Exploring Norway in Mountain Warehouse skiwear

Last week, I travelled to west of Norway. Mountain Warehouse invited me to try out some of their snowy weather clothes while I was there. If you’re interested to read more about my travels in Norway, the first post, about the village of Flåm, is here, and I’ll be posting more about the trip over the next fortnight. In the meantime, here are a few snapshots of me, sporting my outdoor gear.

Mountain Warehouse sent me a Braddock women’s ski jacket, and Morillion Women’s ski pants, both in navy. They were pretty versatile; the jacket kept me nice and dry in Bergen, Norway’s ‘rainiest city’, which is on the west coast of the country. It was pouring with rain when we arrived at Bergen, and the city was coated in a fine haze of drizzle on our last day there. The Braddock’s made of breathable IsoDry fabric, so the rain just bounced away.

If anything I found the jacket a little hot for the city (average February temperatures in Bergen are around 2 °C). But our next stop was Myrkdalen, a family-friendly ski resort two hours north-east of Bergen. Myrkdalen is one of the most snow-sure resorts in western Europe and was cold, especially on our first morning there, which was very misty. My base layers, fleece, jumper, jacket and ski pants saw off the chill though, and the jacket’s ski skirt stopped the snow from getting when I fell over *ahem* three times in my cross-country ski lesson.

After Myrkdalen, we drove down the through tunnels carved into the mountains, and the snow became less and less. That was only a temporary lull though. Soon we began to climb again, until we reached the draw-dropping Stegastein viewpoint, on the Aurlandsfjellet mountain road. You can read more about it in my blog post, but – at 650 m above sea level – it was darned chilly.

Now it was time to head back down the mountain, to Flåm, where we spent the night and woke up early for a board boat fjordsafari. The temperature on the boat, which was low and cut through the water at high speed, reached -10 °C. Although my Mountain Warehouse gear was tested to -30 °C, it wasn’t enough to do the trick on this occasion: everyone on board had to wear a thermal waterproof suit, on top of their jackets. Here’s me, about to set off wearing five layers of clothing:

Nice.

My many layers kept me snug. I peeled some of them off for a trip on the scenic Flåm Railway, which took us 820 m above sea level  for lunch at the cosy Vatnahalsen Høyfjellshotell. We borrowed some of the hotel’s snowshoes, and went out for a walk in a light snowshower.

On the balcony at Vatnahalsen Høyfjellshotell

My verdict on the Mountain Warehouse jacket and ski pants? They did the trick. The jacket even felt stylish enough to use while I was sightseeing in the city of Bergen, although if I’d have realised quite how warm it was, I’d have put fewer layers on for my city days.

Have you tried any skiwear this season? Which brands do you like?

I was sent Mountain Warehouse skiwear for the purpose of this post. All views are my own.

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