In for some good old winter fun in Oslo?! Need a little adrenaline rush? Head out and sleigh the Korketrekkeren! You won’t regret it!
Using a toboggan, a traditional and simple sled that is used for transportation in the past, you can now have a lot of winter fun on the Korketrekkeren. Literally translated as “the corkscrew”, this track runs between Frognerseteren and Midtstuen and is operated by the municipality.
You can use the track free of charge as it’s maintained by the municipality. Opening hours? Well, that really depends on the snow conditions. In the winter of 2017, it took up until the beginning of February before there was enough snow.
The speed of the track depends very much on the freshness of the snow. When the snow is fresh and powdery, it goes faster than when the snow is heavy and wet. The track gets at it’s craziest when it’s icy. In icy conditions it can actually be too fast and dangerous.
Want to try it out? Head out to Frognerseteren (reachable by metro) and lend a sleigh (kjelke) and helmet from the akeforeningen. It’s not possible to rent a sleigh when they consider the conditions not to be suitable. If you are not sure about the conditions, you can contact them by phone (see website for details)
History
The track used to be a road and was made into a luge track in the 1880’s. In fact, a bobsleigh track was built from the same starting point for the 1952 winter Olympics. As this was a temporary, artificial track with curves being constructed in snow and then frozen hard to ice, the bobsleigh track nowadays is by far gone.
There have been occasional proposals to build a permanent bobsleigh track but the selection of Lillehammer to be the host of the 1994 winter Olympics host stopped this debate.
That it’s not just slow fun becomes clear in the fact that in 2007, there were two serious accidents on the hill and it was subsequently closed by the police. The municipality then renovated the hill, removing poles and polstering dangerous edges.
Sleigh the Korketrekkeren on ice?!
I have been out there… a sunny day in the beginning of February. It was crowded and the track was icy. The result was absolutely crazy. The speed, the lack of control, it was hilarious and perhaps a little dangerous. One thing is for sure, you’ll know you live!
