Hemsedal Ski Holidays 2024 2025 | Skiing Hemsedal

Hemsedal Ski Resort

Location-wise, you'll find Hemsedal between the big Norwegian cities of Oslo and Bergen. Oslo Lufthavn Gardemoen and Fagernes Airport Leirin are the two closest airports. The Nettbuss Express goes between the airport and the resort.

Sentrum is the original village, with a collection of hotels, restaurants, lively bars and shops and a single blue run leading through the forest and back to the centre.

There's also the Skisenter area (also known as the Mountain Village), where the accommodation, ski shops, bar and restaurants either have doorstep skiing or are within walking distance of the lifts and slopes.

Further up, the Skigaarden is a newer village built on the mountainside offering doorstep skiing.

The Alpin Lodge by the children’s area has almost everything you need for the week – food shops, ski hire, restaurant and an après ski bar – and is near other restaurants, bars and attractions. There’s also an apartment hub called Skarsnuten. All are served by the ski bus, which runs throughout the week. 49 ski slopes pour down from three different summits – Totten at 1450m, Tinden at 1345m and 1225m high Roni, together served by 20 lifts.

The spectacular Sognefjord, the world's longest fjord, is only an hour's drive away and as impressive in the winter as in the summer. The Flim railway round trip over the mountain and down to the fjord is a wonderful day trip through breathtaking scenery. Hemsedal itself has plenty of heritage and cultural attractions. The church was built in 1882 to replace the old Stave church, but eighteenth century altarpieces and a painting were saved. Hemsedal also has a library and a cinema.

Stats & FAQ

Location: Buskerud, Norway

Established: 1961

Open: November - May

Downhill: 43km

View our detailed Hemsedal snow forecast or snow report and see all live webcams, piste maps, road and travel maps and lift pass prices. For a picture of historic snow conditions see the snow depths month by month with our Hemsedal snow history.

Nearest Airport & Transfer Time:
Oslo Gardermoen (OSL)	210mins
Fagernes (VDB)	75mins
Beginner Intermediate Advanced 34 runs 26% 10 runs 54% 5 runs 20%
Top Altitude:	1450m
Bottom Altitude:	640m
Resort Altitude:	625m
Longest run:	6km
Slope Orientation:	N
Vertical Drop:	830m
Skiable Vertical:	810m
Night Skiing:	Yes
Glacier:	No
Snow Report Top 30cm Base 20cm Forecast 3cm Web Cam
Downhill Runs:	43km
Beginner slopes:	26%
Intermediate:	54%
Advanced slopes:	20%
Lift Pass Price:	€194 (adult 5 day)
Nearby resorts: Geilo, Hafjell Lillehammer

Skiing/BoardingSkiing in Hemsedal

One of our favourite features here is the huge children's area, which is kitted out with seven slopes, 8 lifts and a mini snow park. The Norwegian ski schools have a terrific reputation with learners and improvers - Valles ski school runs for children and there are separate group and private lessons for adults.

Lovely long green runs take you from the top of the Totten and Tinden mountains – perfect for when it comes to getting your ski legs back at the beginning of the week. The Totten run is the longest in the area, leading down to the Ski Centre over 6km. The blue Sentrumsløypa is the only piste that leads all the way back into Sentrum covering 4km – starting from Totten T Bar and winding its way between the trees.

Experts have a handful of black trails, including a testing 1km route Tottenloypa. If you fancy venturing off piste, get a guide to show you the Reidarskaret descent down the back of Totten Mountain. In the freestyle department there's the SkiStar Blue Park (#33 on the map) with features for beginners and the Red Park (#22) which has a red and black line.

Sunny Solheisen Skisenter is only 10km or so away, for a change of scenery with six more slopes (2 greens, a blue, a red and 2 blacks). Cross country skiers have over a hundred kilometres of tracks, with more in the Solheisen area.

Hemsedal Apres Ski

In Sentrum, Kjokken Kroken has a great gourmet menu featuring the likes of moose tartar and monkfish. It’s sister restaurant T-Kronen does insanely good burgers and milkshakes. You’ve also got China Garden for Chinese cuisine and the Lodgen Spiseri for pizzas in the Ski Centre.

For lunches, head up to the Skigaarden for pizzas in the sunshine (and stay on for apres ski from 2pm). Later on, the Ski Centre’s Stavkroa club is built like a Viking church with high ceilings and has long tables ‘built to dance on’. It’s easily one of the best après spots in Norway, and sometimes makes the list of European favourites. The Bart[t] club has six bars, DJ’s and more in Hemsedal centre, and the nearby Elgen Bar is good for live sports and local brews.

If you like your après active, there’s everything from horse sleigh rides to via ferrata, paragliding, bowling, spa and yoga. Hemsedal has developed a reputation for its 'active program' of extreme sports including ice climbing, winter mountain summit climbs, paragliding and you can even try out up-ski, being towed uphill on skis by a parachute. Snowmobile safaris are available throughout the season but there are gentler activities include dog sledding, horsesledding, and night skiing on three long floodlit slopes four evenings per week. There are plenty of attractions in the area to visit, including the Tropicana centre in nearby Gol, which includes a tropical swimming complex with water chutes and slides, squash courts, bowling and a discotheque.

Best time to go

Best time to ski Hemsedal

Best time to visit & ski Hemsedal

The conditions are so good here that the tourist office has been known to have a Snow Guarantee, banking on there never being less than 8km of slopes and 628 of vertical skiable. Having the highest slopes in Scandinavia helps, with the season usually running from November to May. Days are short at the start of the ski season, when floodlights keep things going in the afternoons (you get around 7 hours of daylight each day in December and January). By spring, there's more daylight than the UK for lovely long ski days (March has around 12 hours of daylight each day). The coldest months are usually December and February with an average of -7°C.

Peak Dates

Children have been able to enjoy Christmas porridge with Santa over Christmas in Hemsedal, with night skiing in full swing so everyone can enjoy a full week's skiing.

Apres ski venues like Skistua Hemsedal and Hollvin get the party started for New Year in Hemsedal, with the Stavkroa Nightclub open until the early hours.

Whisk the clan away to the Scandinavian Alps for Half Term in Hemsedal - little ones will love having their own ski area, while teens can make the most of the snow park.

Look out for ski races and Valle’s Easter party for children during Easter in Hemsedal. While the ski area has low altitude, the snow is known to stay in peak conditions into the spring.

Hemsedal Ski Holidays