Hovden

The strong points are scale and access: this is the largest ski area in southern Norway and still within easy reach of Oslo. Runs cover every ability, and floodlighting on part of the hill makes evening skiing possible. Snowboarders single out the Bukkerittet terrain park, widely called one of the best in the country. There is decent off-piste plus regular instruction, and because the slopes sit partly above and partly below the treeline, bad weather does not shut everything down.

Lift reliability is what gets hammered: one report describes a week in which two full days ran on a single T-bar, while the chairlift only opened at 15:00 on a day the resort closed at 15:30. On-site pricing is the other sore spot - after NOK 750 per person for the lift pass, a soft drink costs NOK 72 and parking another NOK 100. Together those two issues account for most of the irritation guests express.