 Poster: A snowHead
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Hey guys,
Just wondered what early season skiing was like in Norway. Looking to go skiing last week in Nov, so I can get 2-3 trips in this year and wondered what Norway was like early season. If not, any other recommendations welcome. Lower the cost, the better.
Thanks
J
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have no idea but I imagine it will be dark and subject to same uncertainty regarding early season snow cover as anywhere else.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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By the end of November most ski resorts in mid Norway/Sweden usually have some skiable runs. Early December would be more reliable. The more southerly areas are much more doubtful. Further north daylight is extremely limited. Most ski resorts have floodlighting on some runs but racing clubs tend to monopolise those runs in pre-season.
Cheap deals are available, but be prepared for some uncertainty over the snow and don't expect large numbers of runs open. However if you get lucky you can gave a fantastic time. No crowds or queues and seeing both dawn and sunset in wonderful surroundings.
M[/b]
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We skied Hemsedal in November last year. Not much snow but they had made enough for a few lifts to be open and the main run to be fully covered which was 3km long. The red and green runs were both open. Lots of racing teams there and on the week end it was busy. But during the week very quite with limited terrain. We had touring set ups which meant we could also explore the pistes that were not open but had plenty of man made snow on them. The main runs have lights, and was actually running from about 6 in the mornign till gone 8 at night. This was for all the people training, but they didnt seem to mind us going on them outside of the normal hours. We got some very cheap accomidation through Ski Star due to the time of year. Worth remembering though that if very early the bus timetables are not accurate, there is no bus from town to the resort. They really are not expecting too many people other than races and locals. Light was ok for time of year, but it got very cold when the northly wind blew
We flew into Bergen and got a train across which was a bit long, specially with a bus for the final leg of the journey. The train went through Geilo which at the time had a lot more snow, but was not opening for another 4 days. If flying into Bergen that would be the easier and shorter option if open for the time you're looking to go.
The season before we skied Ruka in Finland at the same time. We kinda like the early season ski adventures. Again not a huge amount of snow, but more than enough to get the ski legs. A bit of an adventure to get to but was actually a very good trip. Not much verticle, and again it got very cold. Skiing under lights for alot of the time, dark at about 2.30 from memory. But part of the experience. We were there before the season really started and pretty much no one else around except for the people race training. That time of year accomodation is very cheap, we got a small chalet with a Sauna and open fire. Flights to Helsinki and then up to Kuusamo and then bus onto Ruka. All better than skiing in a snow dome and our flights were very cheap. SAS followed by fin air from memory
Skiing at both places was limited due to the time of year and the amount of snow. But for us it was more about the adventure, and its actuallly pretty cheap due to the time of year. (Norway is never cheap for food and booze, take what you can with you)
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Without a car options are quite limited. In Sweden you can get from Stockholm Arlanda airport to Idre Fjäll by train/bus. Otherwise taking an internal flight on to Hemavan/Tärnaby might work, although that's quite far north and daylight would be very limited. In Norway Bergen to Geilo/Hemsedal or Oslo to Trysil are probably the best options. But you'll need to check timetables and expected resort opening dstes carefully and maybe be prepared for a night at an airport hotel if connections are tricky. I would also advise booking late by which time the snow situation will be clearer.
Sweden is definitely cheaper than Norway....
I'll probably be in Idre mid December myself 
M
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Our younger son is 26 now so this dates our experiences but he has a birthday in late November and between the ages of about 14 and 18 we took him skiing in Norway as a birthday treat. We flew in to Oslo on the Friday evening and hired a car to drive to Lillehammer. We skied at Kvitfjell near Lillehammer every year although the amount of snow did vary from year to year. Most years there was plenty of natural snow and I remember one year skiing in a white out but also remember another year when the skiing was much more limited. On the Sunday we would drive down to Trysil. There is extensive snow making at Trysil and we were never disappointed with the snow cover. The amount of skiing open at both the resorts was quite limited compared to when the resorts are fully open but we had plenty to get our ski legs back and have a good time for a weekend. We drove from Trysil back to Oslo and caught the Sunday night flight back home to London. I don't know if we were lucky or not but over a four or five year period we never failed to ski on reasonably decent snow and have a good holiday in a wonderful if expensive country.
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Norway... Probably short days and dark v early, and if you get skunked on snow you also won't be able to afford enough beer to make it ok. Just wait and see which of the European glaciers are doing the best. Stubai is normally pretty good with plenty of terrain open by then.
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