12,000 skied last race of the season

Some faced challenges getting to the starting line on time, because of more technical trouble at state railway NSB, but around 12,000 skiers took part over the weekend in the last major race of the season, Skarverennet, that traditionally marks the end of the skiing season. It begins in the high country at Finse and [...]

German tourist caught free-loading

A German tourist in his 50s committed a serious offense in Norway by violating the honor system at the country’s vast network of self-service hytter (cabins) in the mountains. He’s since been arrested, fined and deported. The cabins are owned and maintained by the national trekking association Den Norske Turisforeningen (DNT), and open to all members [...]

Red Cross reports hectic Easter

Large numbers of Easter tourists in the mountains and on skis kept Red Cross emergency workers busy during last week’s annual påskeferie (Easter holiday). Red Cross volunteers responded to 377 accidents and treated 980 injuries, according to Red Cross officials. “The huge numbers of people heading outdoors this year is the main reason for the [...]

Avalanche danger dims sunny Easter

Norway’s traditional Easter skiing holidays in the mountains got off to a mostly sunny start, but the ongoing danger of avalanches hung over them like a dark cloud. Another man was killed during the weekend and a 12-year-old boy rushed to hospital after both were buried under mounds of snow in Tromsø and Sauda on [...]

Amateur beats skiing stars

A 24-year-old skier who hadn’t competed in a race since 2011 set a new world sprint record and crushed some of Norway’s fastest skiers including Petter Northug at a sprint show in Oslo Monday evening. Now a coach for the national ski team is opening the door for Ludvig Søgnen Jensen. Jensen skied the 100-meter [...]

Sun finally shone on sporty weekend

Norwegian sports fans were torn during the weekend among the annual Birkebeiner ski race in Lillehammer, World Cup competition at Holmenkollen in Oslo and even the launch of the football season. After a surprising snowfall that began Friday, the sun finally came out and so did thousands of fans and participants at all the major [...]

Cold race awaited Birkebeiner fans

Thousands of eager skiers were ready once again to race their way over the mountains of southeastern Norway during the weekend, and they faced an especially cold ordeal. This year’s famed “Birkebeinerrennet” nonetheless was fully booked months ago even though it was being held on the same day as the men’s 50-kilometer World Cup race [...]

Sports officials clear themselves

Norway’s national skiing federation (Norges Skiforbund) has released what information its officials said they could about former top skiers’ blood tests from the 1990s, and contended they cleared the athletes of any speculation about doping. Ola Rønsen, doctor for the national skiing team who’s tied to the Norwegian Olympic Committee, told reporters that former skiing star [...]

Holmenkollen tries to lure back fans

World Cup ski jumping and ski racing are set to return to Holmenkollen in Oslo this weekend, and organizers are hoping that cheering crowds will return as well. Grandstands were embarrassingly empty last year, after a sharp rise in ticket prices, but now tickets are cheaper, some local embassies have tried to help stir interest [...]

Red Cross wants mandatory guides

Another serious accident involving tourists who go skiing in potentially hazardous mountain areas has set off new alarms among search and rescue experts. A Red Cross chapter in northern Norway is now calling for mandatory use of local guides and stricter reporting requirements. The call from the Red Cross in Nordland County comes a day [...]

Acrobats took over Holmenkollen

UPDATED: The best snowboarders in the world, along with thousands of children, took over winter sports areas around Holmenkollen during the weekend, just days after the world’s best freestyle skiers moved on to Voss. The annual “Arctic Challenge” saw snowboarders flying off what some call the world’s “rawest” half-pipe. The event marked the half-pipe final [...]

Blood tests aim to prove innocence

Norwegian and Swedish skiing federations have started to gather blood test results from top skiers in the 1990s, in an attempt to remove speculation about blood doping after a Swedish documentary cast suspicion on them last week. The documentary was met with shock, warnings of legal action and denial of any wrongdoing. “I will try to [...]

Storm shut roads, stranded skiers

A major storm that hit much of central and southern Norway hard over the weekend cut off most traffic over the mountains and disrupted a long string of ferry and ship sailings. It also stranded scores of skiers taking part in a major skiing event over the Hardanger mountain plateau. State meteorologists had issued firm [...]

More debate over skiing supremacy

NEWS ANALYSIS: While many Norwegians simply enjoy some skiing on winter weekends, there’s no question the country now ranks firmly as a skiing powerhouse internationally. Norway’s impressive professional winter sports season this year has set off new discussion over why the Norwegian athletes are so good, and whether it’s good for the sports world as [...]

Sports fans cheer sensational skiing

Sweden won gold in the end, but Norwegian winter sports fans were already cheering over their own pile of medals at the Nordic World Championships in Italy as they headed into the weekend – and then the pile rose even higher. Meanwhile, back home, another Norwegian was winning the biathlon World Cup in Oslo and [...]

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