Travel Guides: All Countries / Europe / Norway
 |  | Travel Reviews : Norway |
|
| | | | Luxury that's best enjoyed at sea
London's spectacular Tower Bridge only lifts on special occasions. The last time it opened, it opened for me.
Sailing under the bridge to the cheers of hundreds of riverside tourists was an awe-inspiring start to my trip on the luxury cruise ship Seabourn Pride.
Equally impressed, one fellow passenger told me in no uncertain terms: "This is one of those rare occasions when one simply has to do the royal wave."
The Seabourn Pride's emphasis is on easy and relaxed travel in style. Measuring some 277sq ft and carrying no more than 200 passengers, the ship has an unusual feeling of spaciousness and light. My immaculate, well-turned-out suite, complete with Egyptian cotton robe, personalised stationery and plates of fresh fruit, was also surprisingly roomy.
Being a cruise novice, my indulgences were largely enjoyed in the ship's bars and restaurants. For me, breakfasts at sunrise were best taken al fresco in the Veranda Cafe or, on lazier days, in bed. Barbecue lunches in the Sky Bar and meticulously-prepared course-by-course dinners in the main restaurant were highly sociable occasions - a great way to get to know other passengers.
Enjoying the gastronomic pleasures of a five-star cruise ship isn't about counting calories but burning them off is easy, even enjoyable. Try several lengths of the swimming pool, a few jogging laps around the top deck and some weights in the gym - you'll certainly feel revitalised.
Relaxed surroundings, attentive service and the odd evening of light entertainment all go to make the Seabourn Pride perfect for romantic couples over 50.
Not having a partner and being in my 30s, I did sometimes feel like the odd one out. But there were some advantages... when the ship's captain asked me to dance with him in the piano bar to the tune of Blue Moon was one memorable moment.
Travel Guide: Norway
The art of skiing cross-country
From the Mail on Sunday
There comes a time in a woman's life when mortality rears its ugly head. All of a sudden, pursuits from white-water rafting to galloping on a horse suddenly lose their appeal.
The latest hobby to fall by my midlife wayside is downhill skiing. Last year, as I watched my best friend hurtle down a black run and then turn around to wave me on, I knew it wasn't for me.
Instead of a rush of adrenaline I felt sick to my stomach.
Past the point of no return on that particular outing, I reluctantly followed in her wake but each moment felt like an hour and I arrived at the foot of the slope with my heart in my mouth.
So I resolved to return to Norway, the country of my birth, dragging my sister in tow, to rediscover the art of cross-country skiing.
So much more sophisticated for the woman over 30, don't you think?
It felt curious to be heading for the icy north when, back home, the crocuses and daffodils were already starting to bloom. Surely some mistake, said Danielle, my sibling, as we glided into Oslo airport surrounded by fields covered in a thick layer of snow.
If it looked nippy from the air we discovered it was downright freezing on the ground. The railway station, where the next leg of our trip to Gala kicked off, was dotted with whitefaced Norwegians wearing thermals and puffer jackets and carrying skis.
Having harboured fantasies about returning for two decades, in two minutes we were mumbling thanks for our parents' decision to leave.
Without any snow to pretty up our vista, things looked dismal indeed in the cold of the railway station platform. Travel agents should paper the billboards with posters of all the sunny places they have on offer, we decided.
Travel Guide: Norway
Telemarks the spot
Norway boasts great pickled fish, stunning fjords and nine Second World War heroes, five of whom are still alive.
The idea that war veterans could be tourist attractions might seem odd but Jens Poulsson, 85, who led the advance party of Operation Gunnerside, is sanguine about the idea.
He was the reason I was in Norway, to help make a Radio 4 programme marking the 60th anniversary of this daring 1942 raid on the Norsk Hydro heavy water plant, immortalised in the Hollywood movie The Heroes Of Telemark.
When asked what it was like to be represented by actors including Kirk Douglas, Poulsson just laughed. 'The film's silly but it helps the Norwegian tourist industry.'
Indeed, there is a remarkably good tourist trail following the saboteurs' acclaimed part in the War.
