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Registration for Ridderweek 2027 is open

From 7 to 14 March we fill Beitostølen again. Registration for Ridderweek 2027 is open.

In 1964 the Norwegian Armed Forces cut ski tracks across the mountain that were deeper than they needed to be. Deep enough that someone who cannot see could feel the direction underfoot and let go. Erling Stordahl was blind, he was a musician, and he was not an easy man to refuse. He gathered 57 visually impaired skiers. King Olav sent them off. The motto was simple. Build your body and learn to see with your mind.

More than sixty winters on, the Armed Forces are still there. In 2025 they sent 120 soldiers to Beitostølen, a mountain village in the Valdres valleys north of Oslo, to be the hand on the shoulder and the voice in the ear. The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and the other colleges sent almost 250 students. Beitostølen Health Sports Center provided the venues, the pool and specialists who have worked in adapted sport for as long as the event has existed. Several hundred volunteers and instructors came too, and the national federations sent their people, among them the Norwegian Ski Federation, the biathlon, snowboard and dog sledding federations.

Nobody manages it alone. Together we manage rather a lot.

Ridderweek 2027 runs from 7 to 14 March at Beitostølen. Registration is open now.

A week you put together yourself

You choose the activities, and you choose the level. Alpine skiing, cross-country, biathlon and snowboard are the main ones. Snowshoeing, dog sledding, yoga and the swimming pool come on top. We have the expertise to meet you where you are and to give you a sense of mastery in safe surroundings. That is the whole reason we bring in the federations and the specialists at the Health Sports Center.

From Wednesday to Saturday there are competitions for anyone who wants them. Biathlon on Wednesday, cross-country on Thursday, giant slalom and snowboard on Friday. The week closes with Ridderrennet itself on the Saturday, a proper test over 10 km and 20 km. If you want to take part, you confirm it in the registration form.

If you need a companion during the day, you say so in the registration form. You are then given the same companion for the whole week. The companion service is built together with the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and other educational institutions, and we recommend you use it.

During the week we also run a professional day and an exhibition of activity aids, where specialists, politicians, user representatives, para sport and the suppliers all meet.

From 15 years old, with no upper limit

Ridderweek is open to you from the age of 15, and there is no upper limit. Our oldest participant so far was 103, in 2024. Every year people who have been coming for decades share the tracks with people standing on skis for the very first time. They come from all over Norway and from around the world.

Some have just lost their sight. Others have lived with an impairment all their lives without ever being given the chance to try sport. For many this is the first encounter with sport of any kind.

There is room for both in the same track. That is rather the whole idea.

We look after you the whole way

Getting there is part of the week. We run coaches from Oslo Airport Gardermoen, Oslo bus terminal, the DFDS quay in Oslo and from Bergen. Transport has its own separate booking, which opens in November.

When you arrive, the Welcome Centre is in reception at Beito Resort Hotel. Check in, the information desk, the race office, transport information and the companion service are all in the same place.

Through the week there is ski waxing service at both the hotel and the Health Sports Center, a pool with a lifeguard on duty, a chiropractor, classification for anyone competing, and a doctor and emergency cover. That leaves you free to concentrate on what you actually came for.

And then there are the evenings

Most people think they come for the skiing. It is the evenings they talk about afterwards.

Across the week there is a quiz, karaoke, a concert, a talent night and a good deal more. On the Saturday we finish with the closing ceremony, the gala dinner and the dance bar. You will have skied for a week, and you will dance anyway.

This is where the friendships are made, across ages and nationalities. Plenty of people come back year after year mainly for this. The full evening programme is not settled until the new year, so some of the details on our pages may still change.