Cross country skiing at a cabin in the Mountains

Yes that is how I spent last weekend, it was awesome! Firstly I should say I am no skier, I did one day of slalum when I was about 12 in America and about an hour last year cross country but in all honesty it was nothing compared to this, which was incredible.

Cross country skiing is HUGE in Norway, most people I have spoken to do very little slalum skiing and all seem to prefer cross country. Personally I knew nothing about cross country a short time ago but this weekend I learnt a lot. In true Norwegian style Marianne¨and I joined two close friends of ours at one of their parents cabin in the Mountains about 3 hours from Bergen. Its quite amazing how much snow can be found when you go to the right places, we have nothing really in the city for a little while but where we were at 900metres above sea level was a solid metre of the stuff surrounded by majestic mountains in  every direction. Truly a site to behold!

I should point out that while it was called a cabin, the palce we stayed was infact a lovely little house. It had all mod cons including dishwasher, cable tv and even a sauna (I'm aware it isnt a standard mod con but it had to be mentioend). I will do a seperate post on cabins in Norway at some point (called Hytte in Norwegian)  but for now I'll just say this was a particularly luxurious one. You could start skiing from the second you leave the front door but we opted to drive 2 minutes up the road and get on the proper trails.

In all honesty I was kinda nervous given my very limited experience but in the end we skied for a good few  hours covering around 6km and I loved it. The terrain we were on was largely flat with a few slight hills up and down but nothing too challenging. The best way I can describe cross country skiing is to say it is like hiking or a Sunday bike ride in the country, only a lot more effort than both. It was quite exhausting and at the end I was struggling a little due to my incredibly poor fitness. I really did feel though it was a lovely way to spend a day and to my surprise I completely get it. Its not the most glamourous or exciting of sports and doesnt have all the speed and swerves of slalum skiing but I for one really enjoyed it and would definitely recomend it.

Cross country skiing can of course be a lot more exciting if you wish by taking more extreme trails with bigger, longer and steaper slopes both up and down but it will be a while before I will be calling for any of that. I was watching a 50km cross country skiing race the next day on TV and it is no wonder Ive heard people say its the hardest sport around in terms of fitness and stamina. Having got a little bit of an idea of just how much effort it is to get to and maintain a high speed and tackle inclines I was stunned watching the super human pros' the next day. I was exhausted just thinking about it and it makes just maintaining a light jog for a marathon look like a piece of cake.

Very difficult to tell where the snowy mountains end and the clouds begin in this photo. I really regret not taking more pictures as it was stunning, I will try and steal some more off the others that where there.

You may think to yourself, "he's looking pretty cool and relaxed for a newbie". However I must admit I fell over several times getting in position for this picture and then seconds later my skii sticks (far right of the picture) fell over leaving me with a very snowy, wet and cold hat. But lets keep that to ourselves.