History, secrecy, and gastronomy on a ski trip to Eastern Norway’s Telemark region
The train doors clang open, the sound echoing up and down the steep concrete steps.
Grabbing my skis, I walk down a dimly lit corridor carved into the rock, passing a locked door marked ‘Top Secret’ (yes, I tried it!), and head to the rectangle of blue light in the distance.
Momentarily blinded by the sunshine, my eyes adjust to see Gausta Ski Resort laid out far below me like a piste map and, further still, the outskirts of the town of Rjukan.
I spin a slow 360 and see snow-capped mountains in every direction and the rocket-shaped radio tower looming above me, piercing the deep blue sky.
The wind has sculpted the snow, coating everything on the summit in layers of ice crystals and rime which crackle and crash with every footstep.
The setting sun is turning the sky golden and the snow alpenglow pink.
I lower my goggles, click into my bindings, and head down …
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Unique ski destinations offering new and adventurous experiences are getting harder and harder to find and you wouldn’t be alone in thinking that to enjoy these places requires independent booking and a lot of effort.
Boarding long-haul flights to far-flung countries, crossing multiple time zones, often combined with arduous road or rail travel to the mountains.
Sleeping in rudimentary accommodations with basic and uninspired meals, battling language differences along the way, and spending several thousand in the process.
And that’s before you even get on snow!
Well, it’s time to think again.
What if I were to tell you that a little over a 2-hr direct flight from the UK, followed by a scenic three-hour transfer from the airport via stunning fjord scenery to the front steps of your hotel, apartment or cabin, is an under-the-radar resort – quite literally, but more on that later – which offers uniqueness and adventure without compromising on quality.
And it’s available as a package holiday from the UK’s largest tour operator Crystal Ski Holidays.
Welcome to Gausta Ski Resort in the Telemark region of Eastern Norway, the latest in Norway Home of Skiing’s portfolio of seven Norwegian ski resorts.
My partner Nerys & I were very fortunate to visit Gausta in mid-March as guests of Crystal Ski Holidays and Norway Home of Skiing but we’re Crystal customers.
We’ve taken three ski holidays with Crystal in the past five Winters to Arinsal, Andorra; Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Borovets, Bulgaria.
All three holidays have been excellent with very different experiences but with a consistency of quality and tremendous value for money.
We purposely choose resorts which are marketed to beginners and families because the more advanced pisted and off-piste terrain remains in shape for far longer.
Overall, there are fewer people skiing quickly, and the slopes feel less crowded and safer.
Gausta is no different, and so much more.
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NORWAY – TOO SMALL, TOO FLAT?
Gausta Ski Resort is smaller than the interconnected mega resorts of the Alps but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in quality.
With virtually no queuing, quiet slopes, excellent grooming, and well-placed surface lifts and chair lifts linking the 44 slopes and 35km of piste that crisscross the resort, you can easily rack up the same number of kilometres per day as you would in the Alps.
Yes, that does require you to repeat runs, but a phrase I use whilst ski instructing is “In life ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ but in skiing ‘familiarity breeds comfort’ “, especially for beginners and intermediates.
And with excellent English language instruction in small classes at very reasonable prices, improvement is almost guaranteed.
There is also 1.5km of night skiing available three times a week. Floodlit turns when the snow is falling is an experience not to be missed.
The layout of the resorts is well planned with logical progression from beginner through to advanced terrain on tree-lined pistes. This is terrain where you can get your skis on edge, carving turns without worrying about other skiers on the piste. Higher up the mountain, slopes are framed by glacial rock and jaw-dropping views with the time and relaxation to enjoy them.
With nicely spaced spruce trees and wide open above tree line terrain available for those venturing off the piste, the resort becomes more than big enough for a week’s visit.
Looking to ‘go native’? There are 85km of cross-country skiing trails with equipment and instructors for the uninitiated.
These are not high slopes, but this far north they don’t need to be.
The snow arrives in late November and stays well into May with regular snowfall throughout the Winter and a snowpack exceeding 2m in depth.
This natural snowfall is boosted by artificial snowmaking, which covers 29 of the 44 slopes.
The accommodations, shops and restaurants sit at around 1000m with runs dropping down to 702m and lifts reaching 1252m, offering a respectable 550m vertical drop.
This is comparable to many of the resorts on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, Japan, and when the snowfall stopped on our second day and the skies cleared, I had a very real sense of déjà ‘view’ with Gausta reminding me of my favourite Hokkaido ski area, Kiroro.
The layout of the resorts is similar, and both ski areas have a large mountain overlooking their slopes; in Kiroro’s case, the 1488m Yoichidake and at Gausta, the whaleback profile of the 1883m Gaustatoppen.
But what makes Gausta different and unique is that, instead of needing to ski tour or snowshoe for 2-3 hrs to access the excellent off-piste terrain off the summit ridge of Gaustatoppen, it’s easily accessible by a tram and funicular railway tunnelled inside the mountain.
Yes, tunnelled inside the mountain!
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GAUSTATOPPEN & GAUSTABANEN
LET THE TRAIN TAKE THE STRAIN
Constructed in the 1950s, the Gaustabanen railway line and tunnel through the heart of the mountain were ‘Top Secret’ and off-limits to the public. At the height of the Cold War, it transported Norwegian and US military personnel from a joint NATO force who used radio relay equipment installed on the summit to monitor Russian naval movements in the North Sea.
After many years out of operation and thanks to the hard work of local enthusiasts, the railway opened to the public in 2010.
