Roll out of bed from under your duvet. Stumble down the stairs and fill your plate with an extravagant breakfast buffet. Then wander into the reception area with your coffee and feast your bleary eyes on the 4 screens giving you live weather reports and video feed from the remote weather stations installed at strategic points on the Hardangervidda Plateau. Choose your destination for the day. Load your kite quiver and head up the road for the most spectacular snow kiting on the planet!
Haugastol (population is home to the hotel right at the gateway to the plateau. The Kaupang family has been running the Haugastol Turistsenter since 1967. The hotel has a capacity for about 100 guests and is the home away from home for many snowkiters.



Self-catering is possible in one of their fantastically equipped apartments, but I don’t know why you would bother when you can taste some of the best food Norway has to offer compliments of Liv Kaupang – hotel chef and evil slave-driver (saving all the fun kitchen jobs for me, like brushing mushrooms and potato peeling).



Don’t know where to kite? Just ask Bjørn Kaupang, World Champion Freestyle Kiteskier. Or Terje Kaupang – World Champion parking lot snow clearer – you’ll find him in the giant front end loader with a happy grin on his face.



The hotel is home to some of the best snowkiters in the world and they are happy to point out some of the best places to ride. No local snobbery here. In fact, just try and keep the youngest, Roald, from telling you about all the epic spots.


The Hardangervidda plateau sits at 1150m above sea level in south central Norway and runs for about 20 000sq km. The terrain varies from lakes and rolling hills to glaciers and cliffs – all above treeline and all eminently rideable. A highway cuts across the plateau, giving easy access to multiple kiting spots all within a 10min to 50min drive. The snow banks on the sides of the road are running about 5m tall this winter and the snow offers kilometer after kilometer of untracked powder. Fresh tracks are possible every day.



I have been kiting in Italy, France and Sweden but I don’t think anywhere can touch this plateau for free-riding bliss. The weather on the plateau can change in the blink of an eye and the road can close, but if you have a week, you will be sure to leave with memories and experiences kiting that will have you searching for cheap flights back here the moment you get back home. If the road IS closed, it is possible to head 24km down the road to Geilo and hit the slopes for some alpine skiing or even take a ride to the top of the slopes and kite above the pistes. If you have the room in your luggage, pack your x-c gear too, because the no-wind days are a perfect opportunity to go on a hut-to-hut waffle tour, all accessible directly from the hotel. Feeling lazy? Head back to the hotel and lounge about in the reception area while Eldbjørg serves up some homemade waffles and a freshly pulled cappuccino.



This is my perfect life. If I am dreaming, don’t wake me up!
Check out www.haugastol.no and start planning your trip now!