Winter Experience at Jotunheimen Nationalpark
Ready for a real adventure? On our 6 or 9 day long courses we focus on simple outdoor living, taking you to Norway’s vast winter wilderness frontier. You’ll move on wooden skis to a remote log cabin that will serve as our base. The next days you will learn how to backcountry ski, light a fire in the snow, track wildlife like moose, and build a comfortable winter camp where you will sleep outdoors. With small groups of maximum 10 people, our mini expeditions offers a chance to disconnect from technology, immerse yourself in nature and learn a mix of (winter) bushcraft and survival skills.
■ TIMELESS ■ OFFLINE ■ COMMUNAL ■ NATURE RESPECTING ■ AUTHENTIC ■ PERSONAL LEADERSHIP
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★★★★★
For anyone who seeks to experience the Norwegian winter in its best authentic way this trip is for you. Manuel, Marie & Morten set an amazing group experience full of learnings and overcoming challenges, but also lots of fun and awesome moments in the wild. It will be certainly a trip you won’t forget.
Organise Private Trip:
Contact us to organise your private custom winter trip!
The Practicalities & Details
Questions and Answers on the Details
Course Prerequisites and Requirements
- Good physical condition is necessary. We will be skiing/snowshoeing off-trail, on uneven terrain, and physical work is part of every day, this helps us to stay warm too. You will be required to carry your own luggage on the (multi day) trip, and when skiing in and out to the basecamp.
How fit do I need to be?
If you can hike 15km on small unpaved paths carrying 15kg of luggage and going at least 500m up and 500m down, you have the basic fineness needed for coming on this trip. If you have doubts, previous injuries, etc., please reach out to us so we can assess together.
It helps if you have stood on skis before, but it is not a requirement.
We wont be skiing classical down hill (steep down hills) but much more use the skis to hike/ walk the terrain (without skis you cant go anywhere as you sink hip deep into the snow). The best way to prepare for Nordic Skiing is to try some Cross-Country Skiing, it is similar but also different (The skis are also heel open, but with cross country skiing you ski on groomed tracks and in our courses we go through the deep snow off tracks and with wider skis that provide more lift).
How you will sleep & the standard of the basecamp cabin
- The cabin where we will set up our base camp is beautiful and simple, without running water or electricity. Wood stoves and an open fire provide warmth and light. There are no individual rooms or beds, and the dry toilet is outside the hut (20 meters) and non-heated. We improvise a small washing station in a shed where you can take some heated water if you wish. In the basecamp cabin, we melt the snow and cook the food both on the wood stoves and a gas kitchen.
- Everyone sleeps in the same room, without much privacy and possibly close together. The course leaders have their own small cabin next to the main cabin.
- When we are on the multi day trip, or when we sleep outside you are usually sharing either a tarp, a windshelter or a wind-blocker with 2-3 others. In very harsh weather we might bring a tent for the whole group.
- It’s good to bring a small towel, earplugs and a sleeping mask (buff), as well as a head-lamp with red light to manage those days close together well! Additionally we recommend some warm hut shoes for the basecamp cabin.
- There is very limited phone coverage and there are no electrical outlets anywhere during the course.
Cozy Log Cabin Basecamp
Travel & how to get to the meeting point
- The meeting point is in Vågåmo 2680 (Vågå municipality), Norway at the rutebilstasjon bus stop, 13hrs
We might adjust the meeting time once we know the corresponding bus and train times, so please wait for more information before booking your travel! - Vågå/ Vågåmo is located half way between Oslo and Trondheim. It takes about 4 hours from the Airport to get to the meeting point. There are limited connections, especially on weekends (entur / vy for timetables and tickets)
- Most participants fly to Olso Gardermoen Airport and take the train F6 towards Trondheim and change to a bus in Otta (30m from Vågå) or bus in Lillehammer (2hrs from Vågå).
- A good option is to take a late afternoon/ early evening flight to Oslo and then take the 2 hours train ride to Lillehammer and spend the night there in a affordable hostel/ hotel at the train station before continuing the journey the next day onwards (2 more hours).
- There is a night-bus from the Airport straight to Vågåmo (ca. 11PM-3.30AM)and from Vågåmo to the Airport (ca. 1:30AM-6AM)
- More detailed info will follow once you sign up.
Price, Registration, Payment, Cancellation
- Pricing
Until the 15th of November we have a early bird discount for both courses:
1050€ for the short one (mid-winter) and 1350€ for the long one (spring winter).
Afterwards the prices are: 1150€ (mid-winter) and 1480€ (spring winter).
All prices stated include the MVA tax where applicalbe (VAT/ BTW/ MvSt).
Included is full board, accommodation, ski-rental and more, see the full list above.
Not included is travel to and from, personal equipment and optional stuff, see full list above. - Course Registration
You register for our courses by filling out the booking form.
Once we received your registration, we will send you a confirmation, if a place is available.
We will also send you more information (Documents on Arrival, Travel, Gear/ Equipment) and the Invoice, along with our General terms and conditions as well as a Liability waiver that we will ask you to sign.