First stop is Oslo and the Resistance Museum at Akershus Castle. In keeping with the museum's subject matter, many of the displays are underground in two 17th Century stone vaults.
Here, through exhibits showing the effects of rationing (there's a pair of shoes made of fishskin), you get a good feel for the background to the raid on Norsk Hydro when the nine 'heroes of Telemark' risked their lives to liberate their country from the Nazis.
But learning about Operation Gunnerside from a museum is rather cosy. To get a truer picture, it's best to hire a car and go out to the Telemark region itself.
The route was lined with banks of snow. Mountainsides that had seemed from a distance to bear only black rocks and tree skeletons shimmered with the pink of silver birch trees and emerald tips of pines. Frozen waterfalls glinted.
Moods can sink, however, as you enter the valley where three of the saboteurs grew up, as it is in a gorge so steep that it gets no sun at all from October to March. Of course it's precisely this extreme geography that made it perfect for a hydro-electric power plant.
Several hairpin bends higher up the gorge, across a precariously narrow suspension bridge, you reach the site of the Norsk Hydro plant, which now houses the well laid-out, informative Vemork Museum. Here you can learn all about the substance Norsk Hydro was producing - heavy water.
Travel Guide: Norway
Snow time to slack
There I was tearing 60mph across frozen waters on a snowmobile with the Russians in hot pursuit – if only Roger Moore had been there to see me.
Admittedly, those on my tail were friendly Moscow journalists rather than Siberian assassins, and with my stripy scarf sticking through my visor I couldn't have looked very James Bond, but don't let such details spoil the illusion.
We were on a trip to Norwegian Lapland and were in Kirkenes, a picturesque town situated 240 miles north of the Arctic Circle at the apex of the Scandinavian Peninsula, where even the local pensioners zip down the grocers on kick sleds.
Snowmobiling solo across the iced Barents Sea may be a tad hair-raising for some, but it's by no means the only jaw-dropping activity on offer while in town.
The Arctic Adventure Resort runs the popular king crab safari, which sends groups out to fish for the enormous crustaceans through the ice – or in our case off a boat after the sun caused meltdown.
As a budding crabber (I tried it once in Cornwall), the absence of any rods was a touch disappointing – rather a scuba diver is on hand to jump in the freezing waters – but when our wet suited friend emerged with the catch, it all became clear: at over a metre long and up to 15 kilos in weight, snatching a leg with your bare hands is the only way to get one of these slow-moving beasts out the water.
Served up within minutes, it took six of us to get through a single crab, which tasted quite sensational (also available at around £50 per kilo at a well-known Knightsbridge store, in case you were wondering.)
While two large Rica hotels can be found in Kirkenes, a trip to the local snow hotel is a must. It took us 15 minutes by kick sled to reach the oversized igloo on the road out of town, which incredibly is rebuilt each year after the summer sun turns it to sludge.
Those expecting a luxurious stay in one of the exquisitely sculpted ten rooms may be in for a shock – it was minus five degrees inside as I scrambled into my hefty sleeping bag – yet many guests claim to have had their best night's sleep in years. For me, a one-night stay, including breakfast and a delightful reindeer feast cooked by the amiable Finnish owner Anne, was enough of a novelty before I headed for a hot tub.
If you think it's for you, here's a tip: remember to use the toilet before going to bed. If it sounds a bit on the frosty side, take a tour of the hotel instead. Either way, you have to see it for yourself.
Despite the constant barrage of the white stuff on the roads, getting around Norwegian Lapland is surprisingly effortless. Snow ploughs are a common site, with our driver (as most locals do) shrewdly tailing behind one of them. Then, of course, there's the sunlight, which doesn't budge in the summer yet fails to rise between November and January. Without falling into total darkness, an eerie twilight exists between dawn and dusk, meaning you'll need full use of the special beamers that every vehicle has.
A more lavish way to see the region is aboard the 1,000 capacity MS Midnatsol, run by Norwegian cruise specialists Hurtigruten. Having always considered ship travel a rather passive way to see the world, I was impressed by the regularity of stops, ensuring we didn't miss out on any excursions during our short cruise. And back on board, you couldn't ask any more from the cabins (spacious) or food (plentiful).
