The history of Hafjell
Hafjell's history started with a championship. Not the World Cup or the Norwegian Championship, but rather a student championship in 1939.
The Academic Winter Games at Hafjell
In February 1939, the Academic Winter Games were held in Lillehammer. Hafjell was the arena for alpine skiing. Crown Prince Olav was in charge of the opening of the Games, which took place at Sportsplassen in Lillehammer. The Crown Prince also followed the downhill race in Hafjell from a separate stand of honour on the farm Kaldor.
It was the leader of Lillehammer Ski Club, Lars Høgvold, who received the inquiry from the Norwegian Ski Federation. Andreas Bjørge, Johannes Råbøl and Johannes Nermo took responsibility for repairing the trail and reaching an agreement with the landowners. There was no question of major expenses. The very first Hafjell trail cost NOK 300. It was the expenses for the logging. Before the international stars could get in, the trail had to be tested. It happened on February 4, 1939, and in place were the best downhill skiers in Norway. The trail at that time went about where the trail runs today. The start was in the bare mountain and the length was 3.5 kilometers. The height difference was 850 meters and the finish was at Aasletten. It was not an easy trail. Top speed of 70 kilometers and especially the crossing of Sørbygdvegen gave the runners a real challenge.
In advance, it was predicted that the journey down the mountain would take about three minutes. It turned out that another minute passed. 21 runners set off on this beautiful February day in 1939. Sverre Lassen-Urdahl from Asker was the big favorite and he barely fulfilled. Johan Nicolaysen from Lillehammer gave the Asker man a fight all the way to the door.
Nicolaysen led all the way to the crossing of Sørbygdvegen (the tunnel jump), where he got real air under the skis and had to go over. He lost about 20 seconds on the fall, but still finished second. The course received brilliant reviews and the race was an excellent dress rehearsal for the student championship 14 days later.
Crown Prince Olav
It was Crown Prince Olav who opened the Academic Winter Games on 19 February. After the opening, the Crown Prince made the trip to Hafjell and the downhill race. From the grandstand of honour, he followed the race together with 3000 spectators who surrounded the course. 240 participants from 17 countries participated. One of those who took part was to play a central role in the further development of Hafjell. The Swiss Marc Hodler did not get on the podium, but achieved a 4th place in the combined, was fifth in slalom and number nine in downhill. Hodler later became president of the International Ski Federation FIS and vice president of the IOC.
When Lillehammer signed up as a candidate for the Olympic Winter Games in 1992, they quickly discovered that Hodler had good memories of the alpine trails in Hafjell, and knew that these were up to scratch. In the winter of 1940, a downhill race was to be held in Hafjell again.
Norwegian Alpine Skiing Championships 1949
It would be nine years before downhill races were held in Hafjell again. In 1949, the Norwegian championship was held. A heavy snowfall on the night of Saturday 13 March created major problems. Eager officials with good help from the military managed to get a course so that the skiers could ski under safe conditions. Jonny Lunde won the men's class, while Borghild Niskin won the women's class. The same year the Danish championship was also supposed to be arranged, but the Danish Ski and Orienteering Federation withdrew. The course was both too long and too steep for our Danish friends, at the time. In 1957, it was proposed to close the trail. Gudbrandsdal Skikrets no longer wanted to be involved, and the agreement on the lease of the land was therefore terminated in 1958.
The Hafjell Project
During the years from 1958 until today's Hafjell was opened in 1988 by the then Minister of Culture Hallvard Bakke, there was no shortage of plans. The very first to try it was the Gjøvik man and engineer Stein Erik Skaug. On July 18, 1961, he sent an application to the chairmanship of Øyer municipality for assistance with what he called the Hafjell project. Skaug had big plans. A unique tourist and sports center with a cost framework of seven million kroner.
Skaug envisioned hotels, two slopes with several ski lifts, an ice rink, shops, a hotel of course and a separate area that would be zoned for the construction of 100 company cabins. Even a separate chapel had the Gjøvik man included in the plans. The plan was received with great interest and Skaug received only positive feedback. The municipality prioritized the development of the necessary road network. Seen in the light of day, there is no doubt that Skaug was a man with visions and good ideas. Unfortunately, it all stopped on June 1, 1964. Skaug was unable to finance the development.
After that, another 10 years would pass before a new committee was appointed in 1971. The goal at that time was that Hafjell would be chosen as a national facility in alpine skiing by the Norwegian Ski Federation. On February 12, 1972, the committee was ready to start the work, Lars Gaukstad was elected as the committee's first chairman. The committee worked steadily, but never managed to realize the project, despite good ideas and reports . New plans were constantly being considered, new consultants were brought in. In 1983, French Jean Cattelin visited. He was considered one of the world's foremost experts on the planning and operation of ski resortØyer s . The bank promised to take a closer look at the project.
Olympics 1994 and Hafjell
Around the same time, the dream of the Olympic Games was about to take root in Lillehammer. The bank was of course heavily involved. On January 20, 1982, the chairmanship of Lillehammer municipality was called to an extraordinary meeting. Here, the chairmanship said a clear yes to investigate the Olympic idea further. Ole Sjetne was elected chairman of the investigation committee. There was no doubt about Hafjell's position in this work, the dream was that the Olympic alpine exercises would take place here. The work on the Olympic application initially led to the Hafjell plans being postponed in time. However, the study was done, and was worth its weight in gold for the committee, but the actual construction work was not ready for. Lillehammer fought a hard battle for the Games in 1992. They lost that battle to Albertville, but the city and the country had got blood on their teeth.
The opposition to a new application was minimal, but there was a big but. Lillehammer had to prove to the IOC that they meant business. Facilities had to be built! The choice was easy, Hafjell and an ice hockey hall in Lillehammer, Kristins Hall. Hafjell because the plans were already there, was well documented, and because alpine skiing was a discipline that meant a lot internationally. Norway had no status as an alpine organizer in the same way as the Nordic disciplines. It quickly turned out that the student championship from 1939 with Marc Hodler on the starting line gave good associations to important decision-makers.
When the Games for 1994 were to be awarded during the Olympics in Seoul, Hafjell was "finished" with a price tag of NOK 130 million. Lillehammer had proven that they meant business, a 50-year-old dream had been realized, and Hafjell could start its journey towards becoming one of Norway's most attractive alpine centers. Today, Hafjell Alpine Center has 18 ski lifts, including the gondola, 32 slopes.
