Information about the Cross Country Skiing Course for International Students 2024 hosted by UiO and OSI Langrenn


From the ski course in 2018
 



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It’s our pleasure to welcome you all to our  ski course (approx. 6 hours) due in January/February 2023 for exchange students at UiO. The course consists of an introductory lecture to skiing, and two days of ski practice with instructors in the Snow park at Sognsvann (meet at Sognsvann metro station!)

The dates are:

  • Theory: January 29. at 6:15pm (apx 1h of theory) in auditorium 1 in George Sverdrups Hus. Or in Zoom. 
  • Practices (choose one of the groups, the practice will be the same in the two groups), 19:00-21:00 both days: 
    • Group 1: January 30. and 31. 
    • Group 2: February 6. and 7. 

           

Detailed program (N.B because of the conditions, some of the dates and places might be changed, read carefully and check the information again before the course!!) :

 

Day 1, (January 29. - Blindern, Georg Sverdrups Hus, Auditorium 1 at 6:15-7:15 PM): Theory; we will give a short lecture on cross-country skiing; clothing, ski wax, type of skis and the basic techniques.  


 

Day 2, practice day ( January 30th for group 1, and February 6th for group 2; both from 7:00 to 9:00 PM)

If you are able to wax your skis before the course or bring some wax for the day, feel free to do so. Check the latest temperature reading on the day of the practices, (Eg see yr.no). Remember: It is better to put on too hard/cold wax than too soft/mild wax.

For those who need help with waxing we will have some wax available, and we will help with waxing your skis before we start the day.  

 

19.00: Meet near the metro station at Sognsvann 

19.05: Welcome and presentation of the days program by the leader of the day.

19.10: We walk to Snøparken (“the Snow park”) about 300 m from Sognsvann metro station.

19.20-19.30: We try on our skis, and get a feeling of how to move forward on flat grounds.

19.30-20.00: We divide into smaller groups and start with diagonal technique. Walking on a flat area. Keep the weight distribution in mind (from the lecture!) and work with this.

20.00-20.30: We introduce double poling and double poling with kick, practice on a flat area.

20.30-21.00: We will practice on how to stop (plowing) and how to get up steep uphills (fishbone technique) as well as how to turn around curves.




Day 3, practice day ( January 31th for course group 1 and February 7th for course group 2; both from 7:00 to 9:00 PM) 

 

19:00: Meet near the metro station at Sognsvann 

19.10: Welcome and presentation of the days program by the leader of the day. We prepare skis and get ready for the day. 

19.30-21.00: We repeat the techniques from yesterday: Diagonal, double pooling and double pooling with kick, as well as plowing, how to turn and steep uphill skiing(herringbone).

 

For UiO students: click here for more information and to sign up: Ski course (course fully booked!)



Information on where you can find skis for rent/borrow (be sure to start looking for skis early so you have enough time to find available skis): 

Athletica Kringsjå - For students or members of Athletica. Here you can rent skis for a month or for the whole season. Since many people rent skis for the whole season there might be limited amount of skis later in the season, we therefore recomend to check if they have skis available in good time before the course. Info: (https://www.sio.no/en/sports/sio-athletica-offers-ski-rental)


BUA - Here you can borrow equipment for a shorter time. There are some opporunities to book in advance, but also opportunities for drop-in. They have different locations in Oslo so find your closest in the map (remember to check the opening hours). It is also possible to check other locations if the first one was out of skis. Info:(https://www.bua.io/utlansordninger/).


Frigo - Here you can get skis for a week. Drop-in. Opening hours and adress:(https://www.bua.io/utlansordninger/frigo)


Oslo vinterpark / Skimore - Here you can book skis in advance for a period of your choice. Info:(https://skimore.no/oslo/en/rental/)


Other opportunities: Skattekammeret, hygglo... If you are interested in buying skis you can check finn.no for used skis ((https://www.finn.no/bap/browse.html) try search for "ski" or "langrenn"), or a normal sports shop for new skis. 


Remember that in a good season many people are interested in borrowing/renting skis so check out different opportunities and don't wait until the last minute to find skis. 


If you are wondering what size is optimal for your body you can follow this: 

Classic skis should optimally be around 15-25 cm longer than your length. For skating, the skis should optimally be 0-15 cm longer than you. If you have limited options, we would recomend choosing a pair that is shorter than optimal, rather than longer than optimal. 

For classic poles you shoud look for poles that will reach up to just under your armpis, for skating you should look for a pair that is some cm above your shoulders. 

If you think about getting skating skis, remember that on the course we will mainly focus on the classic technique.