Undoubtedly the chief stop-off for tourists is the mysterious North Cape, Europe's most northernmost point and the final frontier to the Arctic Ocean.
A 30-minute bus journey from the fishing town of Honningsvag, where every passing cruiser pulls in for day trips, the views from North Cape Rock were rather foggy from 1,000 feet above sea level, as is fairly common during winter. After taking a battering from the winds for the customary tourist photo, however, we headed to the visitors' centre where the panoramic cinema allows you to witness the spectacular setting during clearer climes.
When the snow's not hurtling straight at you and the skies are clear, Lapland is one of the best places on earth to see the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights), a mesmerising glow of pinks and greens sweeping across the skies.
Although we weren't fortunate enough to witness the phenomenon in its full glory, we did catch a glimpse during our stay at Engholm's Husky Lodge, situated by the Karasjohka River near the town of Karasjok.
A set of beautifully built and decorated wooden cabins, every one of them knocked together by knowledgeable Swedish owner Sven, the lodge is also home to about 50 huskies and horses, who he uses for tours throughout the locality.
For our husky excursion, the no-nonsense host split us into pairs, briefly taught us four key hand signals and within minutes we were off in convoy over the hills; it's that easy to get started. Yet after escaping the narrow tracks and hitting the frozen waters, the dogs start to pick up some speed, so you do need to apply your whole body weight on the claw brake to slow them down.
Our journey was merely a one-hour taster, but the lodge does offer extensive safaris through the countryside for the more adventurous, with the longest lasting five days. For most, and certainly those with children, a day trip including a barbecue lunch on an open fire is ideal, allowing you to ample time to absorb the landscape that races past you on the snowmobiles.
Although the snow is inescapable outside summer, it's not a destination for a ski or snowboard break – you'll be better off heading further down the west coast to Trysil, the country's largest ski resort. If, however, you're after a unique jaunt into the white wilderness with enough variety to entertain all the family, Norwegian Lapland is just the ticket.
*Scandinavian Airlines flies direct to Oslo from UK airports and then via Oslo to Kirkenes. Return economy class fares in and out of Kirkenes start from £314.
For further information visit visitnorway.com/uk. Contact hurtigruten.co.uk for winter cruises, arctic-adventure.no for crab safaris, engholm.no for dog sledging and kirkenessnowhotel .com for the snow hotel.
**If you like the sound of this holiday, you might like to look at:
Finland
Iceland
British Columbia
Travel Guide: Norway
Squeaky dream
The most common response to my news that I was heading off to Norway to go skiing was: "Do they have mountains there, then?"
Er, yes. Although Norway specifically, and Scandinavia generally, is more famous for its cross-country skiing, downhillers can find plenty to do too.
And you will soon discover that the quality of snow - big, thick squeaky stuff - is far superior to anything in the Alps most of the time, especially early and late in the season.
For those who head for the Scandinavian slopes for the first time, two things quickly impress.
Firstly, the standard of teaching. Instructors speak excellent English (probably better than many of us) and their kindly manner can contrast with the more aggressive, egotistical attitudes found elsewhere in Europe.
Secondly, and I can't get enough of this, the squeaky snow. Coming across an icy patch is really, really rare because of the long, cold winters here. So if you are one of those skiers for whom the scratch, scratch of an icy patch sends a chill up your spine, you'll be in heaven.
Worries about getting a nasty bout of frostbite on your nose can also be put aside. Unlike further north, the average temperature in this part of Norway is pretty bearable. It drops to -8C in December and February, but doesn't get much colder.
Lillehammer is one of the easiest of the Scandinavian ski resorts to get to from the UK, a mere two-and-a-half hour flight to Oslo and then a quick and easy two hour hop by train along the edge of pretty Lake Mjosa, edged by a scattering of snow-capped fir trees and small square churches with tiny spires.
This is Norway's most famous ski resort, mostly because it was home to the Winter Olympics in 1994. You have the chance to see just how scary the ski jump was from the viewing platform or you can try out the four-man bobsleigh (with a trained driver, of course). The slopes are in Hafjell, about 15 kilometres away, which is about a 20-minute drive.
