Sweden, the Winter Wonderland

In Sweden, winter sports isn’t just a hobby, it’s a way of life. With stunning alpine conditions, it’s not unusual to ski or skate to work or school, and Swedes really treasure the winter conditions. In fact, they have over 50 words for snow! The best part about getting chilly is warming yourself by the cosy fire afterwards, and Sweden has no end of romantic log cabins and saunas to warm up – preferably with a glass of ‘glögg’ or a craft Swedish beer.

- One of 7 reasons why Sweden should host the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Stockholm-Åre 2026, 17 juni 2019

Since we didn't get the 2026 Winter Olympics I feel free to be absolutely honest about this actual, official and error-ridden description ...

• In Sweden, winter sports isn’t just a hobby, it’s a way of life – For nearly everyone it's a hobby at most.
• With stunning alpine conditions – If "alpine conditions" means mountains with snow, they are reliable in about 20% of the country, with less than 5% of the population.
• It’s not unusual to ski or skate to work or school – This is indeed highly unusual.
• Swedes really treasure the winter conditions – Most of us wonder why our ancestors decided to stick to this dark, cold place.
• In fact, they have over 50 words for snow! – Unlike the Sami with 5 000? And the Eskimo with, what, 50 000? This is a new version of an old linguistic myth. The Swedish language has several lexemes for snow, but not nearly 50. The compounds are theoretically infinite but 1) this doesn't matter and 2) most of them aren't positive anyway.
• The best part about getting chilly is warming yourself by the cosy fire – Like all other unpleasant things in life, it's best when it stops.
• Sweden has no end of romantic log cabins and saunas to warm up – This sounds more like the classic desinfomercial Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso from 1968 than anything resembling reality.
• Preferably with a glass of ‘glögg’ or a craft Swedish beer – Glögg (Gluhwein, spiced red wine served hot) is a Christmas drink, drunk in December only. Nobody drinks glögg in the sauna. There are plenty of nice Swedish craft beers but in the sauna a plain simple lager would be better.