 Poster: A snowHead
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I saw that you can do a day trip to Oslo airport with Ryanair for around 40 euros midweek if you are lucky with the pricing. Landing at 9am, leaving at 7pm. So I did some research to see if a day trip is possible. I focussed on cross country and most people wouldn't want to be cross country skiing from dawn to dusk, so finishing in the mid afternoon to leave time to check in at the airport seems reasonable.
This is what I managed to research: https://pistehors.com/_Ek8sIcBsDqi-LmiWMf9/a-day-ski-trip-to-oslo
You could pretty much get on the plane with your ski gear and a rucksack with boots but taking skis would add to the faff. The problem is ski hire around Oslo is not entirely straightforward with Holmenkollen at 1h10 by train and underground being perhaps the best option.
Maybe something to consider next winter - although with the trails still open next week could be a possibility too!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@davidof, seems to be plenty of snow there at the moment, go for it.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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2 hours each way on a plane.
1 hour each way on the train.
For a couple of hours cross country skiing?
That's even if you don't include time sitting around at the airport, waiting for trains etc.
Nothing about this plan seems "reasonable", unless you enjoy the travel to and from skiing bit more than the skiing itself.
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I don't think you'd need to "enjoy" the air and train travel but with a good book it would not be too much of a hardship. But having to get to Stansted and back would probably kill it for anyone in my neck of the woods. Be better value for a few days, which might work for someone with the cardio-vascular capacity to go cross country skiing, which would rule it out for me.
Holidayloverxx did a day trip to the Alps a few years ago.......made for a very entertaining story!
If anyone wants to give it a try I have a pair of cross country skis and boots they could have..... 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
Nothing about this plan seems "reasonable", unless you enjoy the travel to and from skiing bit more than the skiing itself. |
Well taking a plane isn't reasonable and taking a plane for a day trip could probably be described as unreasonable but I was trying to leave those questions on one side.
I notice the Americans will drive huge distances for a day or weekend's skiing; something us "europeans" would baulk for a whole load of good reasons.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Well taking a plane isn't reasonable and taking a plane for a day trip could probably be described as unreasonable but I was trying to leave those questions on one side.
I notice the Americans will drive huge distances for a day or weekend's skiing; something us "europeans" would baulk for a whole load of good reasons.
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I wasn't even referring to the carbon footprint of taking a plane for a days skiing. Simply the fact that for most people the whole travel bit is not a particularly enjoyable aspect of holidays. Also I know personally I wouldn't enjoy the day much as I'd just be clock watching the whole time. Plus if I'd been out cross country skiing for a few hours I'd also want a shower before sitting on a plane.
Ignoring the environmental concerns, maybe it can work for some. For me personally the ratio of travel/faff/stress to actual skiing is not close to worth it.
Driving huge distances is definitely more normalised for n Americans. Some of that is geography - my Aussie friends would also find a 5-6 hour drive fairly unremarkable. Also lack of annual leave in USA means taking a week for a ski holiday is not an option for many, as would be the norm here. Finally a lot of people have some kind of multi resort pass (epic/Ikon) and for some their mindset is to maximise their number of days and/or different resorts.
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Covid ensured that I did once visit Whistler from the UK for a single day's snowboarding. I'm not sure I'd recommend that as efficient, fun as it was in a weird way. You could easily do Copenhagen for the dry slope there in a day, or Helsinki for "The Mountains of Serena" for a day, if you really wanted to. But those Oslo hotels are pretty nice and the beer and food is good... I think I'd be wanting to stay a bit longer.
I'm not phased by travel, but I still tend to go away for longer periods. I get bored after a few weeks, but not after a day or two.
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I wouldn't go for a day, but Oslo's certainly an option for a weekend. If booked in advance BA flight from Heathrow is reasonable and there's a late flight back Sunday.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Boris, Euro city day trips seem to be a thing so I was just seeing if it is possible for skiing given there are slopes (alpine as well) right in the city of Oslo.
