The Sunny Side of Hemsedal
Solheisen is for the children. Captain Jorgen Heje pulls up to the start shack as a mellow crowd awaits their turn.
Mikkel Bang is showing his age, in a good way. The former child prodigy, now 36 years old, rakes a berm in the sunshine. It’s May 1 and he’s been digging for 10 days straight.
Shoveling with Mikkel are Ben Ferguson, Freddy Perry and Stan Leveille, along with a handful of others. Fresh off two weeks splitboarding up north (see page 054), I’ve arrived for closing weekend, Norwegian style. Mikkel and friends have crafted 36 berms here at Solheisen, the independent ski area which was accurately described to me as a “hippy resort,” 10 minutes down the road from the corporate megalith of SkiStar Hemsedal. Solheisen is the kind of community-oriented place I’d rather be.
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