Norwegians all over the country celebrated a relatively chilly 17th of May, with low temperatures from Oslo to Tromsø accompanied by a cold wind. At Skeikampen in the mountains of Oppland County, residents woke up to 23 centimeters of fresh snow and local authorities groomed new ski trails.
“I’ve prepared around 10 kilometers of fresh trails up along the Peer Gynt road,” Knut Erik Hagen, who’s in charge of trail grooming at the Skeikampen ski area, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Sunday afternoon. He said he’d never been able to prepare ski trails so late in the season before.
Despite stormy weather, Hagen said “lots of folks” were out enjoying what’s probably their last ski trip of the season, though. Beginning on Monday, the road is supposed to be free of snow and open for traffic.
Other hardy souls braved strong winds and took part in what they called a skitog (ski parade) at Gaustatoppen, in the mountains of Telemark. NRK reported that the event has become a tradition on the 17th of May and the views can be spectacular, with a mountain panorama in all directions. Peaks as far away as those in Dovre can be seen when the weather is clear enough, like it was on Sunday.
Other areas also experienced wintry weather, with snowplows called out in Engerdal, for example. Some of the best weather was found in Northern Norway, where at least the sun was shining in many areas from Bodø to Tromsø.
newsinenglish.no staff