Ski & Sail

The cold wind and waves whip the cold sea water into our faces. Everything rocks wildly. Suddenly there's a bang! The fire extinguisher has flown out of its holder! This time one of the many waves has hit us directly. In the cabin, even seemingly fixed objects are now being flung from side to side.

It is not the legendary ship of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, with which he sailed through the Northeast Passage at the beginning of the twentieth century. But the two-master is also called 'Maud': 'Maud of Ålesund'. The small fishing boat was launched a year after the famous original was trapped by pack ice on the American side of the Atlantic in 1930 and sank. Nevertheless, I feel a bit like the great polar explorer as the bow of the 'Maud' makes its way through the thin sheets of ice through the straits around Ålesund in the early morning.

Who doesn't dream of one of the legendary boat-and-ski trips through the Norwegian fjords: going on ski tours directly from the sea and exploring the fascinating wilderness of the Norwegian mountains?

Snow is only frozen water and there is always room for one beer! True to this somewhat modified motto, our mountain guide and tour leader Bernd Rathmayr took us into the wonderful depths and at the same time heights of the Scandinavian fjord landscape.

A welcome change for us inland ski tourists: after a hearty breakfast, strap on your skis and climb up one of the countless, huge snow flanks. The peaks offer fabulous views down into the branching fjords and rapid descents with generous turns across wide slopes. The peaks of the Sunnmörsalpane, with their "1000-metre slopes", are Norway's solitary ski touring Mecca par excellence. Our hostel serves as our means of transportation, so that our sailing ship takes us to new challenges every day. Culinary delights are provided in a lavish Nordic style and there is no shortage of culture on the last day.