Ski resorts in Norway

At the top of the Sirdal valley, with the car park almost in the slope. Three T bars and a free children's tow, six runs, and automatic snowmaking that covers all of them through the season. The fun park is what the place is proudest of. It was built by people who ride themselves, has seventeen features from jumps and rails to fun boxes, and is rebuilt every year around how the snow has settled. It is maintained through the season rather than only in December. The warming hut is modern and serves hot dogs, burgers and chips, and from the top lift you look out across the Sirdal uplands. Cross country trails run through the high ground around the area. Children up to and including six ski free with an adult.

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The Svarteberg course is why Norwegian racers know Ål. It is one of the best giant slalom pistes in the country and both the men's and women's national teams have used it regularly over the years. At the same time Ål has one of the best beginner slopes in Hallingdal, with a free lift in the children's area. That combination is unusual in a hill this size. Snowmaking secures 13 kilometres of prepared piste through the whole season and the vertical is over 450 metres. It sits in the middle of Hallingdal with floodlit evening skiing through the winter, open every weekend and all week through the February holidays and at Easter.

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The lift pass covers both Beitostølen and Raudalen, so you get two hills on one ticket in the Valdres highlands. Children up to seven ski free with an adult as long as they wear a helmet, which makes this an inexpensive week for a family with small children. It is as much a cross country place as a downhill one. The trail network across the Valdresflya plateau is among the most used in Norway and it starts at the door. Beito Resort also has arrangements with Andorra and Laax that give something back if you ski several places over a season.

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Bjorli is often among the first ski areas in Norway to open. It sits at 575 metres at the top of the Gudbrandsdalen valley, right on the boundary with Romsdalen, in a pocket sheltered enough to make it one of the most snow sure places in southern Norway. The train stops at Bjorli station a few minutes from the slopes, and the Rauma line and the E136 run past the door. There are few Norwegian ski areas where you manage this well without a car. On the hill there are runs for every level, a children's area, ski school and rental at the base station, and Heiskroa when your legs need a pause. From here you reach the Troll Wall, the Romsdalen gondola at Åndalsnes and Dovrefjell in under an hour.

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A ski area in the mountains between Bergen and Voss, around an hour from Bergen, and the main hill for that city. The terrain is a good spread with a decent vertical for western Norway, and the season here can be long when the weather cooperates. Recent seasons have run to around eighty opening days. The western Norwegian coast brings a great deal of precipitation, which means plenty of snow on the tops and variable conditions lower down, so it is worth checking the report before setting out. There is no village. Most people drive up from Bergen or Norheimsund for the day, and the Hardanger fjord is close by.

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A mountain area in Gudbrandsdalen that people have been travelling to for more than 130 years, in high open country with wide views and a long tradition as a place to rest rather than to be entertained. The alpine terrain is modest, with four lifts and a spread of runs suited to families and beginners. Cross country is the real strength, with an extensive network across the surrounding fells and a long season at this altitude. Accommodation is cabins, apartments and a couple of mountain hotels. Lillehammer is an hour or so away and Oslo about three.

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The mountain above Rjukan in Telemark, on the flank of Gaustatoppen, which is the highest peak in southern Norway and gives a view said to cover a sixth of the country on a clear day. The skiing is north facing with a good vertical and reliably cold snow, and the terrain suits confident intermediates well. There is a gentler family area lower down. Inside the mountain there is a funicular railway built by the military in the 1950s that carries passengers up to the summit through a tunnel, which is unlike anything else in Norway. Rjukan below is a preserved industrial town on the UNESCO World Heritage list, known for the heavy water plant and the wartime sabotage. Oslo is around three hours away.

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A ski area in Drangedal in Telemark, around two hours from both Oslo and Kristiansand, and one of the more established family destinations in southern Norway. The terrain is gentle with a good learning area, and everything is laid out so that families can spend the day in the slope without much organising. There is a substantial amount of ski in and ski out accommodation in lodges and apartments, plus a cross country network through the surrounding forest. The area sits low, so the season depends on the winter, and snowmaking covers the main runs.

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A small ski area at Grong in Trøndelag in central Norway, serving the surrounding district rather than visitors from further afield. The terrain is modest with four lifts and a good spread for families and improvers, and the vertical is around 470 metres, which is substantial for a local hill. Grong sits on the Nordland railway line and the E6, which makes it easy to reach from Trondheim in around two hours. The Namsen river here is one of the best known salmon rivers in Norway, and the surrounding country is forest and water.

