Skiing in Norway

[elliott]

Am contemplating first skiing trip (kids are 9 and 7 and complete beginners, as am I) and thinking of Norway (mainly because of the quieter easier slopes and other activities like cross country and ice skating, which appeal to me more).
I have a couple of questions:
-am unsure whether Feb or Easter would be better - is Easter reliable for snow or only in certain areas?
-any recommendations of resorts/companies/accommodation?
-I know it is feasomely expensive and food can be ropey, would we save a lot by booking independently or would it be best to go with a company for our first time, to get ski school etc or can we book all that separately (and does it have to be in advance?) what's the best way of eating well - I really don't want to be disappointed by the food...

Anything else I should know?

[elliott]

hmm, I'm clearly not reaching the skiing crowd with my posts at the moment!

[natation]

Searched this website for views on Norway ans skiing, weren't many, but what is there is not all good reading.

snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=1343023&highlight=norway#1343023

Norway is not known as a downhill ski destination, probably the reason why no-one here can help you.

If you are complete beginners, really a package holiday is going to be your easiest way into this highly addictive past time.

Catered chalets are very very popular with British families. But flight + transfer + catered chalet (you've got ski hire / lift pass / ski lessons on top which can double costs)usually comes in at no less than £500 per head for the cheapest weeks, so not cheap for a family - my limit for EVERYTHING is £300 so I've never experienced chalet holidays with the children, enjoyed it alot before the children arrived when I was paying for just myself. Self-catering can be hard or easy, depends on access to a supermarket / deli. From the UK to France, the cheapest you can really do it as a family is DIY package at £300 per head self-catering, but you have to really pick a cheap ski week, know which resorts do family ski lift passes and cheap ski school and cheap ski hire, you'd only achieve that price on a late deal through a package holiday. I'd really advise a package for flights/train-self-drive + accommodation, if you want to save money, price up lift passes, ski school, ski hire before committing to adding this to a package as I find only rarely can a hoiliday company offer this at less than buying direct from the resort. There are hundreds of cheap and not so well known French resorts, must be the case for Austria and Italy too.... you need to research well.

February is mega expensive in France, prices for accommodation can easily double, more importantly for beginners the slopes are at thei most crowded. Never skiied Austrian or Italy but guess is similar story there in February.

Consider the weeks around Christmas and next year the first UK schools Easter week when French schools are still in session. For Austria and Italy, you'd have to research when their holidays are.

[AlpinePony]

I've skiied Norway - the snow and mountain (that I visited) were excellent.

I went to Hemsedal which is a 4-hour drive from Oslo airport - although you might have more luck flying to e.g., Stavenger and going from there.

Hemsedal is snow-sure until May, if not June.

I would not recommend Norway for a family unless you usually wipe your arse with twenties.

We would definitely go back (and will) - the back-country and off-piste is absolutely outstanding!

[elliott]

THanks. I guess all the reasons why ski-heads don't like NOrway are positives for us - we don't need loads of hard downhill runs, just somewhere quiet where the dcs can learn and we can do some cross country and other non-skiing pursuits.
Expensive booze and lack of aprez-ski piss ups don't bother me too much either!
I appreciate it will be £££ but tbh a package to France in Feb half term with ski school etc isn't going to be cheap either!
Will continue my researches...

[AlpinePony]

You're right, half term in France will be no cheaper! :) We went with a TO and I was just funnily enough actually last night pricing it up again - and for us as a small family of 3, it's much cheaper to do a TO than book it independently!

I think it's a wonderful, beautiful civilised country and we weren't bothered either about the booze - and tbh it wasn't that expensive - 6 quid a pint isn't the end of the world. Especially if you're like me and 2 will put you on the floor! But what we found expensive was eating in the evening, at lunchtime we found cabins on the mountain which did burger, chips + coke for a tenner - great and REALLY good quality and massive portions. But the evening was a shocker, it was 25 quid minimum for ANYTHING - even pizza! So next time we'd be prepared and just budget more for food.

The actual skiing itself was very cheap, in fact possibly the cheapest place I've ever skiied in terms of lift pass & lessons - also very cheap equipment rental although we took our own. My bf took snowboard lessons and was in a group with some people from London and a lovely Swedish girl fluent in English taking the lesson. He is very sporty but went from just a few hours under his belt at the beginning of the week to going down black tree runs at the end of the week - all power to him!

Don't believe people who say there's nothing steep - I'd dare say they don't venture off the main piste!

There is enough cross-country skiing to keep you going for months - and you'll probably see many people out with their dogs! I loved seeing dogs ride up on the chairlift to the top of the mountain then happily gallop off after their people. :)

Gah! You're making me want to go back now!

[elliott]

Thanks again. I was thinking of just going all out for a hotel with half board - may actually be better value for evening meal that way and even if not, it feels less painful if you've paid for it upfront! (and at least you know what you're letting yourself in for cost wise). It will be a bit of a one off I think - then hopefully once we know what we're doing we will be in a better position to head off independently to those small cheap French resorts (though personally I don't believe they exist!) Or alternatively we may become hooked on an extremely expensive Scandinavian holiday habit

[NancyDrewHasaClue]

I went skiing in Hemsedel a few years ago - it was very very very cold.

[MollieO]

I skied in Hafjell. Lovely place. You can get the train there from Oslo. I was there 10 years ago. Hotel nice but not posh. Four beers cost £50!! Thankfully I wasn't paying.

[elliott]

Nancy - what time of year? I was thinking April might be a bit less cold...
Hafjell is a new one on me, thanks!

[elliott]

Ah, I see it is near Lillehammer and Nielson go there...will look into it.