During a long ski weekend in Lillehammer, I was struck by just how empty the slopes are compared to the Alps or the Dolomites. You and your instructor can ski for 10 minutes without encountering anyone, which is heaven for nervous or young skiers.
The slopes cross the range of blue, reds and greens - enough challenges even for an expert who is looking for a weekend's skiing somewhere different and you will rarely encounter queuing at the lifts either.
Those looking for wild nightlife will not find it in Lillehammer. It is more suited to families or romantic nights for two. However, after a heavy day's skiing on the long, wide slopes, the bars at the bottom of the Hafjell ski area, especially British-owned Woody's, are the most popular relaxation zones, and they whip up a boisterous atmosphere with live music most nights.
Kick back and enjoy the tunes, but you may want to rein back on the drinking at around £9 per pint.
Travel Guide: Norway
A plunge beneath the ice
Have you ever seen a rainbow around the rising sun? I have.
It was on one of the most amazing diving expeditions you could imagine. In my wildest dreams I had no idea I could actually take part in what is one of the most extreme team sports possible — ice diving, in Norway.
The whole operation needs very careful planning; Asgeir provided this for me.
The ice diving team totalled 10 people. Both male and female, a few of whom knew each other when the trip started.
I was ready for another life challenge to test my limits — it started as a dream to dive both Poles before I'm 50.
For me, this trip was an ideal start. With fast flights and well planned transfers, I was in the wilderness in apparent comfort, direct from London to Kirkenes, Norway in six hours.
The staff provided plenty of well cooked and high calorific food necessary to be able to dive the ice.
Reindeer meat, fish, the famous king crab and seal where all on the menu in Norway. Also there were coffee-making facilities and hot showers available at all times.
On the ice, hot blackcurrant was an excellent choice after diving into water with a temperature of 2-3C.
Being well briefed and fully prepared before the ice dive at Jardfjordbotn in Norway was essential to our warmth, safety and comfort.
The PADI ice diver course is instructed by the friendliest, most confident and encouraging professional commercial divers, Lars-Petter, Juha and Anton.
Their experience was paramount in enabling a safe and enjoyable time in and out of the water.
The Barents Sea ice at the shore of the Norwegian fjord where the dives took place was 1.3 metres thick.
On some of the dives, we drove snow scooters to the edge of the sea ice, at the head of the fjord, then took a RIB (inflatable raft) to the dive site through freely-floating ice floes.
Other sites were reached by snow scooters across flat ice with equipment pulled on sledges.
The diving itself in Arctic Norway was a truly awesome experience.
Imagine being suspended in water so clear it appears not to be there; above a sea bed with one-metre wide King Crabs moving slowly and alongside a small jelly with pulsating rainbow lights on its side.
All this under a roof of flat ice which stretches as far as you can see.
There are many ways to explore the surrounding country and Asgeir, our expedition leader, provided us with with a day of husky dog sledging.
With an overnight stay in a lodge or alternatively Lavvo tents, this for me was just another discovery of spiritual proportions.
Also we went on an ice fishing picnic, and other activities are available if you wish.
We took an overnight, off-the-beaten trail trip to Russia which took us through two tough mining towns.
Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and resourceful, which was necessary as this was the "closed" part of the Soviet Union in the old days.
This was an experience in itself. But only one of many we had every single day during the most amazing, wonderful and happy time with good, new friends.
Travel Guide: Norway
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Scandinavia bound
My cruise took me to regal Scandinavia - Norway, Sweden and Denmark - with stopovers in Oslo, Stockholm and Odense.
The sail towards Oslo and Stockholm, through the Oslofjord and the archipelago of Stockholm, was beautifully dramatic. On arrival at each city, the ship docked strategically - as soon as I stepped onto land I found myself bang in the centre of city hubbub.
On reaching each cruise destination we were pushed for time but good organisation pays off. This ship organises group excursions to many of the tourist-spot highlights but if you want to make the most of your time, it's best to go off on your own.
In Oslo, don't be put off by the sombre exterior of the city hall - inside it's a work of art. The folk and Viking ships museums are equally captivating, giving an extraordinary insight into the culture and history of Norway and its people.
