Hello, I am planning on making a Winter trip to Norway and Sweden from December 22-Jan 3. I have several questions: 1) Is there a Scandinavian snowboarding pass that I can buy? 2) Would you recommend that I bring my snowboarding gear with me or should I just rent the gear at each resort?
3) What are the top ski resorts that you recommend. Any help would be greatly appreciated. SMG
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Goggle is a wonder thing - try Ski Resorts Norway and see what you get. Or go here - http://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Norway/
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
1) Possibly. Check out this website. I think you would need to create an account. 2) Only you could answer that. Depends on if you wanted to schlep around your own gear. 3) In Scandinavia, I have only skied at Åre in Sweden. I was there pretty early in the season, so only three pistes were open. But it looked like it would be a great resort during the height of the season. I don't know about any of the other resorts, but one of the nice things about Åre is that they have illuminated night skiing. This is particularly important that far to the north because the hours of daylight are very short in the winter. Otherwise, you would only have about 4-5 hours of skiing in daylight. One disadvantage of Åre is that it's really isolated. You have to fly into Östersund and either rent a car or take the train from there. The train only runs regularly during the ski season. I'm not certain what date it starts, but I believe sometime in late December.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5850 posts
I'm not a snowboarder, but I have been skiing in Sweden. The resort mentioned by Tom (Åre) is the resort that most Swedes consider to be the best place to ski in Sweden. Some other popular resorts include Sälen, Idre, Vemdalen. I've only been to Idre and Vemdalen, and since I am a beginner I can't really gauge the quality of the snowboarding. I'd suggest that you research these. You can check this website In Norway, I'd suggest that you look into Lillehammer and Kvitfjell.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17430 posts
Lillehammer would indeed be the top-rated place in Norway. (There is a reason the 1994 Winter Olympics were held there.) It is easy to reach from Oslo. I have been there, but only in the summer. The town is very nice. unfortunately we did not have time for hiking ( and the weather was fairly atrocious), so I can't attest to the quality of the pistes. But it is worth a look.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Also look into Trysil in Norway. I had planned to visit this past winter before a stress fracture, unfortunately, ended my skiing season early. It's the largest ski resort in Norway, and it's relatively easy to reach from Oslo. In the winter, direct shuttle buses run several times a day from the airport and downtown Oslo, and the trips lasts less than 3 hours (Compare that to Åre, which lies over an 8 hour drive from Stockholm).