif, climbed towards Templet and continued along the ridge through Sylarna towards Storsylen.
Unlike the easier southern-ridge variation, Stora Syltraversen follows Templet’s east ridge across three exposed pinnacles. The standard line includes an approximately ten-metre rappel from the first pinnacle into the notch below. To save time and reduce the weight carried over the full 49-kilometre route, Rydén chose a fast-and-light approach without a rope, harness or other technical climbing equipment. This made careful route selection through Templet essential.
Temperatures approached 30°C. The day’s least technical mistake created its biggest unexpected complication: his hydration bladder was still in the car, leaving him with only one litre of water. When it ran out, he changed the plan rather than continuing without water, leaving the ridge and descending to a stream before returning to the traverse.
After completing the traverse, another 17 kilometres remained back to Storulvån as rain and thunder moved across the mountains. Rydén returned after 12 hours and 20 minutes. The climbing drew on skills developed over two decades; completing the entire link-up carried those familiar skills into an endurance challenge that was entirely new.
