Norway’s 100-mile Troll Trail draws experienced cross-country skiers

The Troll Trail is a 100-mile cross-country skiing route through the Rondane Mountains in Norway, beginning in Hovringen and finishing in Lillehammer. It attracts serious skiers, including the writer David Goodman and his group, who completed the route over the course of a week. Known in Norwegian as Trolløypa, the route passes through a region with more than 1,500 miles of groomed trails and crosses Rondane National Park, a 372-square-mile preserve founded in 1962.

The trail was conceived by Borghild Krossli and was promoted around the time of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics; Discover Norway offers self-guided trips that shuttle luggage and typically have participants skiing 12 to 23 miles a day. Skiers stay in mountain lodges, converted farm buildings and an unstaffed cabin run on an honor system, and the journey features trailside vafler (waffles), regional buffets heavy on salmon, and beverages such as aquavit.

The Pellestova Hotel and Spidsbergseter Resort Rondane serve as major hubs on the network of groomed tracks. Conditions can change quickly: grooming machines restore tracks obscured by blowing snow, but strong headwinds, sastrugi and icy corduroy can make sections difficult.

Key Topics

Sports, Troll Trail, Rondane Mountains, Rondane National Park, Hovringen, Lillehammer