Hemsedal Resort Guide & Reviews Ski Area, Apres-Ski, Accommodation, Other Activities
Resort Reviews
Ski holidays in Hemsedal - a high altitude, ski resort in Norway which ensures a long and cold winter season, typically lasting from the end of October until early May.
Having said that, Hemsedal is sufficiently south that daylight hours are similar to the UK - six to seven in December rising to 12 in March - so you don't need to fear near-constant darkness.
Hemsedal promotes itself as "The Scandinavian Alps" to underline the fact that, unlike much of Scandinavia, the mountains around Hemsedal rise steeply and impressively rather than being the gentle rolling hills you're likely to encounter in most other northern European resorts.
Après-Ski
The aprés-ski is very lively during the weekend when people from the cities head to the slopes to ski and party. There are plenty of bars and clubs that rock until the early hours. During the week, the atmosphere is more chilled out and relaxed.
Children
Hemsedal Ski Resort has Norway's largest children’s ski area within a total area of 70 000 m2. The area includes 7 slopes, 8 lifts, Lynxland and a Minipark with small jumps.
| Key information (whole area) | |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 625m |
| Top lift | 1920m |
| Family | |
| Beginner | |
| Intermediate | |
| Expert | |
| Piste (km) | 47 |
| Longest run | 6 km |
| Off piste | |
| Cross country | 210 km |
| Season | Nov - May |
| Snowboard parks | 5 |
| Heli Skiing | ✔ |
| Summer skiing | ✘ |
| Glacier skiing | ✘ |
| Babysitting | ? |
| Creche | ✔ |
| Apres ski | Lively & Fun |
Hemsedal ski area guide
It boasts some of the country's most extensive and testing terrain and has been the site of a World Cup Super Giant Slalom.
Hemsedal has beautifully groomed slopes on 3 high peaks; Totten at 1450m, Hamaren at 1350m and Roni at 1250m. The ski area is divided between the Hemsedal Ski Resort and Solheisen Ski Centre in Grøndalen.
The ski resort is of international class with 52 pistes for all abilities, a large snowboard park, creche and designated areas for beginners.
The pistes have been carefully designed so that people of all abilities can ski from top to bottom, with almost 50 runs spanning three peaks including Norway's highest developed mountain at 1,487m. The pistes are generally wide and ideal for beginners and intermediates.
Beginners
There is a beginners area at the base of the main chairlift where new comers to the sport will spend their first few days. After that, Hemsedal has 23 green slopes to get further practice before venturing on to the Blues.
Intermediate
Intermediate skiers will have great fun skiing in Hemsedal with more or less all the pistes being skiable especially around the Tinden area. If the slopes are too crowded, which cvan be the case at weekends, head to the Hemsedal's other ski area - Solheisen where the pistes tend to be quieter.
Advanced
There are 7 black pistes for the advanced skier and in places, very stepp and challenging. However, the main thrills are to be found in the back-country where it's a good idea to take a guide and be prepared to skin-up some of the peaks to find some superb powder.
Heli-skiing is the ultimate experience and the high peaks around Hemsedal are perfect for spending a day riding down virgin powder.
Other ski holiday activities
If you don't ski or fancy something different, there are plenty of other activities to try...
- Ice climbing on the 140m Hydnefossen waterfall
- Dog sledding
- Snowmobile
- Horseback riding and horse sleigh rides
- Snow scooters on a race track
- Paragliding
Snowboarding & Cross-Country
The snow park is excellent and there is floodlit night riding until 9pm for most of the season.
Solheisen is the smaller resort situated in Grondalen Valley. Here, there are 130km groomed cross country tracks in valley and forest terrain and 80km marked high mountain tracks!
Featured ski chalets & cabins
Hemsedal accommodation
Over the recent years, Hemsedal has seen a lot of new accommodation spring up to cater for the increasing number of tourists. These new developments are typically large lodges complete with restaurants, bars and children's play areas.
The planning of the accommodation in Hemsedal certainly had the skier in mind with practically all the ski chalets and cabins offering ski-in, ski-out.
The accommodation in Hemsedal is centered around a few areas...
- Hemsdal village is 2km from Hemsedal Ski Center with a free ski bus shutle to Hemsedal Ski Center several times during the day
- Ulsåk is about 6 km east of Hemsedal Ski Center also with a free shuttle bus to the slopes during the ski season
- Tuv, Lio, Hulbak - these smaller towns are between 3-8km from Hemsedal ski Center and also offer cabins, chalets and apartments to rent
- Grøndalen is about 9 km north-west of Hemsedal Ski Center and its here that you will find the other ski area - Solheisen Ski Center, where you can rent cabins. Grøndalen has quite a few excellent cross-country trails
Our view on Hemsedal ski resort
Hemsedal is a beautiful ski resort and one that you wont forget for a number of reasons, the scenery, levely apres-ski and the bar prices - if you are on a budget, Norway's sky high prices could bankrupt you fairly quickly!!
- Overnight stay in a Lavvo-tent
- Take a day trip or even stay over night and visit one of the nearby fjords - breath taking scenery
- A typical hearty meal will very likely consist of either elk or reindeer which are far leaner then many meats. Vegetarians will certainly be a minority as not eating meat does seem to be a fairly foreign concept in Norway
If you like Hemsedal, you may also want to look at Trysil and St Anton in Austria.