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@davidof, Certainly possible - when we went, we were in Oslo by 11am after 6:25am flight out of Heathrow. Could easily have had a full afternoon at the XC in Oslo and be back out on evening flight. Personally I'd look at car hire - while public transport is great the XC course I'm aware of is a little out of Oslo near ski jump
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The Fram museum in Oslo is fabulous - provided you're keen on Polar exploration. Or at least, reading about it. I'd read masses of books about it, including the Fram, as a teenager, curled up on a warm sofa eating salted peanuts from the Italian coffee shop on the way home from the library. I have to say that I was otherwise somewhat underwhelmed by Oslo, not that I saw much of it on my way north. The Kon-Tiki museum was less interesting, though I'd adored that book as a teenager too. I found the museum about Norway in the war interesting, as I'd been reading about it and other aspects of Norwegian history in preparation for the trip. But it was not a particularly enthralling museum as museums go. Fairly basic displays.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| pam w wrote: |
| The Fram museum in Oslo is fabulous - provided you're keen on Polar exploration. |
I went to the Musee des Confluences "Race for the Poles" exhibition in Lyon a few years ago. It was all about Scott - Amudsen, who actually got to the SP first, was a footnote. Seems like the French like a heroic failure more than a boring success story as much as the Brits. The Guardian claims that Titus Oates fathered a child with a 12 year old - I guess that's where the expression "getting your Oates" comes from. 
I didn't realise that the first land based team to get to the N.P. was only in 1968 and the first dog team was in 1969. - Accepting the research that says Peary and Cook didn't make it.
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The viking ship display in Bygdoy was definitely worth going to, but seems to be closed until 2026 now while they build a new museum building.
But you wont have much time in your one day for all this and skiing!
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You know it makes sense.
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@davidof,
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I focussed on cross country and most people wouldn't want to be cross country skiing from dawn to dusk, so finishing in the mid afternoon to leave time to check in at the airport seems reasonable.
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If you check out OpenStreetMap Winter Slopes Layer you'll see you don't have to travel far for plenty of trails in what's likely to be great countryside.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| geoffers wrote: |
@davidof,
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I focussed on cross country and most people wouldn't want to be cross country skiing from dawn to dusk, so finishing in the mid afternoon to leave time to check in at the airport seems reasonable.
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If you check out OpenStreetMap Winter Slopes Layer you'll see you don't have to travel far for plenty of trails in what's likely to be great countryside.
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Yes.
if you check out the link in my first post you'll see I researched a lot of options
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Poster: A snowHead
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Talked to someone today in Southern Norway, plenty of snow for CC but the temps they’ve been getting over the last few days means you don’t want to be out skiing later than about 11am as its too sticky.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| ster wrote: |
| Talked to someone today in Southern Norway, plenty of snow for CC but the temps they’ve been getting over the last few days means you don’t want to be out skiing later than about 11am as its too sticky. |
was skiing in Hemsedal a few weeks ago, and joined this group which is great for on-the-spot conditions reports
https://facebook.com/groups/800937153255892/
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@geoffers, was in Trysil myself over Easter and snow conditions were good there then but I imagine there are big variations over a big country
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@davidof,
If you're looking for a short 2 day trip skiing in europe from the UK, take a cheap flight to Grenoble. Stay in Grenoble and use the Skiligne by Transaltitude to take the bus (lift pass included) to a resort and back each day. They serve L2A, ADH, and a few other resorts. Usually around €30-50 for transport and lift pass. Could tick off 2 in a weekend if you planned it well.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@davidof, have you ever visited Grenoble before? 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| denfinella wrote: |
| @davidof, have you ever visited Grenoble before? |
Is it where that nuclear reactor blew up?
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@northernrookie, everybody is being beastly, there is no reason why you should have known that davidof lives in Grenoble.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Hurtle wrote: |
| @northernrookie, everybody is being beastly, there is no reason why you should have known that davidof lives in Grenoble. |
None at all and I accept his idea is much more logical than mine.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
2 hours each way on a plane.
1 hour each way on the train.
For a couple of hours cross country skiing?
That's even if you don't include time sitting around at the airport, waiting for trains etc.
Nothing about this plan seems "reasonable", unless you enjoy the travel to and from skiing bit more than the skiing itself. |
That’s rich from a guy whose entire life/career is quite “unreasonable” by conventional standards of the majority of population, done to maximize snow time!
There’s nothing taxing sitting around on a plane or train, or even at the airport. Just need a good book (or online book). Many people sit around watching tv or browsing the ‘net for hours on end. Might as well do that while moving towards/back from a snowy destination.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@davidof, is that fare only valid with return on the same day?
If not, I’d say an overnighter might be more enjoyable?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@abc no you can stay 1 day, 2 days or 2 months. The idea was to study if it was feasible with no overnight accomodation but I agree staying a few days would make much more sense.
The trails yesterday 
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| abc wrote: |
| boarder2020 wrote: |
2 hours each way on a plane.
1 hour each way on the train.
For a couple of hours cross country skiing?
That's even if you don't include time sitting around at the airport, waiting for trains etc.
Nothing about this plan seems "reasonable", unless you enjoy the travel to and from skiing bit more than the skiing itself. |
That’s rich from a guy whose entire life/career is quite “unreasonable” by conventional standards of the majority of population, done to maximize snow time!
