Skiing beyond the Alps: Why Scandinavian skiing might be the best in Europe

I have to preface this by saying I did just get back from skiing in Norway. So does this make me biased? Perhaps, but having skied a few times in Central Europe, and now a couple of times in Scandinavia, I can comfortably say which one I think is better (depending on what kind of skiing you like.) So here I'm going to unravel the secret of Nordic skiing.

Trysil Ski Resort - Norway

It's fair to say that Sweden and Norway (there is no skiing in Denmark) aren't the first places that come to mind when you think about European skiing. Iconic resorts like Val d'Isère (France), Courchevel (France), Val Thorens (France) Zermatt (Switzerland), Verbier (Switzerland) and St Anton (Austria) tend to spring to mind. It is almost a certainty that if you speak to someone in the UK who went skiing this winter, they went to one of France, Italy, Austria or Switzerland - the 'Big Four' of skiing in Europe.

Now these resorts are obviously great, there is a reason people from all across the world pay extortionate amounts of money to ski there. The variety of easy and challenging terrains are always great, the slopes are well groomed, there's plenty of accommodation, and there's a vibrant après ski scene, that for some is the most important factor when choosing a ski resort.

It's worth noting before I delve into why skiing in Scandinavia can be so much better than in Central Europe, if you ski for the hard and fast Après, you might as well stop reading. It's not to say there is no drinking or Après at all, only you will be hard pushed to find a nightclub or even anybody else on the slopes to party with.

Which nicely brings me to one of the great parts of skiing in Scandinavia - it's so quiet! This is what can happen when you take away the French who hate every Brit that skis in their country and the 'unce-unce' sound that greets you at the bottom of the slopes. Okay well not really. The reality is that skiing has become a seriously overcrowded activity.

It's well documented that since the pandemic, the popularity of skiing has sky-rocketed. A report in the Sports Business Journal found there has been a 10% growth rate in skiing and snowboarding since before the pandemic, and resorts are now battling to keep the slopes safe as drunk rookies and limited space on the slopes causes havoc.

In Central Europe lift lines can be hellishly long, particularly on a weekend, whilst the final run down to resort on the green run turns out to be the most treacherous of the day, as you combine the cocky-know-it-all-need-for-speed skiers with the first timers screaming as their two skis drift apart into two different post codes, all on an overcrowded bumpy chopped up slope that occasionally throws in a lovely patch of ice. It might be quite a spectacle to watch from the bottom of the mountain, but its a dangerous one too. Some might say all part of the fun, depends what you're into.

The Scandinavian Secret

Trysil Ski Resort at dusk. If you are lucky, the Northern Lights can be be seen from Norway

I could not believe how quiet Trysil Ski Resort in Norway was. It's the beginning of April, still the Easter holidays, and almost nobody there. I'm there with my family, and in our four days of skiing, we didn't queue once for a ski lift, had no collisions with other skiers or boarders (not even a close call!), and could sit down in a near-empty restaurant every lunch.

I cannot state enough how much more enjoyable skiing can be without checking your shoulder every ten seconds for oncoming traffic. It's bliss. Just you, and the mountains.

Surely with quiet slopes, there's got to be a good reason why? That reason definitely isn't the conditions, with a huge amount of snow to keep the season going well into the Spring. We were fortunate that Trysil received a massive dump of snow in the 72 hours before our arrival, giving us a couple of powder days to enjoy.

Powder days

The one thing with Scandinavia, as you might expect with it being so Northern, is the cold. I visited Åre in Sweden in February a few years ago and it was absolutely baltic. Temperatures on the slopes were as low as -20°C, which is painfully cold. Although the skiing there was equally as good as Norway. Again, so quiet. Again, great snow.

This time around in Norway, with it being Spring and all, it was really quite warm on the slopes. Our final day saw temperatures upwards of 15°C, with blue skies and some rapidly melting snow, which is perfectly normal for this time of year. And it made for some great skiing.

It's pretty standard in my family to ski hard and for as much of the day as you can manage. With no lift queues and empty slopes we were suitably knackered by the end of the days, racking up quite a mileage too. There's a decent variation in the difficulty of terrain, with plenty of black runs to keep the experienced entertained, but loads of gentler beginner slopes at lower levels.

The snow quality is very different to Central Europe. With most of the season being so cold and the snowfall being generally much greater, the snow is thicker, softer and not quite as hard-packed as it can be in Central Europe, leaving you to shudder down the mountain as you turn.

A sea of white - above the clouds

I found myself thinking on numerous occasions that the skiing in Trysil reminded me strongly of skiing in Colorado. The type of snow and the snow covered pine trees left me feeling nostalgic for the American skiing I enjoyed so often when I was younger.

The accommodation was great too, in our case staying in an apartment right on the slopes. I mean literally next to it so we were skiing door to door and could watch skiers on the slope from our window. I had never done ski-in ski-out before, and now I'm not sure how I'm ever going to go back to carrying my skis from A to B again. We also had our own sauna in the apartment which got plenty of use. If a hotel is more your pace, then Trysil has not one, but two Raddison Blu hotels.

In terms of travel, it was just as straightforward as any ski trip to Europe. A flight to Oslo, then a two hour drive to the resort, which was stunning with the Fjords and Nordic landscapes.

Why should you ski in Scandinavia?

Don't. No seriously don't go there. Leave it alone so it can remain as the best secret of skiing, and so that when I inevitably return one day, it won't have been conquered by the Brits abroad, inundated with the drunk rookies, long lift queues and social media showboats. Leave that in the Alps. Thanks in advance.

Completely empty ski slopes (let's keep it that way)