I just arrived from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. It’s the easter weekend and my memory goes back a few years to my Easter holiday in the Norwegian mountains and makes me think back to how much i miss skiing. In Norway Easter is the time of the year when most people head up to the mountain for a skiing holiday to enjoy some time with family and friends. Either they spend it in their own mountain cabin or they book a stay at some of the more popular hotels in famous skiing destinations in Norway.

As I was on a business trip in Oslo during this time and Chiara took some time off from work and traveled from Brazil to join me in Oslo we decided to booked a 5 days stay in Hemsedal. Or at least I believed i had booked a stay in Hemsedal. I rented a car, picked Chiara up at the airport and off we went. Driving on a winding mountain road with beautiful nature all around, enjoying the drive. Just after we passed Gol I saw a sign to Golsfjellet and in the back of my mind I remembered this name. I had been to Gol a few times before but many years ago so was assuming that this was the reason for me remembering the name, so we continued driving until we reached Hemsedal.

 

Hemsedal with a population of around 2000 people is small so easy to find your way around. I asked Chiara to check out the hotel name, so looking at the print out she told me it was Storefjell Resort Hotel and for some reason I remembered the sign golsfjellet that we had passed earlier, but we continued driving to see if we could find a sign with the hotel name. Passing through the small town and entering the ski resort area we had not found any sign with the hotel name, so we turned around and stopped at a petrol station to check. The guy at the petrol station was nice and told me I had to drive back to Gol and take to the left when I could see the sign to golsfjellet.

 

So finally a bell was ringing in my head that I had not booked hotel at hemsedal as I was planning. I usually book my hotel stay at booking.com and realised that when the hotels are fully booked in the area you search it suggest hotels close to the the place. But as I was in a hurry when booking i did not notice this. So we just had to turn back and find our way to golsfjellet and the hotel I had booked. A bit disappointed as we had been looking forward to be staying in Hemsedal and be close to the ski resort and the activities around, including after skiing.

 

We arrived at Storefjell Resort Hotel, checked in and found out there is a ski area just next to the hotel, so that made us feel a bit better. Still it was not Hemsedal, but the hotel was nice and location on the mountain was nice as well with a good view and the distance to drive to Hemsedal was not to far. So overall we ended up enjoying our stay at the Resort.

 

We enjoyed the evening with good food and drinks and decided to check out the ski lift next to the hotel the next day and then take a trip to Hemsedal the following day to check out the ski arena there. This would give us some time to practice a bit skiing before enter the more advanced ski slopes as well, with Chiara being quite new to skiing.

Even do we ended up staying at a different place than planned at least we had luck with the weather. We had sunny days and blue sky, so it could not be more perfect that that.

   

Hemsedal is considered a true heaven for ski lovers with snow from November to early May.  You will find all from off-piste skiing to cross-country skiing where you can enjoy well prepped mountain tracks in beautiful wild surroundings.

 

With the car it was easy to drive to Hemsedal so we tried out the ski area there as well and it ended up being another fantastic sunny day with lots of fun in the ski slopes. Chiara was struggling a bit in the fist ski lift but she got a hang of it after a few time with falling off as the first part of the ski lift is the one you are standing and not the seated ski lift. So with the snowboard it is a bit more tricky.

 

 

No matter what your level is you will enjoy the slopes so it is just to choose the level of comfort. And if you feel like stopping for a refreshment along the way you have the options for that as well.

 

 

We tested out the slopes and had a fantastic time, enjoying the sunny weather.

 

 

After a long day trying out all the slopes our appetite was high so we headed over to the city center to find a place to eat.

 

We ended up at Hemsedal Cafe and had a fantastic meal follow by some coffee as we had to drive back to our hotel after.

 

Back at Storefjell Resort hotel we find our way to the after ski event.

 

Taking in the beautiful view of the mountain with a drink before dinner, it was a perfect end to our day.

Hemsedal is one of the largest ski resorts in Norway. A very popular resort, 3.5 hrs. drive from Oslo. The stable climate and the absolute guarantee of snow will ensure an unforgettable winter sport vacation. The season starts as early as November and runs until May.

We had a memorable time and looking forward to our next stay and maybe next time we would be lucky enough to book book a say in Hemsedal.