 Poster: A snowHead
|
I thought these two places deserved a write-up, since we spent a bit of time in each one recently.
Both of these places seem mainly set-up for Norwegian day-trippers or weekenders with cars, and are quite small, so these are definitely not contenders for a week's skiing-only holiday. But you might still be interested in them for a day or two...
Sauda
=====
Our trip dates: 24 and 31 March 2012
Sauda is quite small, but it's still rather a satisfying place to ski. Apart from the nursery lift, There are 3 stages of uplift: 2 parallel t-bars, leading up to a small plateau where a second, single T-bar begins, then after a green run off the back of that, you get to a final button lift which lets you access a lovely big bowl. You have stunning views of saudafjorden while skiing, which looks particularly beautiful in the spring sunshine.
We got typical spring conditions, which meant masses of slush on one day, when I went back to the car after 1 run to remove most of my clothing it was so hot  , and all-day hard-packed re-frozen slush another day (although there was quite a lot of wind-blown new snow to make things easier). So very much what you might get in an alpine resort at the end of March, depending on the weather.
Typically for Norway, if you're into tele-touring or cross-country, there are useful well-cut tracks crossing the mountain. You can access the top bowl with touring or XC gear from the top of the second lift, as I saw numerous people do, for instance. There's also some more off-piste opportunities below the peak with the antenna, which I did not sample, due to (a) the snow being a bit rubbish (b) me being a bit rubbish and (c) having no avalanche gear.
Most interestingly for foreign visitors, there's a Ski Boat which will take you direct up the fjords from Stavanger to Sauda in the morning (I believe it generally only gets enough people for it to run at the weekend). You board the boat at Stavanger harbour and at the Sauda end there's a dedicated bus that takes you the last few minutes' drive up the hill):
http://www.saudaskisenter.no/skibaat.htm (in Norwegian, but Google translate does the job)
http://www.saudaskisenter.no/Galleri/JanuarFebruar2012/wgc_media/photos/103.JPG
On the way back, there's apres on the boat . We didn't use the Ski Boat this time, but for a future trip it sounds like a great idea. Also, Sauda itself has a nice little apres ski bar in a tent.
There's one cafeteria at the bottom of the mountain, selling Norway's national dish (hot dog!) and other fast food. If the weather's good, I recommend a packed lunch (with obligatory Kvikk Lunsj!) eaten on the little plateau beside the top of the second lift. Overall It's a very friendly-feeling local-hill-for-local-people and I think that's why I like it. Definitely worth a pop in, even more so if there's fresh snow since even if you're not an accomplished off-piste skiier (as I'm certainly not) there didn't seem to be much distinction between pistes and off-piste.
Røldal
=====
Our trip dates: 27-28 March 2012
Røldal is bigger than Sauda, and certainly not unknown (the Freeride World Tour people stage an annual event here by the looks), but it's still quite a small pisted area. It's one big concave face that sits just above the exit of a road tunnel (the one you'd use coming from Stavanger, Haugesund or Bergen across into Telemark county). So Røldal isn't *quite* in Telemark, slightly to my disappointment as a new-ish Telemark convert. If I were planning a Norwegian ski road trip I'd probably stop here, mainly because of the stupendous amounts of snow it gets and the accessible off-piste. They do boast about having the deepest snow in Europe, not quite sure how they work that out, but still...
There are six lifts in total, and looking up the mountain, these serve the pisted area which fills the right hand side. Having said that, within the pisted area, it's not very clear what's a piste and what isn't! Traversing across from the top-most lift, you can access a big, smooth un-pisted area on the left. Further round to the left the face gets much steeper and rockier: this is where the FWT competition is held as far as I can tell. Unfortunately we didn't get to experience the off-piste as the avalanche risk was too high when we were there (blazing sunshine and wet slush: we saw multiple snowslides which had gone off recently on the rockier part of the face).
We experienced two days of slush, the first was amazing because of the sun, the second was disappointing because of rain, which let up around lunchtime, and wind, which continued to blow so hard that several lifts were closed on the 2nd day and the whole hill was closed on our planned 3rd day.
The 2nd day was mostly notable for being my first experience of having an entire ski resort to myself. Other Half decided to call it a day (wind was blowing her around too much), but I fancied a run or two more. On the way up the first button lift, I noticed that our only fellow-skiers (a school group of very wet and bored teenagers) were all skiing back down. On the way up the next button, I saw the last of them leave. By the time I offloaded at the top, at around 14:30, the entire mountain was mine. For the next 45 minutes, before my legs finally gave up, Røldal was a 100% telemarking mountain! It was slush all the way, but it was well-groomed slush with no-one else on it. Absolutely amazing. Other Half happily remained in the chalet drinking beer...
Speaking of accommodation, If you don't have a car at your disposal, you need to be *very* organised to visit Røldal. We stayed in the "Overnatting" accommodation right next to the main Car Park, right near the lift pass office and the bottom couple of lifts. It's amazingly convenient for skiing, but very inconvenient for getting anything without a car. You can't walk anywhere because the road doesn't have a pavement and Røldal town centre itself is 7km away. In good snow conditions, you can ski to some huts and a hotel below apparently, but you still need to figure out how to get back.
The 'Overnatting' is basically a hostel. Rooms have bunks with a large lower bunk - big enough for two people. There is a toilet, living room with TV and kitchen on each floor of 6 rooms, but only one decent shower in the building. As we were the only people there it was great, but it might be a bit tricky when full. The price was good, excellent for Norway, about £45 for a double room. There's no bar, shop or restaurant once the slopes close, so you need to take all food and drink with you.
So, conclusion: consider Sauda if you want a weekend trip going via Stavanger (using the skibåt) and consider Røldal if you plan a Norwegian road trip or happen to be passing, but be organised and bring all your own food if you're staying overnight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
ap96, I love hearing about this weird poo-poo. Thanks for posting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Layne, my pleasure. I find Norway particularly interesting, as you may have guessed.
Unfortunately, I didn't know Snowheads existed 3 years ago, otherwise I'd have written a report on Haukeli Skisenter (actually in Telemark county, about an hour's drive away from Røldal). Can't really remember many specifics, but it's about the same size as Røldal. Also the first place I ever tried a Telemark turn!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