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The Olympic alpine mountain from Lillehammer 1994, fifteen minutes north of the town on a wooded hillside above the Gudbrandsdalen valley, and easy to reach by train from Oslo. The skiing is straightforward and well groomed with a good spread of easy and intermediate terrain, a strong terrain park and reliable cold snow. The vertical is modest, and Kvitfjell up the valley is on the same pass and worth a day. Lillehammer is the draw for evenings. It is a proper small town with a pedestrian street of wooden buildings, museums and places to eat, and you can stay there and take the bus, or take cabins and apartments at the base. The Olympic bobsleigh run still operates and takes passengers, and the Maihaugen open air museum fills a non ski day.

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A small ski centre at Nordfjord in western Norway, above the village of Eid, with a good vertical for a local hill and a spread of runs suited to families. The area sits in fjord country and the Atlantic weather brings both heavy snowfall and variable conditions, so it is worth checking the report before setting out. There are cabins and a lodge at the base, and the surrounding country has cross country trails. Nordfjordeid below is a working village, and the Nordfjord itself is one of the more striking fjords in the country. Ålesund is around two and a half hours away.

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Often called the Scandinavian Alps, and the comparison holds better here than at most Norwegian resorts, because the terrain is genuinely steep in places and the vertical is over 800 metres. The mountain has a wide spread of runs with a well protected beginner area at the base and open ground higher up that gets serious in wind. It has the liveliest après ski in Norway by a distance and a young crowd to match, without losing its family side. Cabins and apartments sit at the foot of the slopes, with the village of Hemsedal a few kilometres down the valley. Oslo is around three hours away by road, which puts it within reach for a weekend, and Bergen is a similar distance on the other side.

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At the top of the Setesdal valley in southern Norway, high on the mountain plateau, and the main winter destination for the whole southern part of the country. The terrain is gentle and open with a good learning area, and the vertical is modest, which suits the families and school groups who fill it. Reliable cold snow comes from the altitude and the exposed plateau position. Cross country is at least as much of the point as the downhill, with an extensive network across the high ground around the village and the Otra river running through it. Kristiansand is around three hours away and Oslo four and a half, which makes it a common choice for southern Norwegians who do not want the drive north.

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A small family centre near Røros and Os in eastern Norway, with two staffed lifts, six runs and a separate children's area with its own lift and obstacle courses. The runs are a kilometre long with 200 metres of vertical, and the whole place is laid out to be easy to keep track of, which is the point when small children are involved. There is a warming hut, rental and food service right by the lift. Røros nearby is a preserved copper mining town on the UNESCO World Heritage list, with timber houses and one of the coldest climates in Norway, which helps the snow.

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The largest area in Akershus, around half an hour north of Oslo airport, with eleven runs across three lifts plus separate children's slopes and a toboggan hill. The terrain covers more ground than the size suggests, with family runs, a racing course, a black run, ski cross, a small terrain park and a good deal of forest skiing. Its position close to the airport and to Oslo makes it a practical choice for a day rather than a week. The Hurdalsjøen lake below and the surrounding forest have cross country trails, and prices are low.

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The ski centre at Kongsberg, around an hour and a half from Oslo, in a town with one of the strongest skiing traditions in Norway. The Kongsberg skiers dominated jumping and combined for decades. The terrain is modest with nine lifts and a spread of runs suited to families and improvers, and the area operates year round with a bike lift, disc golf and a gravity car track in summer. Kongsberg itself is a silver mining town with a baroque church, a mining museum and mine tours that go deep underground. The town is on the railway line from Oslo, which makes it straightforward without a car.

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The Olympic downhill mountain from Lillehammer 1994, designed by Bernhard Russi, and still a World Cup venue every year. The course is open to the public most of the season and skiing it is the reason many people come. The terrain is steeper and more serious than most Norwegian hills, with a long sustained pitch and a good vertical, and it suits confident skiers well. There is a gentler family area on the western side. It is around fifteen minutes from Hafjell and on the same pass, so the two together make a varied week. Lillehammer is half an hour away with its museums and pedestrian street. Accommodation is mostly cabins and apartments spread across the hillside, and Oslo is around two and a half hours by road or train.

