It was raining in Oslo again on Friday, but that often means snow is falling in the mountains and that, in turn, signals the start of the ski season. Nine alpine resorts were due to open over the weekend, but it may be awhile before the cross-country season can take off.
Sub-freezing temperatures and some snow in recent weeks has allowed resort operators to blast their snow-making canons with a good degree of return on investment. At Trysil in eastern Norway, snow-making equipment has been going full blast and two lifts were opening Friday morning, reports website ut.no.
It was snowing at Kvitfjell in Gudbrandsdalen this week and two runs were opening on Friday, Familiebakken and Familieheisen. Geilo was also opening on Friday, but only for the public in the evenings. The slopes otherwise were reserved for training teams.
More resorts planned to open on Saturday, including Haukelifjell, Gaustadblikk, Rauland, Skeikampen and Uvdal. Not all runs were snow-covered or prepared though, but it would be possible to launch the downhill season.
Sauda in the western county of Rogaland and Bjorli in northern Gudbrandsdalen opened already but Sauda may need to close again because of unfavourable weather conditions. Last weekend, though, Sauda had one lift in operation under sunny skies. Bjorli opened earlier this week, on Tuesday.
In the Oslo area, there was little sign of cross-country skiing any time soon in the hills and forests around the capital known as marka. Temperatures have dipped well below the freezing point in recent weeks, but rose again this week and there was mostly rain in the forecast.
The alpine and cross country resort closest to Oslo, Norefjell, reported it was hoping to open on Saturday November 27.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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