Leaving some of my gear at Strand Fjellstue I skied the Peer Gynt Løypa, which is nominally a three day tour of about 60 kilometres.  A fit skier who knew the route and travelled light could do it in a long day, but I took three days, intentionally.  I recommend it highly.  The first day involved some ungroomed snow, confusing signage and geographical embarrassment.  Part of my problem was in not realising that the summer and winter versions of this route diverge in places.  The summer route is not snow-groomed of course.  All of which contributed to my arrival by moonlight at Fefor Høyfjellshotell, and some good (if unexpected) photographic opportunities.

Fefor Høyfjellshotell was built in 1891, extended over the last 120 years, and was a favourite destination of the Norwegian Royal Family and their friends, who included the incomparable skier, explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen.  The original part of the building is a magnificent example of a traditional høyfjellshotell (“mountain hotel”), and the løype in the area are groomed regularly (daily, if not twice daily!), a joy to ski on.  And the food, well that’s amazing too, and you can go back as many times as you like for refills.  Fefor Høyfjellshotell should be on every cross country skier’s bucket list.

(A nautical aside: Nansen’s famous and distinctive Fram was designed by the renowned naval architect Colin Archer.  In 1988 Norway made to Australia a Bicentenary gift of another vessel designed by Archer with a long Australian connection, Kathleen Gillett.)

From Fefor it’s a very easy 10km ski to Gålå.  Really one should ski on to the next place (Fagerhøi) but Gålå is worth spending time in, so I stopped there for a day and a half and did some telemark skiing on the downhill runs (you can hire tele and alpine gear).  A lift ticket there costs less than the equivalent at Perisher but there are about 10% of the skiers and snowboarders.  If you turn up on cross country skis they let you ride the lifts for free.  I don’t think you could do that all day, but since most of Gålå is on a steep hillside it helps with the shopping, and gives access to some very good cross country terrain that would otherwise involve a big climb.  The J-bars servicing the smaller hills (and town) at Gålå are 3 times as fast and 15 times as long as the now-defunct Cowpastures J-bar at Guthega was, so you need your wits about you when getting on.  There is more good accommodation (Gålå Høyfjellstue among several) and many FIS-homologated cross country and biathlon tracks.  Plus a supermarket with a rack of ski waxes, a whole aisle of candles, winter clothing, outdoor equipment, even food.  My sort of town.

From Gålå I went past Fagerhøi and on to Skei, which is a more urban, commercial and expensive ski centre with heaps of downhilling and consequently much less character.  It was satisfying after a 30 km day with a fullish pack to feel that a belt was becoming a functional necessity again, instead of mere sartorial convention!

Along the way to Skei there were many people out for a day’s skiing, some taking it very easy, others obviously training for races.  The biggest mass-start race in Norway is the Birkebeiner which this year was on 15 March.  It is 54 km in length, is skied using classic technique only, and has a limit of 17,000 participants (with places reserved for the many overseas entrants).  Like all such events, participation and completion are goals in themselves for most people.  If you finish within 25% of the time of the winner of your age division you are awarded a medal.