Norway is always a destination mountain bikers dream of, with huge scenery and dramatic mountains. Hafjell bike park is making a name for itself as a top quality biking destination In it's own right, Ben Howells shows us why Norway's top bike park is worth a visit.

Hafjell – the jewel in the crown of Norwegian bike parks. With almost every town (it seems) in Norway having its own winter ski centre, from just a single lift to full resort setups, there's a number of smaller choices with some great tracks and uplift options, but Hafjell's network of meticulously designed and continuously maintained trails make it the destination of choice.

There's a reason famed Norwegian free-rider Makken lives just around the corner in Lillehammer, and World Cup downhill prodigy Brage Vestavik has been making the trip from further south for over ten years honing his race skills – Hafjell has the World Championships in 2014 and several World Cup rounds over the years as well.

15 trails may not sound like a considerable amount when compared to the massive networks of the Alps, Whistler, or the 34 trails of slightly larger Åre in Sweden (more on that later). However, you'll struggle to get bored of what's on offer, with trails ranging from tight, technical downhill tracks such as Old School to the flat-out speed and large tables and gaps of Rollercoaster.

A family-friendly green run was added in 2016, which still offers good flow and is fun to blast down when linking up to other trails. Parkløype and Moetown feature loads of smaller tables and berms are great for building confidence to start the day or for those looking to try their first jumps.

Through Buldreløype there's a bunch of more progressive features and a range of different sized drops for easy progression. Old School, New School and Gressløype offer some more technical and rougher options, and Rollercoaster and Ekspressen offer high speed, flow and some big tables and gaps – Ekspressen makes up part of the World Cup track and features a rather massive table to road gap for those at the expert end of the ability level. You can view the full trail map on Hafjell's interactive trail map here:

It'll take a few days to fully explore all the tracks, and a lot longer than that to get close to mastering them – there's a bunch of videos at the end of the article to check out the tracks.

Despite Norway's deserved reputation for high prices, done carefully and correctly, it needn't break the bank. Flights start from as little as £25 in advance with Norwegian (or Ryanair if you crave that shitty flight experience), although you'll need to factor in bike, baggage and summer holiday price hikes driving this up. From the airport, the train to Lillehammer takes 1 and ¾ hours at a cost of 250-300Kr. From there it's a short 15-minute bus ride to Hafjell itself.

At 315Kr for a day pass, it's about the same price as, or slightly cheaper than, the majority of bike park uplifts in the UK and multi-day passes reduce the cost down a bit. Bike hire is similarly priced also, with a full day rental between 600-800Kr per day for a trail or downhill bike (given the trails on offer, we'd recommend spending a little extra on the downhill bike). There's a shop and workshop in case of any unexpected mechanicals. The workshop staff are very helpful and always willing to lend the odd tool and help out, but, as is often the case with bike parks, don't expect any bargains on parts in the shop.

Behind the welcome centre, you'll find a free camping area that, while not particularly extravagant, is, as mentioned, free, has electric hookups, plus full toilet/shower facilities and wifi within a three-minute walk. There's always a friendly vibe in the camping area as riders from all over Norway, and further afield from central Europe make the trip and pitch up. There's often a familiar, or at least, friendly face or two waiting in the camp to hang and ride with if you're making a solo trip.

A short 5-minute bike ride down the road in Øyer you'll find a couple of supermarkets, and while food isn't that cheap, sticking to the supermarket own brand products and fruit, veg and pasta will go a long way and make the price similar to a regular shop back home. If you get bored of being frugal though, there's a bar and restaurant on site, a couple of options in local Øyer next to the supermarkets. Lillehammer a short 15 minute drive away for wider options – Biltema is Norway's handy DIY shop that stocks pretty much any tool you'll ever need and a few basic bike parts. There is a good, but expensive, shop and workshop on site at the bike park too, and Dude Burger is excellent for dinner.

If you're determined to keep the budget down though, you'll want to avoid going out for beers or buying any in the supermarket for that matter either. Your best bet for some cheap post-ride booze is in duty free in the airport or, if you happen to be making a road trip of it, some of the ferry routes from Denmark or Sweden to Norway have tax free alcohol. It's wise to buy as much as you are allowed if you plan to drink as it is incredibly expensive here!

One place you won't be able to avoid the booze, unless you have the resistance and willpower of a rock, is Hillbilly Huckfest. Taking place over a long weekend at the end of July, and little under a 3-hour drive from Hafjell at Ål, it's well worth combining with a trip to Hafjell if you have the time.

With a FEST series event taking place on typical FEST-size jumps (read: monstrous, but open to anyone who fancies taking them on), there's no shortage of top-level freeriding to gawp at. Besides this, there are daily guided trail rides (the crew work hard to create new trails every year), tractor shuttling, a full lift-accessed pump trail and bike park right next to the camping and nightly parties, hog roasts and concerts. There's a reason we've been calling it the best weekend of the year every time we've been in attendance.

Hafjell Bikepark is open Thursday to Sunday from mid-June to the end of August, and weekends through September. While this may not sound like much, there's plenty of options to keep you occupied from Monday to Wednesday – Geilo bike park is open every day from mid-June to August, Trysil Thursdays to Sundays and there are loads of non-bike park options to be found with a bit of research.

If flying in to Oslo a trip to the city can be fun if you fancy clearing your bank account out for a round of beers, (the airport sits north of Oslo and south of Lillehammer/Hafjell though so you won't pass through it on your way to Hafjell unfortunately) or buy a day pass for the tram (T-Bane) for 90Kr, hop on the Holmenkollen/Number 1 line, and ride it to up to Frognersetern Station at the end of the line – from here there's a whole host of trails running down to Midtstuen Station, from here you can hop on the next tram (coming every 15 minutes), ride back to the top and do it all again. The trails are not marked, but they are pretty obvious once you hop off the tram and a little exploring will uncover plenty more.

Should you find yourself with more than a week to play with, a trip to the aforementioned Åre Bikepark in Sweden is well worth considering. It's not particularly close, at 500Km and a 7h hour drive north to Trondheim, then east into Sweden, but the views along the route are often quite spectacular, so the time passes quickly.

It boasts a larger network of trails than Hafjell, but perhaps not quite as well maintained, brake bumps can be common on some of the flow trails. That being said, there's a large network of extremely fun trails, open every day from mid June to end of August (and open late on Fridays too), and as the town of Åre is at the base of the lift network, there's a great bike town feel to it, a bunch of bike shops and a few good bars and restaurants. While a downhill bike is completely at home here, a good long travel trail bike will be more fun on some of the blue and red runs, and handle the rougher stuff just fine too.

There is, of course, a bunch more options for riding in Scandinavia, and Hafjell is just scratching the surface. But its reputation for good times comes well-deserved, you won't regret the trip, and if you do choose to explore further, it's a great starting point.

Norway & Hafjell Info

  • Currency: Norwegian Krone (NOK) £1.00 = 10.8NOK
  • Distances: Metric/KM (1 Norwegian Mile=10Km)
  • Language: Norwegian – Most speak good English, if you happen to speak Danish or Swedish you can get by pretty easily without having to revert to English though.

Hafjell

  • Season Dates 2017: 17th June to 8th September, open 10:00 to 17:00 Thursdays to Sundays
  • Nearest Town: Øyer (local facilities and supermarket), Lillehammer (large town)
  • Airport: Oslo Airport (OSL), accessible by train/bus/road

 

 

Videos

The Sabretooth Fandango
Makken rides Hafjell bike park - Roller Coaster.
By Ben Howells

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