We're a family of 4 heading off to Hafjell for a week of skiing Monday 30th Dec to Saturday 5th Jan.
Relatively new to skiing, and also never done Norway before (yes, we know it will be very cold ), and was just wondering ... right now the resort has 1/3rd of the lifts open, and about 1/5th of the runs, and I'm not sure if that's because either (a) it's early in the season and no one is on holiday yet so they aren't "fully open" (but will be by the time we go, given it'll get "busy"??) or (b) it's down to (poor) snow conditions and so unless there is a decent dump of snow in the next 7-10 days, this is what we should expect when we get there?
So ... has anyone been to Hafjell in previous years and able to shed some light? It mostly appears to be the red runs that are closed (which we'd probably not venture on to, at least until the 2nd half of the week), but just a bit concerned if it stays like this the lifts/runs will be pretty busy.
Southern Norway can be a bit hit and miss for snow early in the season, they seem to get more snow a bit later. When I've checked Trysil or Gaustablick for Xmas it can be a bit thin on the ground. But thems the breaks, can happen anywhere.
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?
@zedzed_uk, I haven't been, but if you're considering lessons, see if you can book Scott Hammond through the ski school. He's the technical director there, a Brit and very good.
Yeah, I did some more digging around and from here https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Hafjell/history it looks like the "most" snow they get in a week is 18cm But I do see good snow making facilities, and I've not seen any reports (or videos on youtube) for around New Year time where people are mentioned a significant number of runs closed due to lack of snow .. so they must really pump it out of the snow canons
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
We were in Hafjell in Feb. 19, plenty of snow thanks to the on piste snow making and everything open but very, very icy due to extreme cold. I got the impression that they limit opening runs based on how busy it is since snow production didn’t seem to be a problem but may be wrong.
We had a great week but the blue back to the base station was carnage late in the day - very chopped up sugar on narrow sections causing lots of falls. It’s a nice little resort though, enjoy!
After all it is free
After all it is free
MotownJunk wrote:
We had a great week but the blue back to the base station was carnage late in the day - very chopped up sugar on narrow sections causing lots of falls. It’s a nice little resort though, enjoy!
Yes, as relative beginners I think we'll try that run a few times in the morning before it gets too chopped up (post-lunch), and then use the Gondola at the end of the day to get back down. Made that mistake once before at a different resort - last run of the day, on tired legs and with poor technique, attempting an icy/rutted blue to get down the mountain. The usual thinking - trying to make the most of every minute on the slopes and not calling it quits when we should have .. so yeah, not doing that again
Looking at the (recent) weather there has been some (for Hajfell) decent snow, and it looks like over half the runs are open, and the ones that aren't are mostly reds and blacks, so not runs we're likely to be trying anyway
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You’ll be fine I’m sure, the long green runs from the top are nice easy fun, if a bit flat in parts, and the blues are mostly mile wide. Have fun!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
MotownJunk wrote:
You’ll be fine I’m sure, the long green runs from the top are nice easy fun, if a bit flat in parts, and the blues are mostly mile wide. Have fun!
Having just come back, I'd say those runs would be great if there was a lot of snow, but as "novices" (semi-parallel, just out of snow plow turns) I actually found them quite tricky. While I'm sure this is 90% a "skill issue", I found them a bit on the icy side in places, and the steepest parts also seemed to be "off camber", making turning quite hard (for a new skier) in one direction. We had a great time though - loved Norway - I'll do a full review in the appropriate forum in the coming days, since reviews for Hafjell seem a little thin on the ground (bad pun?!).
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Ironically looks like they’ve had a top up of fresh snow this week! Sounds like conditions were similar for you as when we went in terms of iciness. Norway is great though, got my eye on a trip to Voss at some point.
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), and was just wondering ... right now the resort has 1/3rd of the lifts open, and about 1/5th of the runs, and I'm not sure if that's because either (a) it's early in the season and no one is on holiday yet so they aren't "fully open" (but will be by the time we go, given it'll get "busy"??) or (b) it's down to (poor) snow conditions and so unless there is a decent dump of snow in the next 7-10 days, this is what we should expect when we get there?
but that appears to have been at the start of December and Finland seems to have had a fair bit of snow since.
But I do see good snow making facilities, and I've not seen any reports (or videos on youtube) for around New Year time where people are mentioned a significant number of runs closed due to lack of snow .. so they must really pump it out of the snow canons 