In Hans Christian Andersen's home town of Odense, I was disappointed by the unimaginative museum dedicated to the innovative fairytale writer but it's definitely worth popping into the Gothic cathedral where you can gawp at King Canute's 900-year-old bones.
Stockholm is best explored on foot. The city has some great museums but there are also numerous churches with magnificent interiors and the occasional free concert, which shouldn't be missed.
My trip on the Seabourn Pride was one of the most enjoyable I have made but luxury cruising doesn't come cheap. A 14-day cruise of Scandinavia and Russia costs from around £8,266 per person, but the price includes almost everything.
For details about Seabourn Pride cruises and other Seabourn journeys call freephone 0800 052 3941, or visit website: http://www.seabourn.com/. For a brochure, call 0845 601 1720.
Christmas card scenery
With a captive audience and the station conveniently located in the airport building, people would probably drop their briefcases and run to the ticket desk.
I was reminded of a group of Swedes I saw in Thailand earlier this year. Suddenly I understood their hysterical excitement as they plunged their chicken-white skin into the warm, blue ocean. I'm surprised they didn't drop dead of pleasure on the spot!
An easy and scenic two-and-a-half hours on the train from Oslo and we arrived in Peer Gynt country.
Central Norway is a haven for cross-country skiers and our destination, the picturesque one horse village of Gala, boasts some of the country's best trails.
The village looked just like a Christmas card arriving three months out of date. Made up of two hotels and a shop, it certainly wasn't a place to go searching for nightlife.
Thick mounds of crunchy snow lined the silent street. Our hotel, a traditional log building painted rust red, looked like a set from a Hans Christian Andersen story.
Danielle and I were the incongruous additions to the scene. Unaccustomed to the cold, we looked instead as if we were competing to sit for Munch's famous painting The Scream. We hurtled into the hotel lobby and were delighted to discover a roaring fire and a delicious three-course meal awaiting us.
The Norwegians are big on meat. Cured meat, roast meat, stewed meat, dried meat. This is no place for a vegetarian.
A hearty dinner of duck salad followed by steak and we settled our exhausted bodies into the comfortable sofas in the candle-lit bar.
Exhibits are extraordinary
Heavy water - which contains heavy hydrogen atoms - weighs 10 per cent more than the normal stuff and is a step on the way to harnessing atomic energy.
Whoever had most heavy water, it was thought in 1942, was closest to building the atom bomb. The Nazis held Norsk Hydro and so the nine saboteurs were sent in.
The site is inaccessible enough anyway, on a ledge halfway up the gorge. And the part of the building that was devoted to producing heavy water was in the basement, buried in the cliff face under a lip of rock.
The bridge was heavily guarded. The surrounding hills were mined and booby-trapped. Poulsson and his eight comrades had to go in on foot.
Some of the museum's exhibits are extraordinary because they look so ordinary. For their death-defying climb and escape overland on skis 200 miles to Sweden in sub-zero temperatures, the saboteurs wore canvas outer-gear and leather boots that hardly seem up to an assault course in Surrey.
Yet, the nine men got in and out of the Norsk Hydro unseen and unhurt without a single shot being fired. All the heavy water cells were destroyed. They weren't even followed as they escaped back out on to the Hardanger Plateau.
And this is the place that's worth saving until last. The rambling wooden lodge, Rjukan Fjellstue, makes the perfect base, not least because it is owned and run by Tor Nicolaysen, a skilled mountaineer who also happens to have known some of the saboteurs.
Mr Nicolaysen cuts a strange figure, with his President Lincoln beard and huge, warm grin. One minute he's at reception taking bookings, the next he's in a chef's apron cooking lunch and the next he's in sunglasses and snowgear ready to take visitors out on his snow-scooter on the Saboteur Trail.
Out on the Hardanger Plateau, local guide and historian Frode Saeland speaks of how it came to represent freedom to Norwegians.
The plateau is beautiful, a swathe of white that appears to have been sculpted with a giant spoon. And it is unnerving.
