Danes about Norwegian Highlands: – It’s cheap beer

Hemsedal (VG) NOK 120 a pint won’t scare a Dane on Norway’s Easter Hill in 2023.

It costs Danes 80 Danish kroner.

A strong Danish krone and a record weak Norwegian give our neighbors a budget vacation in the Norwegian mountains.

– In recent years, eating lunch on the floor has become more expensive. But not now, says Arne Paulson.

Along with his wife Fai – and 17 members of the joint family – he rents a luxurious cabin in the middle of the hill.

Ski passes, beer and food brands have a completely different price than in Denmark. While we have to multiply by 1.5 for everything in Denmark, the Danes here can subtract the same.

But not everything feels cheap:

– I filled the tank in Norway and I thought – Arne says wait.

The family still brought all their food with them from Denmark. Today, Danish rye bread, liver pate and chicken salad are eaten before the next round on the slopes.

Are you in Geilo and have more guests than usual in the cabin this year? Notes Here is VG’s reporter.

The price tag for renting a cabin for a week can’t be beat.

— Thirty-six Danes, says Phi.

– How much is it?

– Five and a half Norwegians.

After some mental calculations, we arrive at the answer: NOK 90,000.

The larger cabins are fully booked at breakneck speed – the family had to book in February last year. They are already taking orders for next year.

However, that’s not the only reason the frail Kron family gravitates towards the Norwegian mountains: Fai worked at the Hemsedal Hotel in 1988 – and then returned. Eventually, she also kicked the man out on the slopes.

– We’ve done the same as we’ve always done. Arne says that a ski holiday is expensive anyway, so we have to decide that we will pay for it.

– Double effect

Inside Skigarden Lodge, in the middle of the mountain, you can get one Pizza with white fish caviar and gold leaf for NOK 395. If you put a hundred note, you will get a drop on top.

Skiigaarden rents cabins and apartments in a high price range.

General manager Eric Teigen takes a solo at the restaurant bar when VG meets him. This year’s season will be formidable for at least two reasons, he believes:

• A weaker krone means Norwegians are staying home and foreigners are coming here to get more of their money
• Lots of snow – unlike the Alps

– It has a double effect. And the bookings for next year are very good.

In the past, ski resorts looked at how many foreign mobile phones were in the mountains – this is no longer possible.

Hearing Danes on the Norwegian ski slopes is nothing new.

But this year the intake is higher than usual.

Tourism organization Destinasjon Hemsedal says that rental beds in Hemsedal are typically 80 percent filled by foreigners. That number will be higher this year, executive director Richard Daroldson predicts.

– We’ve had a great start to Easter. This year the boom is higher than usual. Many ski resorts in the Alps are not allowed to open due to lack of snow. And we were able to boast snow records.

While the Danes laugh until online banking, Stephan Nyborg Kindani (53) takes a different turn:

– How much does a beer cost here?

– I do not know. I close my eyes and draw the card. Easter is only 5-6 days away. It will remain the same.

After a day of skiing, he settles into the sun wall at Fiery Resort, a hotel for the wealthy in Hemsedal. Daughter Thelma (19) recalls the solar factor.

Stephen doesn’t think Norway’s decline will last forever:

– There will be some difficult years, it will take again.

Back at Taneshita, they prepare for another round on the slopes.

Maundy Thursday is a big day for the Paulsen family: herring, salmon and schnapps are on the menu.

– How long will that lunch last?

– until the first bedtime.

But first the family goes skiing — and then a quick round of après ski:

– It will be cheap beer, concludes Fai.