The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-03-29
GAY WINTER LIFE IN NORWAY
LADS AND LASSES OUTDOORS
BIZ DAY AND NIGHT.

week End skiing Parties tina Spend tho
Hours q ReSt In Huts Amid the Nlld,
AFTER Confirmation G4rls Enjo, kcy
freedom spOFts on tho HolmenAol.
A writer for q German paper who has
bean stopping in Christiania gives a sur.
phAng account Of the liberty ACCORDED
10 the young people Of Norway, especially
the girls. After receiving the rite Of cua.
frmatiou the girls receive what he calls
seAlaaSGbrehet, or key freedom; their
parents literally hand over TO them a night
key and complete liberty to come and ~
a. they please day add night.
Though the period OF schlissdirrhct
comes In the early teens, the benehoiares
have no scruple about enjoying It to the
fullest extent. With or without male
companions they 60 of winter AMI summer
on long country trips, week end parties
usually, which start on Saturday afternoon
when the half day sessions Of the schools
are over and the Offices close up aud last
until Monday morning.
All through the country for the length
Of a days Journey about the capital there
are ski huts, in which the pleasure parties
take refuge over night. Rich families
own their " ski huts, sometimes 6o,,.al
Of them In various directions; but the greater
number are owned by farmers, who rent
them out at the rate Of from Si.6O TO 500
q month.
just outside Of Christiania Is the Hol-
menkol. which Is to that city something
like what Bronx Park Is to New York,
only more 90. 1t is a great hill about go
feet high, 90 near TO Christiania that lts
abrupt cliffs seem to look down over the
houses in the suburbs,
Parties 20 out by day to get the glorious
view Of sea and shore from the summit.
They 20 out in the evening and spend all
niRht there 10 watch the Northern Lights
and the sunrise.
A trolley line runs 10 the top Of the noun
tain and the stunt Of walking up has become
20 commonplace that nobody thinks Of
doing Il any more. The company issues
for one crown, about ~ cents, a ticket good
for all day rides. The cars are equipped
Ia winter with means Of carrying skis and
bobsleds, 90 nobody rides down, at least ia
winter time. There are great sloping
reaches Of snow on which the bob shedding
IL superb.
almost an equal number made up oI girls
only. But In a large number OF cases
perhaps q majority-boys and girls, young
men and women, tramp together.
There is q total absence Of attempts AT
~Railantry; the girls are as independent as
the men. They expect none OF the small
a-seietances or courtesies that an American
girl would look for, and they get none.
In winter time the skis are invariably
taken along. Sometimes bobsleds are taken
too. N the country TO be traversed iayois
their use. Skates are often taken TOO.
Each individual has provisions for a day or
two and sometimesthet tea making apparatus
Is divided e venly as 20 weight.
The costume is picturesque. woollen cars
cav oolors give a brilliant effect to a snow
landscape over which they are dotted,
when viewed from a distance on a sunshlny
day. Warm sweaters, generally white,
are worn BY men and women alike, the inca
wear k~nickerbockers and leRgings; the
drls' skirts coming a little below the knee,
And leRdnRs too. The shoes Of both seXei
are built strictly for business purposes.
When the hour Of rest comes, the whols
party takes to the ski hut and all sleep
Ia their clothes on beds OF pine needles.
In summer the early sunrise finds them
afoot again. In the winter the start lH
made hours before dawn and the objective
point of the morning is often some heiRh'
from which the coming light IS hailed with
song.
favors the outdoor winter life. Early IN
December the country becomes thlc"ly
covered with snow, which practically re-
mains until the spring. The thermome'er
hardly ever rises above freezing point
and the chances OF rain are negligible
Snow Is not taken seriously by the skleIS
and the cold Is seldom 80 intense as TO c1
dangerous.
n he on the Holmenkol that the interna-
tionpl ski contests take place every year,
bringing English, German, Swiss and French
oompetitors in constantly increasing num-
hers. There are events for men and women
and boys and girls OF all ages, and young
people come from all parts Of Norway
without chaperone or guardian and spend
several days on the ground to take part
in them. 80,
The German observer Of these conditions
says that the freedom allowed 20 the young
people appears Il have the best possible
effects, especially in the development Of
character among the INT In par
tioular, he says, II seems 10 fit them Tor
public life.
Almost every city In Norway has at pres,
ent 9 number OF women in the municipal
governing bodies. and in tho he4s election
the women are to exercise the full Franchise
In the choioo Of members for the Storthln-,
or national le%1iRlature,