The Norwegian tents everywhere getting ready for the Ski Race
The Ski Jump
The Holmenkollen Festival weekend could be considered Norway in a Nutshell. The amount of Norwegian culture we were exposed to this weekend really gave me a taste of what being a Norwegian is all about. We arrived in Oslo by car on Friday morning. I drove with the Brits which was an experience as always.J The first thing on our itinerary was the Fram museum.
This museum talked about the “Fram” that was built by Colin Archer in 1892, and is known for its unique design as it allows it to freeze into ice without collapsing. Two explores Fridtjof Nansen and Ronald Amundsen were two famous Norwegians who used the Fram to discover the North and South Pole. Nansen is known for his famous journey to the North Pole and Amundsen is known for his famous journey to the South Pole. The museum was full of interesting facts all over, and in the center of the museum was a large ship that was used in one of the expeditions. The ship was pretty cool to go on and look around. We were even able to go under the deck and check out the rooms down below.
Getting ready to watch the Men's 50km on our cool snow bench
After the museum we made camp near the ski track where we would be watching the Men’s 50km race and the Women’s 30km race. I slept in a tent with Jochen, and Jolinda, and I would say we made a pretty good team. Once camp was made we decided to look around and go check out the Women’s Ski Jump at the Holmenlkollen Arena. It was pretty cool to go in the Arena and see just how high these athletes were jumping from. The score system was given by 5 judges ranging from 0-20 points. While sitting in the stands we would try and guess the lowest and highest score that the judges would give which made things a bit more interesting. After we watched the jumps we headed back to our camp site for dinner.
Waving our flags for ski jump practice
Once dinner was over we were still excited about being in Oslo for the big race so we went and checked out the ski track for the Men’s 50km race the next day. When we went down to the track we were totally surprised to see that the track was surrounded with Norwegians staking out the race with their tents and a little bon fire outside of every tent. It’s safe to say that the track was alive with a night life. Norwegians were everywhere, dancing, eating sausages, drinking, and of course talking about the exciting race they were all ready to see. The amazing thing to me was that there was snow everywhere, it was freezing outside but that still had no effect on the Norwegians. They were excited for the race and no matter what weather came their way they were going to party on.
Supporting the jumpers!
The following day we went to the Holmenkollen Museum where they had the different models of the ski jump and how it developed into the jump that it is today. When we left the museum it was time to watch the Men’s 50km race, so we went to a spot on the ski track where we had met some people the night before. It was Daniel, Jannis, Moritz, and I, as we had lost the rest of the internationals somewhere. We found a tiny little spot close to the track where we could sit and watch the race. Moritz made a little bench out of snow for us with a shovel, which made things a little cozier. The Norwegians really celebrated their culture at this event, as a lot of the men were wearing traditional Norwegian outfits.
Men's 50km race
Later that evening it was time for the Men’s Ski Jump where there was a fee to enter. So we decided to just watch the jumps from outside the arena. Then Men’s jumps were also really impressive, it seemed that every jump just got further and further distance which made it really fun to watch. After the race it was pretty late so we went back to the camp site and by the fire to make our dinner, then shortly after we tucked into our cozy tents.
The next day Jochen made breakfast for Jolinda and I which was oatmeal, mixed with fruit and nuts. I have found that the Germans here really know how to cook so that was fun have Jochen cook a nice breakfast for us. After breakfast we took down our tents and pilled all of gear together then we went to go watch the Women’s 30km ski race. After the race was over the Men’s finalist ski jumps were that evening. Luckily someone was kind enough to give us some tickets to get in so a few of us got in for free while others watched the jumps from outside the arena. One of the cool things about the Holmenkollen Festival was that no matter who was jumping everyone would cheer for everyone. Of course when a Norwegian was jumping the crowd would get louder, but all in all it was a very friendly event. Once the jump was over it was time to head back home to Kristiansand.