A great way for a complete beginner to experience cross country skiing and make lots of progress in a short time. We were tutored for nearly 6 hours on each of 6 days so even a complete novice and scaredy-cat, like me, was able to have enough skill to safely negotiate different types of terrain within a couple of days. You WILL fall over, which is fun in the soft snow (although sometimes hard to get back up from) but does hurt a bit on the hard, prepared tracks. The scenery was fantastic, I never felt cold because we were active, and the company was incredibly friendly and supportive. We were with our group (14) for meals, warm up/down exercises and in the evening but we divided into 2 (ability) groups to ski, which worked well.
The landscape was just out of this world - my jaw was almost permanantly dropped! I've seen a million pictures of the fjords so I thought I knew what to expect but actually, once you're there it's like stepping through a gateway to another world, simply awe-inspiring. No National Geographic image can quite prepare you for how small you feel. One lady on the trip was an artist and she took a sketch pad with her, which I thought was a wonderful idea. The guest house was another surprise - it's so quaint! And the dinners - well, it's lucky we were walking all day! Three course meals every evening, truly superb. Even the breakfast was seriously impressive - they bake their own bread so you have fresh rolls, and pick their own fruit from the orchard. The chef is a truly talented individual!
Hotel is run by a family. I cannot overstate how well they treated us. Buffet meals three times per day. Free WiFi. The snow was amazing. We had no cross country skiing experience before. Tour guides were excellent and coached us around 3-4 hours per day. Massage / Pilates / Yoga classes helped greatly with muscle soreness. I thought I was relatively fit, but I found by the end of the morning session I was happy to relax for the rest of the day. Despite eating well, I think I have lost a couple of kg on the trip!