There’s nothing taxing sitting around on a plane or train, or even at the airport. Just need a good book (or online book). Many people sit around watching tv or browsing the ‘net for hours on end. Might as well do that while moving towards/back from a snowy destination. |
I guess my life is pretty unusual but wouldn't say it was unreasonable. In fact probably achievable to a decent number of people, however they have different priorities.
Personally I find the whole travel thing quite stressful. I don't think I'm alone. I'm sure there are people that don't find it at all stressful maybe this kind of trip works for them. My last flight I had to wake up at 4am to leave for the airport and didn't manage to sleep on the plane, hardly in a fresh state for cross country skiing! On the face of it sitting there doing nothing shouldn't be tiring, but I find the overall experience often is. Again, maybe just me, but I don't think I'm alone. I just think it makes more sense to at least overnight and get a bit more time there.
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You know it makes sense.
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@boarder2020,
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Personally I find the whole travel thing quite stressful. I don't think I'm alone.
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Me too, you're not alone.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@boarder2020, some people travel better than others. I just find it odd for someone who has an unconventional lifestyle not to understand another different unconventional style of others, so much so to term it “unreasonable”.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Hurtle wrote: |
@boarder2020,
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Personally I find the whole travel thing quite stressful. I don't think I'm alone.
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Me too, you're not alone. |
I don’t exactly “like” travel. Nor do I like cleaning house. But both I do frequently because I like the result more than my dislike of the process.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
I don’t exactly “like” travel. Nor do I like cleaning house. But both I do frequently because I like the result more than my dislike of the process
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Agree in principle. But in this case the "cons" of travelling outweigh the pros imo. If the suggestion was a long weekend, or maybe even 2 days skiing, I might consider otherwise. That amount of time in transit (and let's hope nothing goes wrong, one delay basically ruins your day), is just not worth an afternoon X country skiing for me.
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I just find it odd for someone who has an unconventional lifestyle not to understand another different unconventional style of others, so much so to term it “unreasonable”.
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Really though who is that time constrained that they can only take 1 day for skiing over the whole winter? I just don't see the logic behind a one day trip. Much better value for money and time to add the extra day onto a 1 week ski trip. Or even do a long weekend rather than a single day.
I'm sure there will be someone who can justify it fitting their specific needs. For most people I'd guess the carbon footprint, and poor ratio of transit:time on snow make it "unreasonable". There is probably a reason why single day ski trips are not a thing you hear about many people doing!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
There is probably a reason why single day ski trips are not a thing you hear about many people doing!
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You’re well aware single day ski trips are quite a “thing” in the US, with similar amount of travel time!
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Really though who is that time constrained that they can only take 1 day for skiing over the whole winter? I just don't see the logic behind a one day trip.
That amount of time in transit (and let's hope nothing goes wrong, one delay basically ruins your day), is just not worth an afternoon X country skiing for me.
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Clearly you have zero understanding of xc skiing (or surfing). So you’re the one being “unreasonable” with your completely off the mark criticism.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yes, but like I said the reason for USA day trips are probably a combination of multi resort passes season being common and the fact most get a pathetic amount of annual leave meaning a week trip is impossible.
There is certainly more acception of travelling long distances too. People living in big empty countries have different norms to those of us in UK. My Aussie/Canadian friends won't think twice about driving 6 hours. For most Brits that's quite the epic road trip.
I'm not sure what surfing has to do with anything? I really wanted to like surfing. I did a 3 day school. Just didn't enjoy it at all, didn't click for me but no problem. Snowboarding is already such a weather dependent sport, I don't want the stress of another
We all have a ratio of stress/cost/time/faff to fun that we accept. At some point it's just not worth it. I doubt anyone would recommend flying to Japan for an hour's skiing. Towards the other end of the spectrum there are people on here that say if you "only" have a week, forget USA because the connecting flights and jet lag are too much.
Ive driven an hour each way and spent about 6 hours touring up and back out to ride a single line. I can absolutely understand why to some that would be a completely unreasonable way to spend a day on snow - far too much faff and effort for 1 run. It worked for me because the touring aspect is an enjoyment, whereas for others it's a stress.
So like I say if travelling multiple hours for an afternoon on snow works for someone, good for them, go for it. Personally, it's unreasonable to me, which I don't think is that hard to understand. You seem to have taken it to heart more than OP! Guess he didn't over read into it and realised the idea just didn't appeal to me personally rather taking it as some personal criticism.
