[TRAVEL] I Never Knew You Could Ski There: Denmark

Although one of the five countries that make up what most people consider to be Scandinavia, unlike Norway, Sweden, Finland or Iceland most people don’t think “snow and mountains” when they think of Denmark. And they’re right not to, as this most southerly of the five regions has a generally maritime climate and does not have any proper ski areas. Yet somehow it manages to come top as the European country with the happiest population, so there must be some skiing, right?

Well, yes, Denmark does have ski slopes, and 2018 should see it opening one of the world’s most iconic ski destinations – a year-round ski area with artificial ski slopes running down the side of a new power station.

However, there is real snow skiing too.

One of the best is a little area called Hedeland Ski Centre (roskildeskiklub.dk) located 35km from capital Copenhagen. It is staffed by volunteers and only runs when there is adequate snow cover, which obviously isn’t that often, so when it does fall, you need to be ready. The ski slopes add up to  500m in length, including a 100m-long black over a 45m vertical, and there are a couple of drag lifts serving it all.

Hedeland is the largest of seven such mini Danish ski centres. However, the Søhøjlandet Ski Centre in Denmark’s southern Jutland region is another worth visiting. It has a base of our own British-made Snowflex surface but also has snow cover at some times of the year and claims to be Scandinavia’s only year-round winter-sports centre. It has one of Europe’s largest and widest artificial slopes, including a variety of terrain, with mogul fields and a half pipe as well as a separate beginners slope.

But, as mentioned earlier, currently the world waits for the ski centre to be built on the new Amager Bakke waste-to-power incinerator plant. The plant is complete and generating power, built with sloping sides ready for the slopes. They were supposed to have opened this year, but the project is dragging into 2018.

When complete, though, the 440m-long slope with 80m vertical will be Denmark’s longest and divided into four adjacent slopes, beginning from the bottom with two green runs (a 60m-long slope with an 18% pitch and a 120m-long slope with a 20% pitch), a blue run (80m long with an 18–25% pitch) and finally a 180m-long red to black steeper run pitching at 23–45%. Each slope will have its own lift system (three magic carpets for the first three and one platter lift for the upper).