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A small ski area at Meråker in Trøndelag, close to the Swedish border and around an hour east of Trondheim. The terrain is modest with a good vertical for a local hill and a spread of runs suited to families and improvers. Meråker has a strong cross country tradition and has produced several Norwegian national team skiers, and the surrounding country has an extensive trail network. The village sits on the railway line between Trondheim and Storlien in Sweden, which makes it reachable without a car, and the Stjørdal valley below is farming country.

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Norway's snowiest ski resort by some measures, in a side valley above Voss in the western fjord country, where the weather comes in off the Atlantic and drops enormous quantities of snow on the way over the mountains. The hotel sits at the foot of the slopes with the runs coming down to it, so a family week here needs very little organising. The terrain is broad and forgiving with a good children's area, and there is serious off piste higher up for people who know what they are doing. Voss is around half an hour away, and the Bergen railway and the fjords make this an easy place to combine with something else. It is expensive, as Norway is, but the snow reliability in a bad winter is hard to beat in this country.

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The largest ski area in northern Norway, rising straight out of the town of Narvik with the runs dropping towards the Ofotfjord, and the venue for the alpine World Championships in 2029. The vertical is close to 900 metres, which is among the biggest in the country, and the terrain is serious with steep upper runs and long descents. The gondola climbs from the town centre. Skiing here in spring under the midnight sun, or in midwinter under the northern lights, is the reason people make the journey. Narvik has an airport nearby and is on the Ofoten railway line to Sweden. The Lofoten islands are within reach for a day.

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A small mountain area at Nesbyen in Hallingdal, about two hours from Oslo, sitting high enough above the valley to hold snow well through the season. It has grown steadily and is one of the better known family destinations in this part of Norway. The terrain is straightforward and well suited to children and improving skiers, with a good beginner area and cabins spread across the mountainside rather than gathered into a village. The mountain plateau above has an extensive cross country network with long views across Hallingdal, and that is a large part of why families come. Nesbyen in the valley has shops and services, and the main road and railway through Hallingdal pass close by.

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The closest high mountain terrain to Oslo, under two hours away, with thirty runs and fifteen lifts spread across a hillside that drops most of a thousand metres to the valley floor. The vertical is the largest in eastern Norway and the terrain covers everything from wide green slopes to genuinely steep black runs, with three children's areas and two terrain parks. There is a spa hotel and a good deal of apartment accommodation on the mountain, which makes it work as a weekend destination rather than only a day trip. The 1952 Olympic downhill was held here. Snow is reliable from December to April at the top.

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The largest alpine area in central Norway, spread across four separate mountainsides around the town of Oppdal, which sits on the railway line between Oslo and Trondheim. That railway matters, because you can arrive by night train and be in the lifts the same morning without a car. The town is a working Norwegian community rather than a resort, with shops and services that operate all year. The terrain covers a good spread with plenty of gentle skiing and a strong local following, and the snow is reliably cold from December to April. There is extensive off piste for people who know the mountains and a large cross country network on the Dovrefjell plateau. Musk oxen live on Dovrefjell just north of town, and safaris to see them run in winter.

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A ski area inside a capital city, reached by underground railway from the middle of Oslo in about half an hour. The Tryvann slopes sit on the ridge above town in the Nordmarka forest, and there are very few places in the world where a metro ticket takes you to a chairlift. The hill is small and the vertical is modest, but the terrain parks are well built and floodlit evening skiing runs through the winter, which is how most people use it after work. The Nordmarka forest around it is the real prize. Hundreds of kilometres of cross country trails start from the same station, and Holmenkollen with its ski jump and museum is a few stops down the line.

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A ski area in Telemark on the edge of the Hardangervidda plateau, with a reputation among Norwegian families as a snow sure choice for a week rather than a weekend. The terrain covers a good spread from beginner ground to steeper runs, with a ski school, rental and a range of winter activities beyond the downhill. Rauland has a long tradition in Norwegian folk culture and craft, and the surrounding plateau has an extensive cross country network. Oslo is around three and a half hours away by road. The area is quiet and built around cabins rather than hotels.

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Known throughout Norway for two things, a great deal of snow and a long season, and regarded as one of the best areas in the country for off piste and freeriding. The centre sits between the fjords and the mountain plateau in a spot that catches Atlantic weather, and the snow depth here regularly exceeds anywhere else in the south. The lift served terrain is modest, but the skiing beyond the pistes is why people drive a long way to get here. A guide is worth arranging if the terrain is new to you. There is a ski school operating most days. Bergen and Stavanger are both around three hours away.