Perhaps a better question is just how long would you travel for a day on snow? Would be interesting to see the ranges. I suspect there would be an inverse correlation with days on snow to hours willing to travel.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
Perhaps a better question is just how long would you travel for a day on snow? Would be interesting to see the ranges. I suspect there would be an inverse correlation with days on snow to hours willing to travel. |
My personal rough rule of thumb is no more travel time than ski time. So 4 hours on snow allows 2 hours each way. Easy to apply to alpine, harder for physical sports like ski touring or cross country if the travel time gets longer.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
I'm not sure what surfing has to do with anything? I really wanted to like surfing. I did a 3 day school. Just didn't enjoy it at all, didn't click for me but no problem. Snowboarding is already such a weather dependent sport, I don't want the stress of another |
I mentioned surfing because it’s an activity that has relatively limited locations to do it. So traveling some distance to surf is almost a given. And because surfs are all different from one location to another, it’s not at all uncommon for people to travel extended distance to reach a particular surf spot.
Further more, as surf are weather dependent, it’s also not uncommon you only get a short window to actually surf despite the long travel.
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Perhaps a better question is just how long would you travel for a day on snow? Would be interesting to see the ranges.
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Your “poll” is irrelevant. This is an alpine-centric forum. Most are forgiven for not understand cross country skiing. No more than your understanding of surfing.
American/Australians’ willingness to travel long distance to do everything notwithstanding, there’s one scenario that any self-proclaimed avid skier/boarder must accept, is to travel whatever distance it takes for a powder event!
Your unwillingness to travel is only equal in “unreasonableness” to your sacrificing your career in order to stay close to the mountain… (to avoid extended travels).
You astonish me with your lack of understanding of slightly eccentric behavior by other. Because you yourself had chosen an unusual lifestyle. Most people who chose unconventional lifestyle tend to be more accepting of other unconventional behavior even without fully understanding the rational & motivation behind it.
I quite understand why you don’t find the exercise acceptable for yourself. But I don’t understand why you don’t understand it’s perfectly “reasonable” to others.
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@davidof, I’m slightly surprised by the lack of ski hire in Oslo. I would have thought there’re more than just one single hire shop!
I used to live in a small city in the US Midwest. Geography was a bit like the Nordic countries, flat, forested, snowy. (A lot of early immigrants from the Nordic countries settled there) Yes, there’re trails all over the city and around it. There’re far more than just one ski shops that rents nordic skis!
It’s a totally doable trip. Whether one enjoys such a trip or not is individual. Personally, I’d opt for an overnighter (or however long that cheap fare would allow)
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| abc wrote: |
@davidof, I’m slightly surprised by the lack of ski hire in Oslo. I would have thought there’re more than just one single hire shop!
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One at Tryvannsveien and Superski at Holmenkollen and one in the city center. I guess all the Norwegians own their own skis. I think up country in the proper ski centers rather than "citizen" trails there would be a hire shop.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
You astonish me with your lack of understanding of slightly eccentric behavior by other. Because you yourself had chosen an unusual lifestyle. Most people who chose unconventional lifestyle tend to be more accepting of other unconventional behavior even without fully understanding the rational & motivation behind it.
I quite understand why you don’t find the exercise acceptable for yourself. But I don’t understand why you don’t understand it’s perfectly “reasonable” to others.
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You are reading way too much into this. I've said I don't care if someone chooses to do this, but for me the hassle/faff/travel time is not worth it. In that regard it's "unreasonable". If you find that word triggering for some reason just substitute in "not worth it". I actually can completely see why someone would do it, I just think for 99% that are not limited to a single days holiday per year there are better options (i.e. adding an extra day onto a week ski trip seems way more efficient).
I'm sure some would say the idea of such a big carbon footprint for a few hours skiing is absolutely unreasonable due to climate change!
It's funny people have said directly to my face that some of the decisions I've made have been "unreasonable". E.g. leaving a "proper" job to be a ski bum. At most I've shrugged and said something along the lines of "works ok for me, but it's not for everyone" and carried on with my life without thinking twice. So it's hard for me to understand why such an innocuous comment, not even directed at you, has got you so worked up.
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| boarder2020 wrote: |
It's funny people have said directly to my face that some of the decisions I've made have been "unreasonable". E.g. leaving a "proper" job to be a ski bum. At most I've shrugged and said something along the lines of "works ok for me, but it's not for everyone" and carried on with my life without thinking twice. |
But those comments are probably coming from people who have “normal” life.
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So it's hard for me to understand why such an innocuous comment, not even directed at you, has got you so worked up.
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I’m not “worked up” by your comment. I’m not sure I would pull that kind of a trip. But it’s an intriguing idea.
Put another way, if you don’t fancy it, you could have just ignore it. But instead you commented, in a tone of total ignorant. So why are you upset that I counter your comment?
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FAQ
