Norwegian Ski Resort Breaks Snow Record

6th January 2023

Last modified on January 24th, 2023

Hemsedal has just broken a 100-year-old record for snowfall. The news comes as the country’s ski areas continue to bask in deep, deep powder.

The record was broken at the weekend.

The resort recorded the most snow for time of year for more than a century.

At Hølto (655m) in Hemsedal, they’ve been measuring snow depths since 1879.

Official measurements show a full 115 cm of snow there on Sunday 8th January.

On the same date in 1977, 117 cm was measured at Lykkja, which is 300 metres higher than Hølto in Hemsedal.

“The weekend can be summed up with lots of powder and happy guests on and off the slopes in Hemsedal,” said the Managing Director of Destination Hemsedal, Richard Taraldsen.

“It is not often that you can ride Japan-powder in Norway, and we were able to do that this weekend.

“Even more snow is on the way, and if the weather forecast is correct, Hemsedal will get another 30-40 cm of snow.”

Hemsedal, Norway. Image © Kalle Hägglund

The great conditions have led to a big influx of visitors.

Last weekend there was a record number of guests.

The resort is warning skiers and snowboarders to take care and follow all the safety advice, with a level 3 avalanche risk.

It’s none too shabby in the resort of Norfejell that is the closest resort to Oslo.

“There are ‘golden’ snow conditions as they locally call it in Norefjell,” said PlanetSKI reader Trevor de Villiers from Norway-Home of Skiing.

“There is perfect grooming of the pistes and we’ve had the chance for two days of fresh tracks powder skiing.

“This must be one of the best skiing day’s of my life in 30 years of skiing in Norway.”

Norefjell, Norway. Image c/o Norway – Home of Skiing

Resorts across Norway have been inundated with snow, as we reported below on Friday 6th January.

It has been snowing heavily in some of the Norwegian ski resorts over the past few days.

Those out in the snow at the moment have some of the best conditions in Europe.

Here’s Norefjell.

“It’s way off – well over one metre,” said local skier, Geir Botolf, to PlanetSKI.

“Parts of the mountain have had close to 80cm new snow in the last few days on the top of a really good base.”

Geilo, Norway. Image c/o Norway - Home of Skiing

Norefjell, Norway. Image c/o Norway – Home of Skiing

Norefjell,, Norway. Image c/o Norway – Home of Skiing

In Geilo the fleet of piste bashers is fighting a loosing battle to keep the slopes clear – as soon as the machines have done their work then more snow falls.

“I have never seen so much snow falling in Geilo as I have these past few days and I have been coming for around 20-years,” said the CEO of Norway – Home of Skiing, Trevor de Villiers.

Geilo, Norway. Image c/o Norway – Home of Skiing

“They really are astonishing conditions especially when you consider the lack of snow in parts of the Alps at the moment,” added Trevor.

The situation in the Alps though is about to change as we have reported on PlanetSKI:

Fresh snow is finally on its way to the Alps

The percentage of ski lifts open, and snow depths in Norway, is the envy of the Alps.

Facts and Figures from On the Snow

“So we got so much snow. Here we are talking powder breakfast, powder lunch, powder dinner AND powder evening,” said the resort of Hafjell ahead of this weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/hafjell/videos/716654959969623/

See here for some social media posts from the ski resorts in Norway:

https://www.facebook.com/SkiGeilo/posts/pfbid0mbHQNbx7NQpijBdXUozdxLKCjhSEVrsqVSKi5cMpKFtyJCLFgDxdHzKxVP4e7VcAl

“Norway has great conditions with lots of snow forecast for next week,” said Duncan Gilroy from Absolutely Snow.

Geilo is forecast to get another 50cms over the next few days.

Trysil 45cms and Hemsedal 57cms.

Hemsedal claims it has already had the biggest snowfall since 1994, with over 1.72m.

And there’s more to come, though the temperature is set to rise so it will be rain at low elevations.

One resort that usually sees huge amounts of snow in Myrkdalen, near Voss.

PlanetSKI hopes to be visiting next month.

https://www.facebook.com/myrkdalen/posts/pfbid02yZRS1Y9UepNvQJzGjTGoMC7Vr28MLvnN7kzVgpjK7pza7Zgod2fcz5ihNs4ikANDl

See here for the offerings from Norway – Home of Skiing in this PlanetSKI article: