An hour after taking the train from Bergen at 8.15am, I was jumping on the platform at Voss; My train car was equidistant from the Scandic Hotel, where I would spend the night, and the cable car that would take me up the resort’s slopes. .
The elevator didn’t open until 9.30am, so I had time to hurriedly drop my bags off at Scandic, put on my ski boots (like many other passengers landing here, I’d come with my ski clothes from Bergen) and packed up a few more. A hundred meters behind the platform, towards Voss’s new Ferrari-designed cable car. A few minutes later I was walking down the snow-covered hills.
This was the first leg of a spectacular train journey around Norway’s three ski resorts. Compared to Switzerland’s better-known scenic railways, which transport tens of thousands of skiers to internationally famous resorts such as Zermatt and Arosa each winter, Norwegian railways offer a lesser-known, much quieter and more remote experience.
escape from the city
A few minutes after leaving Bergen station, the train rattled along the banks of windswept lakes, past rustic farms that jutted into deep green forests with occasional waterfalls cascading through the trees. High above, rosy snowy peaks and craggy cliffs whose faces, with a little imagination, all Norwegians resemble the gargoyle-like features of the trolls who live among these mountains.
Skiing at the first stop, Voss, is a winning mix of uncrowded, fun blue and red cruisers and steep, fast blacks; my favorite was Utforløype, a thrilling black run that takes you from the resort’s 964-metre Horgaletten high point. To the cafes, restaurants and mountain huts of Bavallen, almost 700 meters below.
Long, winding greens and the resort’s famous English-speaking ski school cater well to children and beginners. If you want to enjoy freeriding, there’s no end to the wide open terrain between the tracks, with seriously steep challenges above Bavallen.
A world-class winter wonderland
The next day, I took a detour down the railway to Myrkdalen with the 30-minute free ski bus service from Voss train station. The resort is famous for having some of the heaviest snowfalls in the world.
The round-shouldered, snow-capped mountains are reached by a mix of chairlifts and cable cars, and although Myrkdalen offers a relatively modest 600m vertical distance, these cable cars provide access to invitingly wide and rolling pistes, mostly of the red and blue variety. If you like taking wide turns, this is heaven.
The scenic return journey to Voss was followed by dinner at the Park Hotel in the city centre, home to one of the best wine cellars in the world, with more than 40,000 bottles and nearly 6,000 labels from all over the world. If you’ve got £30,000 spare to spend on a bottle of red, this is the place to do it; I spent about 1,500 times less on my evening drink.
untouched wilderness
My initial plan was to set out from Voss and go on a ski tour from the nearby Vatnahalsen Hotel; This hotel can only be reached by train, but seeing a poor local weather forecast and knowing that snow conditions were better in the east of the country, I decided to go. I might abandon my original route and take the train to Norefjell, northwest of Oslo, then continue on to Norway’s capital for my flight back to the UK.
The journey from Voss took me to Hardangevidda, the largest mountain plateau in Europe; The train gradually climbed from a height of 54 meters to a high point of 1,237 meters at Voss. Cars crossed the plateau as dusk and snow fell over a primitive winter landscape; Huge, remote and desolate whaleback peaks that remind me more of oversized versions of the Yorkshire moors where I grew up than the steep, craggy mountains of the Swiss Alps; In fact, the word ‘fell’ is derived from the Norwegian word ‘fjell’.
Avalanche barriers and tunnels protect against incessant snowfalls, and I was content to be in the cozy warmth of the train carriage, where even the least adventurous travelers have the chance to experience the white wilderness of Norway’s winter mountains.
The journey took me through the floodlit slopes of Geilo, one of Norway’s most popular ski resorts (and another stop on the journey for those with more time), eventually arriving in Hønefoss and from there I took a cheap bus transfer to Norefjell.
classic descents
Over the next two days, I had the opportunity to enjoy the largest vertical drop in Norway, from the resort’s high point, Mount Ravnäs (1,188 m), to the base of the Norefjellheisen chair at 178 m. A thousand meters of ‘vertical’ might not be quite in the same league as Switzerland (Verbier, for example, has a vertical of 1,830 meters) but if you do it all without stopping, it’ll be enough to have your quads begging for mercy.
Downhill is Norwegian skiing in a nutshell. Starting with wide, open countryside with gentle blue slopes, I worked my way down to the resort’s traditional mid-mountain lodges, modern Scandi-style apartments and the recently opened, very cool Olympique restaurant (named after the 1952 Olympic giant slalom). run on the slopes of Norefjell).
I was then dropped into the increasingly steep second half of the descent, where wide red runways wind through thick forest, and then I was launched onto black runway 9 (there is also a softer, blue option). I had only just managed to get up to full speed, my muscles burning and my cheeks tingling, as I came to a screeching halt just above the shores of the frozen white Lake Krøderen.
After two days of such nonsense, I enjoyed my last train ride to Oslo to let my aching legs heal while I stared blankly at the magnificent snowy landscapes of Norway floating peacefully.
I need to know
Ski Solutions (0203 7970575; skisolutions.com) offers the following four-star options at each of the resorts mentioned: seven nights B&B at Hotel Scandic in Voss from £1,185; Seven nights at the Myrkdalen Hotel in Myrkdalen from £1,185; Seven nights at Norefjell Ski & Spa start from £1,145. All include flights and private transfers.
You can fly from Gatwick to Bergen from £51 one way, and from Oslo to Gatwick from £24 one way, both with Norwegian Air Shuttle (norwegian.com).
Fundamentals
Alf was a guest of the Norwegian Ski Lodge. For more information on all resorts visit: norwayhomeofskiing.com