Olympic Tour Through Lillehammer, Norway

Skiiers in Lillehammer, ski slope, Norway
Ever since Lillehammer held the 1994 Winter Olympics it has been synonymous with sporting activities. When I recently visited I knew I wasn’t going to go home without experiencing at least one extreme sport – even if I would probably rather not.

After following the London Olympics it was easy getting into the spirit of Lillehammer’s affair with sports, so I went to check out the action at the Olympic ski jump. It consists of two slopes – a big one and a smaller one that would still scare the sh*t out of most people. To get the most out of the scenery I recommend hopping on the cable car that takes you to the top of the arena for spectacular views of Lillehammer, and budding Olympic skiers flying down the slopes as easily and confidently as you and I can walk on two feet.

Cable car in Lillehammer ski slope

Taking the cable car up to the ski slopes, look at the view behide them too.

Skiers in Lillehammers take to the slope

Could they possibly be any more confident?

Lillehammer Ski Jump, Lysgårdsbakkene

Since I’ve never tried skiing I wasn’t about to start now, least of all in front of kids half my age and who all looked like semi professionals.

Carrying around a confidence that I could only wish for, it looked as though they skied right out from their mother’s uterus at birth. I, on the other hand, was seconds away from being dragged out with a pair of forceps.

So on this occasion I was quite happy to be the spectator, standing by the side lines with my camera for the ultimate action shot. Sadly I don’t think that shot came, but I still took some reasonably decent ones.

Ski slope in Lillehammer, skier
Lillehammer ski jump skier
Next up was a visit to the bobsleigh track in Hunderfossen , 15 km away from Lillehammer. I had somehow managed to delude myself that I was excited to do it, and willing to submit myself to an uncertain future: that was until I was given a form to fill out. On the form there were the usual points to answer such as my name and DOB, and then I had to state that I didn’t have any neck problems- by this point I still felt surprisingly okay. But then fear struck as I read the clause ‘Stay calm if the sleigh overturns’. OVERTURN? IT CAN OVERTURN? Internal dialogue rolled into overdrive and I surmised within a spilt second that I didn’t want to do it anymore but having already committed myself to sharing the bobsleigh with other people, obligation kicked in, an there was no going back. So with time no to escape I hopped on like a frightened, little rabbit.

Olympiaparken Lillehammer, bob sleigh

As I strapped myself in, I was told to hold on tight and to stay calm. ‘Little chance of that’ I thought as I sheepishly agreed, and then, before I could really think about anything else, my teeth were chattering and clattering as my head bobbed up and down to the speed of 100km/h. It reared on its side and I held on for dear life until it was all over in 70 seconds.

Surprisingly I’ve heard a few people say that there’s not that much to do in Lillehammer, but hopefully this post shows otherwise. Even if sports are not for you, the city has a fantastic contemporary art museum to get lost inside and it’s only a two hour train away from  Olso so you could easily combine both of these places together.

NSB train on Norway scenery

Typical view when you look out of the NSB trains in Norway – beautiful scenery followed by even more beautiful scenery.

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Hi, I'm Shing

Welcome to The Culture Map, a place where I share my travel guides, adventurous tales, and capture the inspiring diversity of our world.

One Response

  1. I’ve just started watched an American TV series called Lilyhammer, all about a Mafioso who grasses his buddies to the FBI and gets witness protection in Lillehammer. It looks nice and I just knew you’d have been there! Very jealous of your bobsleigh ride!

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