Feel the goodness
Instead of drinking, go for a healthier option and hit the sauna, an apres-ski Scandinavian institution, and guaranteed to refresh the parts that beers cannot reach.
Spa etiquette in Scandinavian is very much of the naked variety. They find British inhibitions about taking our clothes off rather amusing. So grit your teeth and go for it, or cover up with a towel. The real hardcore experience includes a naked roll in the snow to get the adrenalin pumping.
Alcohol is distinctly pricey in Norway so if you want a traditional apres ski cocktail then it pays to plan ahead and buy a bottle at Heathrow's duty free, and have evening drinks in your hotel room.
Most of the evening action in Lillehammer happens along the bustling main street, Gagata, with its bars, shops and restaurants. But the outdoor terrace at the Radisson SAS hotel with its outdoor heating is a great place to watch the slivers of the sunset slip away.
Clubbing goes on right through the night if your ski legs can bear it, or you can hit one of the many restaurants.
After a big night out, the best way to clear a hangover headache is to head straight back to the slopes and get a lungful of clear air. Downhillers who have always wanted to try cross-country skiing should it give it a go in Lillehammer.
You will need to take a lesson as the technique is very different, and will discover your inner wobble as you strap on the extra long skis. Our class of experienced downhill skiers found they lost their balance the moment they ventured onto a totally flat piece of snow.
Learning to turn and even slide along took some time, but it was definitely fun and kept us all giggling. Once you are proficient enough to stop and turn, your instructor can guide you along some of the 300 kilometres of prepared trails, away from the rest of the populace and into the quiet of the forests.
With its traditional husky and moose safaris or romantic horse-drawn sled ride, you can capture a mini Scandinavian experience in a weekend here.
But there is one downside, the shuttle buses from Lillehammer to the slopes are infrequent and taxi prices are high, so make sure you hit the bus stops at the right time to avoid ramping up the cost of your northern adventure.
- Prices: Adult bob sleigh ride £15. Access to ski jump tower NOK £1.30. Hire of cross country skis for one day £13.
- Crystal Ski Fasttrax (Tel: 0870 160 6040, crystalski.co.uk) offers a three-night, half-board break in Lillehammer, in the four-star Radisson SAS Lillehammer, from £398 per person (based on two sharing). This includes scheduled return flights from Heathrow to Oslo and train transfers.
Feel inspired? Book a ski break.
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Wobble like jelly
Seconds later a man called Morton arrived. He was brimful of enthusiasm. 'You'd like to ski by horse, ja?' We looked at him suspiciously.
'What, now?' 'Ya now,' he beamed. We'd heard that the hotel offered the energy-saving opportunity of being pulled along by horse as a bit of fun.
But it was pitch-black outside and we'd never even stood on cross-country skis.
'No, don't even think about it.' my sister hissed in my ear. 'We're barely able to stand, let alone don skis, and some nutcase who shares a name with the singer in AHA wants to drag us around the deserted street on planks.'
For once I followed her advice and gracefully declined.
Next day by mid-morning, exhausted by our exertions, I was praying for a glimpse of Morton and his trusty steed. Sadly he'd disappeared not to be seen again for the duration of our stay.
We'd been warned that cross-country required dedication and a degree of fitness. What no one had told us was how difficult it was to stop.
The tiniest incline and my sister and I started to wobble like jelly. As soon as a corner was added to the list of hurdles we fell over. Cross-country skis are much lighter than downhill skis and, to make matters even more unstable, are attached only to the toe end of your boots.
To combat the challenge, much to the frustration of our first instructor Kay Anders, we'd developed our own unique system.
Instead of leaving our tumble point to chance we'd stand at the top of a hill, pick a decent spot to fall, preferably cushioned with soft snow to land on, and then set off. It was the Frostrup braking system, which we named an 'emergency halt'.
Large wilderness areas
You must stay on the path made by the snow-scooter, or you can suddenly sink to your waist in snow. The plateau is one of the largest wilderness areas in Europe. Temperatures can drop to minus 30. When it's cloudy, the snow and skyline become indistinguishable.
The idea that, in preparation for the raid, four of the saboteurs survived three months here in a wooden cabin hardly bigger or more sturdy than a garden shed seems astonishing.