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A small ski area at Alta in Finnmark, the far north of Norway, well inside the Arctic Circle. The terrain is modest, but the setting is the reason to come. Skiing here happens under the polar night in midwinter and in extraordinary light in spring, and the northern lights are a regular part of an evening. Alta is a working town with an airport, and the rock carvings there are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Finnmark plateau around it is Sami country with reindeer herding, and dog sledding and snowmobile trips are widely available.

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A community run ski centre in Svandalen above Sauda in Ryfylke, western Norway, with the slogan that snow is for everyone. The terrain is modest with five lifts and a spread of runs suited to families and improvers, and the area has been through a period of local investment and planning aimed at securing its future. Sauda is an industrial town at the head of a fjord, with a working life outside tourism, and the Ryfylke region around it is fjord and mountain country. Stavanger is around two and a half hours away including a ferry crossing.

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A small alpine centre in the Sirdal valley in southern Norway, one of several in an area that has become the winter destination for Stavanger and the surrounding region. The terrain is straightforward with a decent range of runs for families and improvers and a modest vertical. Sirdal has a large concentration of cabins and a long tradition as a weekend retreat, and the surrounding high country has an extensive cross country network. Stavanger is around two hours away. The valley holds several other small centres, including Ådneram and Fidjeland, which makes a week here more varied than any single hill suggests.

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The ski centre at Gol in Hallingdal, on the mountain above the village, with a family lift and a spread of runs suited to beginners and improvers. The vertical is modest and the terrain is straightforward, which makes it a good place for a first week or for families with young children. Gol sits on the Bergen railway between Oslo and Bergen and on the main road through Hallingdal, so it is easy to reach without a car, and the bigger Hallingdal areas at Hemsedal and Geilo are both within half an hour. The surrounding high country has an extensive cross country network.

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A mountain area in Gausdal in eastern Norway, around half an hour from Lillehammer, and one of the more established Norwegian destinations for families. The terrain is gentle and open with good learning areas, and the vertical is modest, which suits the audience it serves. Cross country is at least as much of the point, with an extensive network across the surrounding fells and a strong tradition of it in this valley. Oslo is around two and a half hours away by road. Accommodation is cabins, apartments and a couple of hotels, and the whole area is quiet in the evening.

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A mountain village on the Bergen railway between Oslo and Bergen, at the edge of the Hardangervidda, and one of the oldest ski destinations in Norway. The skiing spreads across both sides of the valley with a good deal of gentle terrain, which suits families and improvers, and the runs are served by a large number of lifts for the size of the area. The railway is the reason to come without a car. Trains stop in the middle of the village and both cities are within a few hours. Geilo is as much a cross country place as a downhill one, with extensive trails onto the plateau, and it has hotels rather than only cabins.

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The ski area at Oslo Vinterpark on the ridge above the city, reached by underground railway from the centre in around half an hour, which very few capital cities can offer. The hill is modest but the terrain parks are well built and floodlit evening skiing runs through the winter, which is how most of Oslo uses it after work. The Nordmarka forest around it holds hundreds of kilometres of cross country trails starting from the same station, and Holmenkollen with its ski jump and museum is a few stops down the line. There is also a climbing park and summer activities, so the area operates year round.

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The ski area at Hodlekve above Sogndal in western Norway, with five lifts and fourteen runs spread from gentle children's ground to genuinely challenging terrain. The setting is fjord country, and the mountains here get a great deal of snow from the Atlantic weather, which gives the area a following among off piste skiers well beyond the marked runs. The Dalalåven café at the base is a local institution and the centre has grown into a year round destination with mountain biking in summer. Sogndal town is a short drive away and the Sognefjord, the longest in Norway, is right there. Bergen is around three and a half hours.

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A small lift operation in the Sirdal valley in southern Norway, one of several in an area that serves Stavanger and the surrounding region as its winter playground. The terrain is modest and suited to families and beginners, with a short vertical and a couple of lifts. The value of a place like this is proximity rather than scale. Sirdal has a large concentration of cabins and the valley holds several other centres within a short drive, which together give more variety than any one of them alone. The surrounding high country has an extensive cross country network. Stavanger is around two hours away.

