Bjorli Skisenter early season powder skiing

Text/Photo/Film: Simen Berg

According to the rumours, Bjorli Skisenter isn’t steep enough for proper skiing. That’s wrong.

Snow conditions
My two visits were both on a search for early season powder skiing. Bjorli is known to be among the first ski resorts in Norway to open every season. And as you see, the last weekends of October and November respectively, can provide powder snow in line with January dumps. Low pressure hitting from northwest is your cue to plan your trip to Bjorli.

Read Bjorli stories in Norwegian: October 2012 and November 2008

The Bjorli Resort
The back bone of the lift system is the chair lift that takes you right above the tree line. From there, you can go further up, but I never tried this terrain because of early/pre season visits. The top lift goes to 1250 meters above sea level, and leaves you with a decent 675 vertical meters.
The slopes are popular among ski racers, and before Christmas there’s normally quite a few crews there to practice, including national teams.
The off pist skiing from the tree line and down is a bit dense, but if you’re used to tree skiing, you’ll be fine. Have a look at the video below. Above the tree line there’s wide open areas, though you won’t find steep skiing here without bringing your skins for touring in the area. The nearby Romsdalen area got ranked among the five top places for touring in Norway. The home of Romsdalshorn, Trollveggen, Trollstigen, Kirketaket and Vengetind is a must if you like a sea view with your touring.

My “Best of”-pics from Norwegian ski resorts

Bjorli Eating/Night Life
Normally there isn’t much going on after the lifts close. You can eat dinner at Bjorligard Hotel, where they also have a bar. Fem Stuer is a nice little café/restaurant.

Bjorli Travel/Accommodation
The train stops at Bjorli, just pay attention to distances and logistics when you book a place to stay.

Resources:
Ski Resort: BjorliSkisenter.no
Booking: Accomodation, etc.
Snow conditions: skiinfo.no/ostlandet/bjorli

Facts:
Bjorligard: For my first visit, I stayed at Bjorligard Hotel. A nice place, with nice food and an outdoor jacuzzi.
Gear testing: During my last visit, we tested the new Rottefella NTN Freedom Binding, mounted on Völkl Mantra and Katana. For reference, we had both skis with NTN Freeride on them as well. On top of that, we spent some time on Shiro and Kuro, too. A true Völkl convention, so to speak. I’ll return with my take on the NTN Freedom binding. In short, I like it a lot.

October 27/28th 2012