Skiing in Storlien!

Well first off, you guys must be wondering...where the hell is Storlien?? Well, Storlien is a nice little Swedish village with a charming ski resort, just 3km away from the border with Norway. It is also known for being the winter chalet of the Swedish Royal family. Well, a map proves useful, so here it goes...

Most of the accomodations here are timber framed houses, and luckily, there's a youth hostel in Storvallen, which is about 20mins away from Storlien and the ski slopes. According to the STF personnel (they double up as the tourist agency people as well), there are just 90 people who live in Storlien...the young will stay here and the older folks usually move down south as the Swedish health-care system cannot get access to Storlien easily (well it's provided for, by the government). However, there are many cabins and houses around, and most of them are winter chalets, and many of them are owned by the Norwegians. Apparently the Norwegians are rich (which is kinda true seeing that they are one of the top 5 most expensive places to stay in) and therefore decided to splurge on houses just across the border for the pristine ski slopes.

Well, skiing in Storlien is relatively cheap as compared to the rest of Sweden, and Scandinavia! For a 3d pass and rental of ski equipment (including helmet), it cost each of us about 1200 SEK, and there's even a ski school here! Ski lessons cost each of us 290 SEK for an hour's teaching, as we were not in a group. But the 1 hr was good enough, as we learnt the basics of skiing, namely, how to stop and turn. That, I felt, was the most essential, and the morning prior to the ski class I had fell a lot of times cos I did not know how to brake effectively! After that...haha...

Had lots of fun with skiing, and suddenly, 3 days of skiing seemed not enough. In fact, I have come to love Europe, and I would DEFINITELY wanna stay here...and ski some more, and work, and meet new people...anyone planning a ski trip next time round, do let me know!!!


Frozen doors of the train


Storlien sunrise


Good morning Storlien!


Reindeer celebrating Xmas!




Succeeded in Jungfraujoch, succeeded again!


Early morning to the Kindergarten


Contemplation


Ready to ski!


Lunch break!


Storlien slopes


View from the top of the slope!


Food! (too much carbo)

And of course...a video of me skiing down the slope! (not the best but...I'm learning!)

Can't believe I'm leaving this place soon...last night here, and still no auroras! Sad...But I'm more than satisfied with my skiing progress. Definitely.

Current Mood: Happy!