Cutting the slopes in Trysil, two hours from Oslo

The popular belief about skiing in Norway is that it’s colder and darker than other European destinations. Is it?

We at SkiRebel.com receive plenty of releases from ski resorts and ski travel companies about why their deals are worth writing about. Sometimes they are, and sometimes they’re just empty sales pitches.

Recently, UK-based tour operator Alpine Tracks sent out a pitch attempting to dispel myths about Skiing in Norway, mostly in comparison to other European ski destinations. Alpine Tracks is selling ski packages to Norway, and we thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say.

Alpine Tracks is keen to disprove popular beliefs, as well as highlighting the many benefits of the destination such as the length of the ski season – from November to May – together with the quality of the snow, the accommodations, the slopes and the lift queues.

“As far as the myths are concerned, it’s no colder skiing in Norway than in the Alps,” said a company release.

Although the Alps are over 1000km south of Norway, the elevation of Norway’s ski resorts are much lower, so this is not outrageous. Lillehammer, Norway, site of the 1994 winter Olympics, has an average January temperature of -9°C (15°F) at a base altitude of 500m. For the sake of comparison, Davos in Switzerland has an average January temperature of -5°C (22°F) at a base altitude of 1500m. In this case, Alpine Tracks isn’t far from being correct.

“The daylight length is the same as for the UK, and by February the more southerly part of Norway has longer hours of daylight,” said the release.

Daylight hours in Oslo in December are truly short, barely six hours at the winter solstice with the sun disappearing by 15h. By late February, there are about 10 hours of daylight.

Even in Northern Scotland, the coastal town of Aberdeen gets seven hours at the winter solstice and just over 10 hours in late February. London has eight and 11 hours, respectively, and in the Alps you’ll get nine and just over 11, respectively. So here, Alpine Tracks is stretching the truth, to put it nicely.

For those who are curious about skiing in Norway, Alpine Tracks is selling packages to Trysil, which is two hours from the Oslo airport, with a choice of hotels plus luxury self-catered cabins sleeping two up to 32.

Seven nights with breakfast leads in at £595 (€660) per person (twin share) in December ’09, rising to £895 (€990) over New Year. Add £35 (€39) per person, per night for half-board.

The newly-built Radisson Blu Resort at Trysil offers ski in, ski out convenience and a wide variety of dining and entertainment facilities include an adventure pool with the only ‘flow rider’ surfing wave in Norway as well as ten-pin bowling and a Spa and Wellness centre.

Flights are not included but can be arranged by the company on request – departures are available from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Jersey and Edinburgh. Car hire or transfers are also pre-bookable.

Alpine Tracks also offers the traditional ski resort of Geilo – between Bergen and Oslo – with a choice of hotels, chalets and apartments.

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