[NancyDrewHasaClue]

It was february. The days were still quite short as I recall the day didn't really get light until 9 and was getting dark again by 4.

It may have been the position on the mountain but I don't recall much sun, although it was beautiful.

[AlpinePony]

I went in Jan and tbh it wasn't that cold - the coldest day was minus 17 I think - which if any of you have skiied in Alberta will know is not that cold at all!

nancy You're right about Hemsedal - it's north facing so the front face doesn't get a whole lot of sun early in the year (not an issue in April of course) - the upside of this is that it keeps the snow in peak condition, but the beginners area of course is right at the bottom of the valley out of the way. The peak to the right got the morning sun though and the peak to the left got the afternoon sun.

We also took a day trip to Solheisen which was a free 15 minute bus trip from Hemsedal and was a real "locals" hill. There were only 3 drag lifts and I don't think we saw more than a dozen people all day - so if you REALLY want the hill to yourself, I couldn't think of anywhere better! :)

[fridayschild]

We tried cross country in Norway one year. Sadly DH's leg injury meant he could not do it but I thought it was a great place and would go back. I'm not a heavy drinker . Now booze was expensive, but I thought the rest of it was no worse than any Alpine resort. It was March, there was lots of daylight, more than London.

We went with Inn Travel and I would really recommend them.

It was more than 8 years ago and I can't remember the resort.

Trains were great though, between Oslo and Bergen. The restaurant car had a sort of padded cell area for children to burn off excess energy, and the transfer to the resort by train from the airport was just amazing. I wish our public transport system was that good! Plus it seemed the most child-friendly country in the world - this was before children so it was more of an impression than anything else.

[expectingagain]

We've skied in voss and hemsedal. Had a great experience both times. First time we went self catering which was a huge mistake as everything is very expensive so half or full board deals are normally much better value. Alcohol is very expensive. I remember seeing a bottle of jacob's creek wine for £30 in a restaurant when you could buy it at home for £3 - this was ten years ago. Also not all resorts ran group ski school lessons and instead you had to book private ones. Great for your technique, not so good for your bank balance. It's a great country, beautiful, quiet and lovely snow when we were there.

[expectingagain]

Forgot to say loads of people took packed lunches, lots of hotels geared up so you can make sandwiches and the restaurants were quite relaxed about you buying picnicing or they were at the time. If you eat fish you should be ok with the food.

[elliott]

THanks!
I have just received the Neilson brochure. Now I'm confused about what we would want to prebook re skiing, how much we need to decide in advance and whether it is cheaper to prebook or could we wait and see what we feel like when we get there.
Main issue is that ds's are complete beginners and I would like them to do ski school, but I see that will only occupy them for less than 2 hours...I was rather hoping DH and I could go for a couple of days' cross country. Is it possible (or indeed necessary) to get tuition for cross country?
Alternatively, we could do some cross country as a family in the afternoons, assuming ds's ski school is morning, but then we would need to get them X country skis as well as downhill and perhaps it might confuse them?

Is it expensive/lots of hassle to hire skis or get passes by the day?

I don't want to do downhill at all (I have never learnt and don't want to) - DH has not done a lot but would be able to spend time with the ds's doing some more practice on the easy bits. So I'm a bit confused how it would all work out really. Would 4 days of ski school and no other practice get the boys very far, or do they really need to be practicing outside of ski school?

[eimmum]

Hi
We are off to Norway in April to a resort called Gaustablik. There is one English company who go there called Kelso travel and they were fantastic. We have been at half term the past 2 years and it has been no more expensive than France, and significantly cheaper than Mark Warner or similar. The hotel is fab and the food fantastic - lots of fresh fruit and salad. There is a pool and saunas. The resort is small which suited our family but it means everyone goes back to hotel for lunch. The slopes were empty - only 4 of us on our last saturday of the half term, so no queues. We bought our duty free limit at the airport which got around the alcohol problem and at the and of the week we had spent virtually nothing. This will be our 3rd year back there and we still have money leftover from the first trip. Highly recommended. Agree re cold but fabulous snow!

[eimmum]

Forgot to say the package is full board. There is nowhere to go apart from the hotel, but it means you get to meet the other british guests and it is quite friendly. When we went back last year we met the same crowd and the children thought it was great seeing their skiing friends again. After dinner the children went off to the games room while the adults sat and chatted over a coffee.

[GreenAmy]

Been to Norway a couple of times but never skiing, been skiing in Sweden and Finland

I would be tempted to hire a car (well I always do)as there are days when I do not feel like skiing and with a car it is easy to go off and do something else.

For that reason I would wait until buying lift passes, but it is usually cheaper to pre book, however if your not on the slops all the time it isn't.

Norway is an excellent place to see the Northern Lights!

[Snuppeline]

I'm a Norwegian, can recommend Hafjell if you have children. Nice area with different activities and a lovely town called Lillehammer (where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held). This time of year can be cold though as someone mentioned, down to -20 but its fine as long as your moving about. Some of the skii resorts have gondoles rather than outdoor lifts but not quite sure which. Being a Norwegian in Norway I always found it more expensive renting cabins etc than if I book from abroad. Its would seem the best deals are offered internationally! Good luck with it.

[becklet]

I'm going to Norway skiing on Sunday! :o

We are off to Geilo with Neilson, staying in the Forest Cabins. The only thing I'm concerned about is the cost of food as we're self-catering, but at least I'm prepared and can budget more for it now!

We've pre-booked husky dog driving, but are hoping to do snowmobile driving too...

Norway appealed to me because I'm not a hardcore skier, DH snowboards and my boys just take themselves off, leaving me to pootle down green runs! :o

Will report more when we get there (wifi in the cabin, yay!)