Further, we will ask you for additional information in a questionnaire on health/ food preferences/ emergency contact/ allergies/ rental options/ sizes (for skis), sauna option and contact sharing consent for travel coordination. - Payment
Currently we only take payments by bank transfer to our Norwegian bank account. You will find all the details on the invoice. - Cancellation and Course Confirmation
The course will be confirmed when at least 4 participants are signed up or latest 6 weeks before the course starts. Should we cancel the course due to a lack of participants, you will get a full refund. For the detailed cancellation terms (what happens if you cancel your participation), see our general terms and conditions. We recommend you to take out a cancellation/ travel insurance.
On the food, Diets and Menu
- Menu & Meals & Cooking
We provide ingredients and recipes for the all meals during the course. The cooking/ preparing is with a few exceptions done by participants with our instructions upfront. (Everyone gets to cook, and never alone.)
A typical menu day could look like:
Breakfast: Oats with nuts, seeds and fruit toppings
Lunch: Home-baked sourdough bread with spreads, cheese, local salami, pickles, peanut butter
Dinner: Vegetable stew with dear or moose meat (or tofu) with rice - Food preferences and dietary requirements
Some meals we provide contain fish and meat. However, it is possible to eat vegetarian or even vegan (or/ and gluten free), please let us know well in advance and we make sure you are well taken care of.
In a questionnaire we send you upfront, we will also ask you about requirements and preferences around food. Please tell us any food allergies there too. - Local, Organic and Wild Foods
Where possible we buy local, organic ingredients. We also source and collect some wild foods such as game, fish, berries, herbs and plants that we conserve/ preserve and integrate in our menus. - First and Last Meal & Snacks
The first meal is Dinner on day one and the last one is usually breakfast (long course) or lunch (short course).
We ask everyone to bring their own snacks for in between.
Being out in the winter asks for much more calories than you are usually eating, and its good to prepare for that with high-energy snacks that can bridge the time between meals.
Due to the nature of our courses, meals might be at different times every day although we try to keep a routine in eating times. It’s good to always have some snacks on you, especially on (day)-trips.
What to Bring & Packing List
- You will likely need to invest in some clothing and equipment. But this does not need to be expensive! We will send you a detailed packing list with tips and ideas after you register. The most important items are good winter boots (hiking shoes are generally not enough), warm sleeping bag(s), woollen base-layer clothing, as well as a windproof jacket/anorak and good gloves.
Group Living & Phone Free Time
- In this course, we will all pitch in together, whether it’s cooking, transporting equipment, keeping watch over the fire, collecting wood, or melting snow. Especially in winter, it’s important that we work together as a team, not least because it keeps us all warm.
Of course, there will also be time to rest and enjoy the enchanting landscape. - You should be willing to actively contribute to daily tasks in the hut and camp. You should also be ready to face challenges together with your group and support each other.
- We invite you to a media- and clock-free time. We want to do without phones during these days together, even though they will be with us in our luggage for safety reasons. Course leaders carry phones and satellite emergency transmitter, and take care of photography.
- On the first day everyone will be invited to seal their phones and watches turned off in seal bags.
Time until the next course starts:
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Course Location & Area
★★★★★
From Marie, Morten and Manuel I learned how to stay, feel and travel safe in a winter terrain/ sourrounding. I am very grateful for the knowledge they gave to me. They lead the group well and were always aware of the participants. I really enjoyed the time spent in Norway in winter.
★★★★★
The winter course meant to me embracing a potentially uncomfortable challenge and learning how to enjoy living outside in winter.
Learn about & Explore our Participants
Age, Nationality, Gender, Profession, Experience, and Why They Join:
What makes our courses & journeys unique?
Learn about & Explore our Participants
Age, Nationality, Gender, Profession, Experience, and Why They Join:
What makes our courses & journeys unique?
Meet the Main Course Leaders
Marie Eckart
Guide in Natural Outdoor Life, Crafts & Leadership
Marie has a degree in Natural outdoor living, craft and leadership and has additional training in primitive survival skills all year round. Additionally she is further a NOLS Wilderness First Responder. Marie has been hosting winter courses in Scandinavia since 2019.
She loves to create things herself such as wooden skis, canoes, her winter sleeping bags and winter tent. She also has been working for a traditional leather tannery sewing high end outdoor clothing from reindeer leather.
She lives in Norway in a small log cabin and is also a mother of a child.
Marie speaks German, English, Swedish, Norwegian and Spanish.
Manuel Sturm
Guide in Natural Outdoor Life, Crafts & Leadership
Manuel has a degree in Natural Outdoor Living, Crafts and Leadership and has done additional courses in primitive outdoor living. He is also a NOLS Wilderness First Responder.
During his studies, Manuel has been living outside for two years, one year in a Tipi tent on an island in a lake, and the other year in a treehouse.
Manuel has been hosting winter courses and been guiding groups in winter since 2019 in Scandinavia. He is the founder of wildernessvision.no and lives in Norway in a small log cabin with his family.
Manuel speaks German, English, Dutch, Swedish and Norwegian.
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