Norway’s Telemark Ski Area Is Summer Getaway

The dramatic Telemark region of Norway, birthplace of modern skiing, has long been considered a summer getaway by Europeans, what with its fiords, beaches, lakes, rivers and streams.

They come here for sailing, windsurfing, fishing, horseback riding, hiking, tennis, mountain scenery and historic villages and towns linked by the 19th-Century Telemark Canal System. All under the glow of the Midnight Sun, which brings 17 hours a day of summer sunlight.

Here in Telemark ski country around Morgedal, the new statue of Sondre Norheim symbolizes ties of friendship and a shared heritage between Norway and the United States. Norheim, born in 1825, had already become known for his ski binding when he emigrated to the United States and began carving cross-country ski trails in North Dakota.

His statue presides over more than 60 kilometers of Nordic trails and groomed slopes around Lake Morgedal, above the western outreach of the Telemark Canal System.

Trails are marked and lighted and ski packages are available through March, but already the people of Telemark are looking forward to the long days of summer.

The motor ships Victoria and Vildanen are ready for the summer season of day cruises between Skien and Dalen at the eastern and western ends of the canal system. These cruises, one of the most charming journeys of the inland waterways of Europe, are the best introduction to summer in Telemark.

Each ship carries up to 200 passengers for the 10-hour cruises, with restaurants on board and sun decks for watching the villages, mountains and countryside along the lakes and connecting canals. A full-day cruise costs about $23.

The cruise will tempt passengers to explore the canal system on their own by driving slowly along the banks or by renting a canoe, small motorboat or bicycle.

Waterways to Explore

We explored Telemark ski areas as well as the slopes between Oslo and Bergen, the Oslomarka around Oslo and the cross-country trails to the north. We also biked and walked along these canals and lakes, and they are on our list of waterways to explore with our canoe.

Every path, stream and lake reaching out from the canal system beckons you across a valley or into moorlands and mountains. In or near every village between Skien and Dalen is a historic landmark, romantic inn or campground.

Skien is about two hours by car, train or bus southwest of Oslo. With a population of about 50,000, it is the capital of the Telemark region, and the only city of Norway continuously inhabited since the Viking Age. It is the birthplace of playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen.

The Telemark canal system can be entered from the Skagerak waters of the North Sea below Skien.

There are really two Telemark canal systems. The Skien-Norsjo Canal, which joins the North Sea and Skien Fiord with inland Lake Norsjo, was completed in 1861. The second system reaches west from Lake Norsjo through the Bandak lake country to the resort town of Dalen. This part of the canal system was opened in 1892.

The earlier Skien-Norsjo Canal has been modernized, but the extension to Dalen looks almost as it did nearly a century ago. The original lock chamber walls of hand-hewn rock have been preserved and the locks are still manually operated. Housing for the lock keepers is in late 19th-Century style, set in parklands beside winding paths.

Ibsen was born in Skien in 1826 and spent his boyhood years here. He is commemorated throughout the city in the names of parks and streets, the leading hotel and museums.

Ibsen House is the city’s cultural and entertainment center, with a theater, exhibition and concert halls, a library, the Municipal Art Gallery, a restaurant, youth center and disco. Venstop Farm was the Ibsen family’s summer home, and the farmhouse furnishings are those that were used by the family. At the Historical Museum a section is devoted to Ibsen’s life and dramas.

Skien Church, restored after many fires over the centuries, was first mentioned in a document dated in 1297. St. Michael’s Cave, on a mountainside overlooking Lake Norsjo was a place of Catholic worship after the Reformation. Canoe, motorboat and bicycle rentals are available near the canal in Skien, and at marinas and hotels all along the system.

At Morgedal is the farmhouse where Sondre Norheim, craftsman and skier, lived when he invented the binding that held a boot onto a ski. The farmhouse is a museum. Olaf Bjaaland, a Morgedal carpenter and skier, was chosen by Amundsen to be a member of his South Pole expedition team.

Stops at Old Village

The canal cruise stops in the bay beside the old village of Kviteseid, rich in legends.

The chairlift at Vradal peak provides magnificent views of the region. The Heddal church is the largest stave church still standing in Norway. The virgin forest of Skultervannsasen, protected since 1916, is famed for its large yew trees.

Despite the generally low exchange rate for the U.S. dollar in Europe, now worth about 6.01 Norwegian kroner, there are accommodations for all budgets in the Telemark region. The Hotel Ibsen has doubles starting at $110. In guest houses, accommodations for two begin at $45, with breakfasts.

Dalen Hotel at the western end of the canal system is a Swiss-style hotel. Opened in 1894, it became a monument to the early golden age of canal travel. The grand dining room and lobby are part of a major restoration under way. Doubles begin at $100.

Morgedal Turisthotel overlooking Lake Morgedal, the Lifjell Turisthotel and Rauland Hogfjellshotel are among the popular mountain resorts in summer and winter.

For details about the Telemark region and Norway, contact the Scandinavian National Tourist Offices, 655 3rd Ave., 18th Floor, New York 10017, phone (212) 949-2333. In Skien, the tourist office is at Kverndalen 8 and in Dalen at the Bandak Hotel. The Skien Hiking Club has maps of trails, lodges and huts.