This post is also available in Finnish

What better way to start the year than by spending a week skiing in the Norwegian mountains? Well, how about skiing in the Norwegian mountains while discussing particle physics? This was the spirit of the around 80 physicists from Nordic countries who gathered in early January 2025 for the traditional Nordic Conference on Particle Physics.

This biennial event is a major gathering for Nordic particle physicists. The conference is more commonly known as “Spåtind,” named after the mountain hotel where it was held for decades, dating back to the 1960s. In recent years, however, the event has moved to the Thon Hotel near Skei Fell and its Skeikampen ski resort, where this year’s conference also took place.

Although the event is always held in Norway, the responsibility for organising it rotates between the Nordic countries. This time, Finland took the lead: particle physicists from the University of Jyväskylä, headed by Sami Räsänen, managed the event, with support from research groups in Helsinki and Lappeenranta. The scientific programme was planned by an international committee, consisting of members and long-time Spåtind attendees from Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

The Spåtind conference traditionally kicks off on the second day of the new year. But what would make scientists, many still recovering from the demands of autumn during their Christmas break, interrupt their holiday to attend a work event? The answer lies in the structure of the conference schedule, which is carefully designed with the season in mind. Nearly all daylight hours (from 10 am to 3 pm) are set aside for an extended break, allowing participants ample time for skiing, snowboarding, or even a sauna session before lunch. Meanwhile, the official programme begins early at 8 am and continues late into the evening, with up to 6–8 hours of physics talks and discussions each day. For those with energy left to spare, the late evening offers the chance to ski under the stars or even visit a nearby karaoke bar. Because Spåtind uniquely balances outdoor activities, socialising, and scientific discussions more effectively than most conferences, many physicists choose to bring their partners or even their whole families. This year, the weather was particularly favourable, with temperatures around -10°C, plenty of snow, and even occasional sunshine.

A key theme of this year’s conference was the ongoing development of the new European strategy for particle physics. The strategy, coordinated by CERN, aims to establish a concrete roadmap for the future of experimental particle physics in Europe beyond the current LHC collider. While the final version of the strategy will be approved in the summer of 2026, the groundwork is already well underway, and the Nordic particle physics community must now decide its position on potential future major projects.

One of this year’s keynote speakers was Professor Karl Jakobs from the University of Freiburg, who chairs the European strategy group. Additionally, three talks focused on potential future particle collider experiments: Rebeca Gonzalez (Uppsala University) discussed the proposed 90-kilometre FCC collider at CERN, Federico Meloni (DESY Laboratory, Hamburg) introduced future muon colliders, and Xinchou Lou (Chinese Academy of Sciences) presented plans for the CEPC collider in China. A more informal panel discussion was also held late in the evening on the second day, providing an opportunity for young researchers and experienced physicists alike to exchange views on the future of the field, both in Europe and beyond. The lively debate attracted a large audience despite the late hour and continued well into the night in the hotel corridors and bar.

Over the course of four days, the programme featured 12 guest lectures alongside dozens of shorter presentations from conference participants, covering topics ranging from particle physics and astrophysics to theoretical physics. Interested readers can explore the full programme on the conference website, where presentation materials are freely available.

Every long-running conference develops its own traditions, and Spåtind is no exception. One of its signature traditions is the final evening’s social conference dinner, which includes a communal song “Spåtind Bells” sung to the melody of “Jingle Bells”. The song features new verses written for each conference, capturing its atmosphere and key scientific insights. While many verses from past decades have been lost, those that remain serve as a charming historical record of how the developments in particle physics have been experienced in a Norwegian mountain retreat. Alongside newly written lyrics, excerpts from older verses are also sung. 

Traditions evolve over time, too. At the 2023 conference, Swedish organisers introduced a new post-dinner spectacle, transforming the lecture hall into a karaoke room. This addition seems to be here to stay, as this year also saw ABBA classics echoing through the hall well into the night. All in all, the 2025 Spåtind gathering was a great success. The next meeting in Skei Fell will take place in January 2027, with our Norwegian colleagues taking the lead in organising it.

Santeri Laurila