On the penultimate day of our holiday, dawn broke clear and fair with the summit of Gaustatoppen cloud-free and bathed in sunshine for the first time. After a morning on the slopes and a wonderful lunch at Asian fusion restaurant Bygget, Nerys & I finally got a chance to ride the rails.
The 15-minute journey begins aboard a battery-powered tram which transports passengers approx. 850 meters horizontally into the mountain.
At this point there is an intermediate transfer station from which a funicular railway runs upwards at an angle of 39 degrees for 1045 meters to a height of 1800 meters above sea level.
There are tours of the former Cold War observatory along with themed lunches and dinners but the prize for skiers and snowboarders is the series of 700m vertical off-piste runs from the summit ridge back down to the entrance to the railway station.
These range from wide 30 degree intermediate runs on the shoulder of the mountain to high 40 degree descents between rock-lined couloirs.
Snow conditions weren’t at their best the afternoon we skied from the summit, but the Extrem rental skis from Bjorn’s home town of Are, Sweden, which he’d chosen for us, made the mixed snow feel smooth and consistent.
Taking in the view of one sixth of Norway and the thrill of skiing down from the top of Telemark more than made up for the challenging turns.
In between runs and rail ascents, we spent time drinking coffee and eating freshly made waffles in the Gaustatoppen Turisthytte, which is cut into the mountain just below the summit.
Svein Tvetenstrand, the sole warden of the hut the week of our visit, works one week on one week off and is on call 24hrs a day. It’s not a role for the faint-hearted. This is multitasking and multi-skilled to the max.
We waited for the setting sun to begin turning the sky golden before Nerys took the train back down and I had my final run of the day.
From the bottom station we watched the skiers and snowboarders who’d stayed on top until the sun had fully set ride down by the light of their head torches.
Each train ride costs approx £34 (£45 return trip for foot passengers); with a 5-ride ticket costing £136 and £230 for 10 rides.
That’s a big day of off-piste action to rival the best snowcat skiing, at a fraction of the price.
With a guide and in good snow conditions, you can ski all the way down to the valley floor and the town of Rjukan for a superb 1,500m descent.
Rjukan was the site of one of the most important episodes of the Second World War.
In February 1943, a team of 12 Norwegian saboteurs undertook the audacious mission of skiing across the mountains, descending into Rjukan, then blowing up the Vemork Norsk Hydro plant, halting the Nazis from using heavy water to develop and manufacture atomic weapons.
After successfully completing their mission, the saboteurs escaped as they had arrived, on skis across the mountains all the way to Sweden.
Today the Vemork Norsk Hydro is a museum and UNESCO Industrial Heritage Site.
A free bus from the resort takes you to Rjukan and the museum where you can find out more about this fascinating episode which helped change the course of WWII.
The saboteurs’ exploits were immortalised in the Hollywood movie ‘The Heroes Of Telemark‘ starring two of the biggest stars of the time, Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris.
It’s rumoured Douglas’ stunt double for the ski action scenes, Olaf Svartdal, asked for a fee of a million dollars and used the money to fulfil a lifetime dream of developing Gausta Ski Resort and building what was to become the Gaustablikk Fjellresort Hotel.
GAUSTABLIKK FJELLRESORT HOTEL
And relax!
We don’t normally spend much time in the hotel on our ski holidays but Gaustablikk Fjellresort is different.
It’s sophisticated and stylish with a warm and genuine Norwegian welcome. Or in our case, English. Danny, originally from Hammersmith, ex-British forces, now married to a Norwegian and living & working at the resort checked us in, gave us a quick tour of the highlights of the hotel, then showed us to our room.
Spacious with classy decor and subtle lighting, it had everything we needed, including a couch and a full-width window offering uninterrupted views of Gaustatoppen and the lake.
The hotel exudes the Norwegian concept of Kos.
Calmness, of being present, and a deep sense of wellbeing and contentment. It also translates as fellowship, gathering people together, enjoying shared experiences.
The hotel has an indoor pool, hot tub and spa facilities along with a fabulous outdoor floating sauna on Kvitavtn Lake, a short walk from the pool area.
Bookable at reception, the private saunas look out to the tree-lined frozen lake and Gaustatoppen. The brave – Nerys, not me – can even alternate between the heat of the sauna and taking a dip in the just-above-freezing temperatures of the lake!
But the highlight for us was the quality and variety of the in-house dining at the hotel.
Breakfast is served buffet style with everything you could possibly need to set yourself up for a day on the slopes.
For dinner there are two restaurants – Blikk and Bjork – and Kirk’s Bar in honour of the aforementioned Hollywood star Kirk Douglas and the movie filmed in and around the resort.
Unlike ‘The Heroes of Telemark’, offer no resistance to the Bjork restaurant 3-course menu which changes daily (dietary substitutions are available) along with the recommended accompanying wines for each course.
Blikk Restaurant offers a fine-dining à la carte menu showcasing the region’s meat, fish, and vegetables.
The fried Lángos bread with Västerbotten cheese and roe; beetroot carpaccio; cod and turbot; and venison and reindeer dishes come highly recommended.
If you want a change of scenery, Fjell restaurant, a couple of minutes’ walk away in the Stova building, serves delicious traditional Norwegian cuisine.
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Mike was a guest of Crystal Ski Holidays, Norway Home of Skiing, and Gausta Ski Resort
Week-long stays with flights, transfers and half-board accommodation start from £939
Food and drink costs are comparable with the popular French and Swiss ski resorts