Oslo: Beginner Cross-Country Ski Class at Tryvann｜Norway

Meet your instructor at Tryvann, at the very top of Oslo. Metro line 1 climbs from the city center through the forest with the fjord opening up behind you. At the top, you're in Nordmarka, the forest that covers the whole northern half of the city, laced with hundreds of kilometers of groomed track.

Join a small group of no more than eight and follow a curriculum rather than a scenic stroll. In an hour and a half, your instructor will take you through the six techniques that make up classic cross-country skiing:

- Diagonal striding — the basic gliding step, for flat and gently rising ground
- Double poling — how Norwegians cover flat sections and gentle descents quickly
- Descending — a safe, low, controlled position going downhill
- Snowplough braking — the one that decides whether downhills are fun or frightening
- Herringbone — how to climb something genuinely steep without sliding backwards
- Getting in and out of the track — cleanly, without falling over, which is harder than it sounds

Nothing here assumes you have skied before. This class is built for absolute beginners, and your instructor teaches beginners several times a week all winter. Every GoSki instructor is educated at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo — the university that trains Norway's national-team coaches.

When the class ends, the trails are right there and the rental is open for the rest of the day. Most people keep the skis and go and use what they just learned.