Arrive into Oslo and make your way to the Anker Hotel. We meet at 17:00 for a full briefing. Staying here on Day 1 and Day 5 keeps things simple and avoids unnecessary faff moving kit around the city.

The evening is about getting properly set up for the week ahead. We go through equipment in detail, make any adjustments needed, and spend time on stove systems, fuel management, lighting, and how to use them safely in a tent environment.

We’ll also talk through the plan for the week, what you want to get out of it, and how we’ll operate as a team. You’ll pack your pulk fully for the first time, thinking about what needs to stay accessible and how to keep systems efficient in the cold.

It’s an early start. We move pulks across Oslo by tram, then take the bus up into the mountains at Beitostolen. From the end of the road, we step straight onto the snow.

Day 2 is about building solid foundations before terrain becomes more complex.

We start on prepared tracks without pulks, giving you space to focus purely on movement. This is where we work through the full ski system—skis, bindings, skins, and waxes—so you understand how everything works and how to move efficiently on the snow.

Alongside this, we introduce avalanche transceivers—basic functions, checks, and making sure everyone is confident using them properly from the start.

Once movement begins to settle, we bring the pulks back into the system. You’ll load them properly and begin travelling with them, learning how they affect balance, pacing, and uphill movement as we make our way up onto the plateau.

By late afternoon we establish camp. This is your first proper look at winter campcraft:

Positioning tents in relation to wind and terrain

Using snow anchors and pegs to secure tents properly

Creating a functional camp layout, including kitchen areas

Cutting cold air wells in the porch to manage airflow and improve stove safety

Setting up your sleeping system so it stays warm and organised

Stove use and cooking in cold conditions

It’s a full first day, but by the evening you’ve moved from basic movement to travelling with a loaded pulk and setting up a functional winter camp.

By now, things start to feel more familiar.

We move on from the tracks and begin travelling off-piste, progressing ski skills into more realistic terrain. The focus is on control rather than speed—steeper downhill sections, learning to stay balanced, and managing movement properly without a pulk first.

You’ll work through:

Herringboning on steeper ground

Side stepping and controlled ascent

More confident downhill movement

As the day goes on, we begin linking this into proper journeying—moving as a team across untracked terrain rather than just practising in isolation.

Campcraft shifts as well. You’ll be doing far more independently now, with guides stepping in where needed rather than leading every part of the process. Packing, pitching, and cooking all start to become your system rather than something being shown to you.

We also introduce snow shelter systems, looking at different types of snowholes and when they are appropriate—simple emergency shelters through to more developed snow caves—along with site selection, basic construction, and how they fit into expedition decision making.

This is where things come together in a more technical way.

We spend time working properly on avalanche awareness—using transceivers, probing, shovelling, and running through group burial scenarios so everyone understands what it actually looks like in practice.

We also dig into the snowpack, looking at layers and stability, and how that feeds into decision making on the ground.

From there, we move into:

Navigation in more complex terrain

Testing ice thickness and moving safely across frozen lakes

Group protocols for lake crossings

Crevasse rescue systems with pulks

Steeper off-piste travel, including sustained uphill movement

It’s a big day, but it gives you a clear picture of what’s involved in operating safely in winter environments beyond simple terrain.

Early start again.

We begin the descent back towards the valley, this time with everything combined—movement, systems, and decision making. Downhill skiing with a loaded pulk feels very different to earlier in the week, and this is where the progress really shows.

By now, things that felt slow or clunky at the start—packing, moving, setting up—are quicker and more instinctive.

We aim to reach transport mid-morning to lunchtime, then head back to Oslo. Once back, we turn around kit and head out for a meal together, looking back on the week and what’s next.

Fly home.

By the end of the week, you’ll have built the core systems—movement, campcraft, and decision making—to operate independently in winter conditions. More importantly, you’ll understand how it all fits together on a journey.

For most, this is the point where a longer crossing starts to feel realistic rather than hypothetical, and you leave with a clear idea of what the next step looks like.