Norwegian Mountains and Winter Activities
Norway is full of mountains. We go skiing in the winter, and walk in the mountains when there is no snow. Walking from cottage to cottage in summer is very popular, but there are also famous routes you can walk in one day. The most famous are perhaps ‘Besseggen’ and ‘Preikestolen’.
In the winter people drive up to ski resorts for alpine skiing. If you are lucky to have your own cabin you visit this regularly for skiing in the winter, or for walks in the summer.
Silver Mines Tour, Kongsberg, September 2021
Walking up to Gaustatoppen, August 2021
Walking Across Gaustatoppen, August 2021
Down inside Gaustatoppen, August 2021
Krossobanen Cable Car, Rjukan, August 2021
Nigardsbreen Glacier, July 2021
Nigardsbreen is is a glacier arm of the large Jostedalsbreen glacier.
Nigardsbreen lies about 30 km north of the village of Gaupne in the Jostedalen valley in Luster Municipality. It is located just west of the Jostedøla river.
The Breheimsenteret museum is located 11 km south in the village of Jostedal. In front of the Nigardsbreen is the lake Nigardsbrevatnet where there is a small boat to transport visitors to the glacier. There is also a bus to take visitors to the glacier.
To get up to the glacier, I had to book a glacier tour.
Briksdalsbreen Glacier, July 2021
Briksdalsbreen is one of the most accessible and best known arms of the Jostedalsbreen glacier, located in the municipality of Stryn, about 25 kilometres from the village of Olden. The glacier terminates in a small glacial lake, Briksdalsbrevatnet, 346 meters above sea level.
Since it was not possible to walk up to the glacier, I climbed up a steep slope overlooking the lake to take photos. I stayed overnight in the village of Innvik down by Nordfjorden.
Hiking up to Sturinibba. Loen, July 2021
From Loen you can take the Skylift up to Hoven at 1000 meters above sea level. From there you can walk ‘sherpa-paths’ up to several mountain tops. I walked up to Staurinibba at 1379 meters. From there you have a fantastic 360 degrees view of the surrounding fjords and mountains – and arms of the Jostedalsbreen glacier.
On my way back down I had lunch at the Hoven restaurant before taking the Skylift down to Loen, and driving to my hotel in Innvik.
Romsdaleggen, Åndalsnes, July 2021
Romsdalseggen is a 10 km long mountain ridge accessible from Åndalsnes in Møre og Romsdal municipality. The easiest way to get there is to take the new Skylift gondola lift from Åndalsnes up to Eggen restaurant at 715 meters. From there you can follow marked paths up the ridge to Blånebba at 1320 meters. I stopped at Åkesvarden at 1140 meters. At the narrowest part the path across the ridge is about 1 meter wide.
Besseggen, August 2020
Besseggen is one of Norway´s most famous mountain walks. Thousands of people walk this route every summer. You can start from Memurebu or from Gjendesheim. People starting from Memurebu usually take a boat from Gjendesheim. If you start from Gjendesheim as I did you walk/climb down the steep edge.
This video was recorded while walking – also down steeper parts of the edge. I used a Sony RX100V on a gimbal stabiliser, and a Sony RX100VII for the long zooms from below.
Hiking at Storefjell, July 2020
Preikestolen, October 2010
In connection with a company weekend teambuiling we walked up to the famous Preikestolen cliff.
To reach this area you can fly to Stavanger og the West coast, and drive from there. You have to take a ferry across a fjord, which is a nice break. Then up to the parking lot where you start climbing.
Rounding the last bend and walking to the edge gives you a breathtaking view of the fjord below.
Skiing from Sollihøgda, February 2010
Some of my foreign friends have never seen snow. On request I uploaded this small video that I recorded with a small compact camera in 2010. The route from Sollihøgda to Sørsetra and back is about 15 kilometers. This winter day was especially nice, with lots of sunshine and temperatures not more than minus 5-7 degrees Celsius.
It is not possible to film with a small compact camera while walking with ski-poles, so the scenes you see are from gliding down slopes.
Snowscooter and 4-wheeler competition, January 2005
During a weekend with a work related team-building in Geilo, we had several activities to choose from. I was our official video photographer so I did not participate, but I were present with my camera.
During the snowscooter competition I wanted to film from the track. I asked if I could sit as a passenger looking backwards. OK, but good luck they said. I almost regretted doing this because I spent most of the time trying not to fall off. Driving a snowscooter is fun, but being a passenger is not so fun – especially sitting the wrong way. As you can see I got a few minutes of shaky video.
Skiwax course with Bjørn Dæli, January 2005
During a weekend with work related team-building in Geilo, we were lucky to get instruction for applying ski wax from the famous Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæli (speaking Norwegian).