Kick-off in Lillehammer

Last weekend it was time for yet another kick-off with my colleagues from our Oslo- and Stockholm office.
The destination: The Olympic town of Lillehammer.

Lillehammer was the host town of the 1994 winter Olympics; the only time in history when the whole world was watching Lillehammer. As a Norwegian I still remember the famous sentence "the winner is...Lillehammer". We were all so proud when we watched the opening ceremony and our hearts almost stopped when the ski jumper set off down the ski jump with the Olympic torch in his hand. Luckily he made it down safely and could pass the torch on to our crown prince Haakon. It was a magical moment in history for Norway and Norwegians. Even those of us who had not fully appreciate Sissel Kyrkjebø's beautiful voice, were suddenly convinced that she was the best singer in the world when she sang the official Lillehammer Olympics song.

Nowadays Lillehammer still has a lot to offer during winter time! Much thanks to the Olympics. Last weekend we tried the bob raft and tobogganing, in addition to several fun team building activities like paint ball and bow and arrow competitions. Beforehand I was extremely excited about the bob-raft, but it was not as fast, nor as scary, as I had imagined. Next time I will have to try the real bob (the one we tried looked like a fridge without door covered in thick plastic). I loved the tobogganing however!

We also visited Hunderfossen Winter Park which is located about 15 minutes north of Lillehammer (close to Hafjell alpine resort). The Winter Park is magical! To ensure a mystical atmosphere the park only opens in the late afternoon; from dusk to the pitch black night the lights of the park creates the perfect contrast. In addition to the beauty of the park’s ice and snow formations the park offers plenty of attractions; horse sledge, quad bikes, ice bowling, high ropes course, snow rafting, off-road vehicles, mini snow scooters for the children and much more. Another of the park’s main attraction is the 14 metres high sitting Troll, which inside you will find displays from Norwegian fairytales with trolls and princesses. And last, but definitely not the least, make sure to visit the ice hotel! I have never slept in an ice hotel myself, but will definitely try it some day. The best thing about the ice hotel in the Hunderfossen Winter Park is that it is located only 2,5 hours from Oslo's main airport, making it Scandinavia's southernmost ice hotel. This means that you can have a wonderful winter adventure in only a few days, and without paying a fortune to fly up to Northern Scandinavia.

In addition to a lot of fresh air, constant snow, thrilling activities and great colleagues we had a crazy Mamma Mia/ABBA party at Rica Victoria Hotel. A memorable weekend in other words :-)