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A mountain above Stranda in Sunnmøre in western Norway, with a gondola climbing to over a thousand metres and a view down onto the Storfjord and the surrounding peaks. The terrain is steep for a Norwegian area of this size and the off piste has a strong following, with long descents when conditions allow. There is gentler ground lower down. Stranda calls itself a small place of world class, and the setting justifies some of that. Ålesund is around an hour and a half away and Geiranger is close by. The season depends on the Atlantic weather, which brings both a great deal of snow and a good deal of variability.

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Norway's largest ski destination, on an isolated mountain in the eastern forests near the Swedish border. Runs fan out in every direction from one rounded summit, so whichever way you ski you end up somewhere with a lift back. It is very hard to get lost, which is more useful than it sounds when you have children spread across the hill. The resort counts 69 runs and 41 lifts, with miles of cross country trails through the forest around the base. It is gentle by alpine standards, with a great deal of easy terrain and ski schools used to teaching in English, and that combination makes it one of the best places in Europe to put children on skis for the first time. Accommodation is cabins and apartments at the foot of the slopes rather than a village centre, and most families self cater, because eating out is expensive even by Norwegian standards. Floodlit evening skiing and a husky trip are the standard additions to a week. February and March give more daylight than the dark weeks of January.

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A high mountain ski centre at the edge of Jotunheimen in Norway, with five lifts, seventeen kilometres of runs and a dedicated children's area with its own lift and carpet. The altitude gives it a long season, often running well past Easter when the lower Norwegian hills have closed, and the terrain covers a good spread of levels. The setting is proper high mountain country at the gateway to Jotunheimen, which is the highest range in northern Europe. Accommodation is cabins and mountain lodges. Oslo is around three and a half hours away and the E16 runs past the door.

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A ski area at the head of the Numedal valley in Norway, at the foot of the Hardangervidda, with 25 runs spread from the top of the mountain lift down through the valley. The terrain covers everything from steep pitches and a new terrain park to long gentle runs, which makes it work for beginners and families alongside more confident skiers. Space is the selling point. This is a quiet area where you are unlikely to queue, and the surrounding plateau has an extensive cross country network. Oslo is around three hours away and the area is built around cabins rather than hotels.

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The largest ski centre in Valdres, at Aurdal beside the Aurdalsfjord, with runs above a valley known for its cross country terrain and its cabins. Most of the accommodation is ski in and ski out, and there are several places to eat both in the slope and nearby, which is unusual for a Norwegian centre of this size. The terrain is modest and suited to families and improvers, with a good learning area. Valdres has a strong local food tradition and Beitostølen is around forty minutes away for a bigger hill. Oslo is roughly two and a half hours.

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A small ski area at Hakadal in Nittedal, around half an hour north of Oslo, run largely by volunteers from the local sports club. The terrain is modest with five lifts and a short vertical, and the area serves the surrounding district as a place to learn and to ski after work rather than as a destination. Floodlit evening skiing is the main use through the dark months. The Nordmarka forest around it has an extensive cross country network, and the whole area is easy to reach from Oslo by road or by the Gjøvik railway line.

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The ski area for Trondheim, around twenty minutes south of the city, and described locally as the whole town's refuge. The terrain is a good spread with a chairlift, a learning area and a decent vertical for a city hill, and floodlit evening skiing is heavily used through the dark months. The mountain also runs a bike park in summer, which keeps it open year round. Trondheim is a substantial city with a cathedral, a university and a good food scene, and staying there rather than at the hill is the obvious choice.

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One of the largest ski areas in western Norway, with 24 runs and 45 kilometres of prepared piste ranging from family trails to international race courses for giant slalom and Super G. Ten lifts move over 13,000 people an hour, and there is floodlit evening skiing through the season. Voss sits on the Bergen railway between Bergen and Oslo, so arriving by train is straightforward, and the town has a genuine year round life. It is also the extreme sports capital of Norway, with a festival every summer. The Atlantic weather brings a great deal of snow and a good deal of variability. Bergen is around ninety minutes away.

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A ski area at Vrådal in Telemark, above the Nisser lake, and a year round destination with activities in both seasons. The terrain is modest with a good spread for families, and the ski school teaches alpine, telemark, snowboard and cross country, which is a wider range than most Norwegian centres of this size offer. There is a good deal of cabin and apartment accommodation around the area, and a golf course that operates in summer. Telemark is the birthplace of the ski turn that carries its name, and the region has a strong tradition in the sport. Oslo is around three hours away.

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