But for them it was just a way of life. They grew up referring to the mountains as their 'friends'. As boys, they had spent most of their time hunting and skiing on and around the plateau.
While the saboteurs can't stop other people referring to them as 'heroes', the men reject the term. They say they were just doing their jobs, like other resistance fighters. But if their raid helps to bring attention to Norway's countryside, then they're happy.
I came away haunted by their story and the landscape.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
British Airways flies from Heathrow to Oslo. Visit http://www.ba.com or call 0845 7733377. Holiday Autos offers car hire. Visit http://www.holidayautos.co.uk or call 0870 400 0010.
Tor Nicolaysen's Rjukan Fjellstue lodge (tel: 00 47 35 09 51 62) charges from £30 per person B&B.
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Trails framed by pine trees
By day two, and three instructors later, we were still practising it. Ashley, the charming Coventry-born head of the ski school, had finally given in. As far as we were concerned we were verging on professional.
We'd just about mastered the gliding motion on the straight paths, could climb any hill using the 'fishbone' move and were even overtaking more experienced practitioners with our awkward but seemingly effective technique.
Where we lost time was on our series of downhill falls but we'd embraced them as part of the sport and, since we had only one day left of our long weekend, decided the next day to set out alone.
If I haven't mentioned the scenery yet, forgive me. To tell you the truth, in typical competitive Frostrup fashion we had barely glanced around us and instead had been treating our new-found sport as an aerobic workout.
And it seemed to be working since, despite daily saunas and massages at the hotel, we were as creaky and stiff as un-oiled robots. We hadn't even noticed that the gentle flurry of snow had stopped and the sun was shining.
All that changed on our last day as we set off solo with a packed lunch in our backpacks brandishing a map of the routes.
Experienced cross-country devotees can do upwards of 18 miles a day. We were determined to get at least to nine. It was a Sunday morning and the silence was deafening. Below us lay the immense, frozen lake at the foot of Gala. In the distance the whipped cream turrets of the two mountain ranges which surround the vast expanse of high ground, Rondane and Jotunheimen, sprawled majestically.
We glided along trails framed by pine trees dripping in ice crystals and looked out over mountain lakes covered in snow and scattered with ice that caught the light like diamonds.
The sun was warm on our faces and there wasn't another human being in sight. Occasionally we'd pass an empty log cabin with pretty, colourfully-painted shutters and doors. The owners were obviously out enjoying the delights of this wonderland as well.
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | Something to aspire to
Unlike Alpine resorts, here there is space enough for everyone and our sightings of fellow skiers were rare occasions when we'd exchange the traditional 'hey' before cruising on.
We'd completed our nine-mile route by lunchtime but found that we just couldn't stop. The silence, the mouthwatering landscape, the smell of pine and the beating sun all urged us on. We went uphill and down, round lakes and through tiny mountain hamlets.
We stopped speaking to each other and just revelled in the swishing sound of the skis and the extraordinary peacefulness of our surroundings. When we finally returned to the roaring fire in the hotel we'd completed a 15-mile circuit.
We were unbearably smug as we rewarded ourselves with a chilled glass of Chardonnay and compared aches. We grabbed fellow guests, most of whom hailed from Oslo and spoke better English than us, and showed them our route on the map, drinking in their bemused but effusive praise.
We were destined for a fall and it came later that evening when we settled down to a five-course Sunday dinner.
A couple from Devon with whom we'd exchanged greetings enquired about our day. 'We did 15 miles,' we gabbled in unison.
'Marvellous,' they replied. 'Next time you should try our 30-mile route.'
We were horrified. They were old enough to be our parents. Struck dumb, my sister and I completed our meal in furious silence.
Still, it's given us something to aspire to next year when we return. I defy anyone not to become similarly addicted.
TRAVEL FACTS:
Inntravel (01653 629010) offers ski holidays to Gala. Activities range from downhill, cross-country and telemark skiing to sledging, snow-rafting and ice-fishing and there are special cross-country beginners weeks.
|
|
|
|
|
| | Available rental properties in Norway |
|
|
|
|
