From this trip I wanted to gain more knowledge about Norwegian history and the part they played in the first expeditions to the northern and southern most points on the planet. I also looked forward to the insight into how Norwegians support their athletes especially in sports that are deeply connected to their history and every day life.

History of Holmenkollen

Ski jumping events have been happening every year at Holmenkollen since 1892. In the beginning it involved jumping from a slope made of snow covered branches, with athletes jumping around 20m. Jumping has since progressed to the tall structure we see today with athletes jumping over 140m. Some Norwegians see the Holmenkollen festival as their second national day.

FRIDAY 10^th MARCH

When we arrived in Oslo we went straight to the camp ground where we met up with the guys who’d came by car and found a spot big enough for the whole group to camp. Being in Oslo I think most of us had underestimated the amount of snow that there would be where we were camping. Because of this no one had thought to bring any shovels meaning we had to make friends with our neighbours who kindly let us borrow theirs. Our camp ground was nice and cosy with everyone’s tents being super close, while some put up the tents a few people built a fire pit and a bench surrounding it for us to sit on in the mornings and evenings.

We then took the metro into the city to do a bit of sightseeing. We visited the royal palace and the opera house where we went on the roof and watched the sunset. This was a great start to the weekend with perfect weather. Group moral was high and we all went back to the camp ground in good moods ready to enjoy the evening’s celebrations. Some people we spoke to had been setting their camp up since the Wednesday in order to get a good spot close to the track, they also had a large fire area where lots of people from different camps gathered in the evening. I didn’t expect there to be so many people camped so close to the tracks but I enjoyed it very much.

SATURDAY 11^th MARCH

This morning the camp ground was swarmed with people trying to get spots close to the track to watch the race from. The crowds were very large and some people had made snow chairs and benches higher up to see the race over the top of the other people. It was a really good and exciting atmosphere, I think it definitely showed the Norwegians love and support for the sport. I also noticed that a lot of the men wore traditional Norwegian clothes and every single person had a flag, hat or something similar with the Norwegian flag on it.

Everyone got up at different times today so we split into 2 groups. The group I was with left camp at 10.30 to go to the arena to watch the Nordic Combined men’s ski jumping. Again the weather was perfect and you could see the whole way to the top of the jump where they sat to start their jump. I really enjoyed watching the ski jump as it was totally different to anything I have seen before and it was fun to try and guess how far each athlete would jump. 

We also watched the 50K men’s cross country race. We found a good spot in the sun where we could see 3 sections of the track. As we only saw the athletes every 15minutes or so we used this time to eat lunch and soak up the atmosphere. Great Britain had one athlete in this race so of course all the Brits had purchased lots of flags and stood up and cheered really loudly every time he skied past. It was nice to see that everyone cheered for every athlete that went past and not just for their own country it was a really positive atmosphere.

After the cross country it was time for more ski jumping, this time it was the men who specified in jumping and not the combined event. The stands where much fuller than in the morning and music was playing the whole time making a real party atmosphere. Everyone was either dancing for fun or to keep warm after the sun had gone down! This was a good display of how Norwegians really celebrate their culture and sports.

When we returned to the camp this evening we found many Norwegians had packed up and left. When speaking to people who were still around they said it was probably because of the weather as it had become quite damp and foggy. We were surprised as we thought the Norwegian’s, generally being ‘outdoorsy’ people would stick it out especially as there was still a full day of events left to go on Sunday. The camp ground was much quieter and this in turn made our group as a whole quite as well. We made another fire, cooked on it and sat around it some people were talking and we had the occasional Norwegian come and chat to us but apart from that it was a strange evening. I ended up going to bed quite early along with a few others.

SUNDAY 12^th MARCH

This morning we got up earlier than yesterday and packed up our camp. Most of us took the metro back into the city and the others would join us later. We got the bus about half an hour outside the city to see the Fram and maritime museums.

It was interesting to see the difference in equipment from then and now. When Amundsen became the first person to the South Pole they wore Caribou skins as a warm and waterproof layer, whereas now there are so many different types of materials and jackets for every occasion. There was also a simulator that allowed you to experience what it was like to pull a 150kg or 300kg sled. When doing this it is easy to see how Scott’s expedition struggled so much and became so fatigued without the aid of the dogs that Amundsen had.