The World Championships have established Annalise’s love of skiing

If you had any doubt about the cultural role of skiing in Norway, the promotional video for the recently-concluded Nordic Skiing World Championships sums it up nicely: “You wouldn’t build a house with two planks, yet somehow we’ve built an entire nation.”

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Gavin and I like to ski, and one goal for this year was to give Annalise an appreciation for it too. It’s an easy objective in Trondheim; Trondheim’s hard core enthusiasts ski year-round, using roller skis when there is no snow. It’s not uncommon to see people roller skiing in the bike lanes during the summer, and Annalise was immediately taken with it.

Longtime readers may remember that Gavin and I were intrigued by roller skiing upon arrival in Norway the first time too. My 2017 performance was less than inspiring (though to be fair, we may have been the first people ever to roller ski before ever XC skiing on snow).

Annalise was a little less enthusiastic at first about skiing on snow. When we took her out on the first big ski weekend in December, it was an emotional experience. She didn’t like that her feet were “stuck” to the skis or that the snow was “slippery.” Children are supposed to learn without poles, but she was very mad that everyone else had poles and she didn’t (until we borrowed some from the skiklubb gear library nearby). It was a very cold day. We didn’t last long.

*Post-ski thousand-yard stare, 17 degrees, waiting for the bus*

By Christmas, she was having more fun.

The World Championships organizers did a nice job making skiing accessible for kids. This included a ski track in downtown Trondheim.

We took Annalise to see the Women’s 4×7.5 km relay on one of the last days of competition. The family section had it’s own kids’ ski course and sledding hill.