Making tracks in Norway

It's time to flop, cheeks burning, in a ridiculously cosy log cabin complete with open fire, and get to know the seven other members of my group.

Sue turns out to be a retired policewoman-turned-shepherdess living in the Yorkshire Dales; another, Andrew, is a rugby player hoping not to fall on his often-injured shoulder.

Then there's budding novelist Vena and Claire, a specialist in strategic marketing and self-styled couch potato.

Whether it's the tingling mountain air or the sugary hot chocolate and waffles, everyone's on a rarefied high and ready for anything - which is just as well, for with military precision, our hosts are outlining some optional activities for us to sample.

The first of these, dog sledding, involves yoking together half a dozen raring-to-run Alaskan huskies, stepping up onto the back runners of your sled and whisking off in convoy.

Soon I'm nurturing fantasies of polar expeditions but as we round a tight turn my stabilising leg sinks up to the waist in snow, capsizing the sled and tipping out my passenger, Claire, head-first.

For a few long minutes we're in deep snow, with the dogs still surging ahead and Claire buried upside down.

I feel a bit ungallant about leaving her like that but the golden rule, we were told, is to "never let go of the sledge".

An hour later, we're standing at the top of a sheer tobogganing track, and Claire has seen a chance for retribution: this time, I'm the passenger.

The hut attendant squeezes helmets on our heads and shows us the steering bar and the brake, neither of which seem to interest Claire much.

In the 42 breathless seconds that follow (I'm videoing our dramatic plunge), we veer across the sheet ice, accelerating all the time, and into rougher regions off the main track.

There's a shriek as we hit something under the surface (a rock, a root, a reindeer?), the sledge stops dead and I continue the descent by air, executing a double somersault.

We count the cost - my knee, her ribs - and, for the second time in as many hours, chastened yet helpless with exhaustion and laughter, start digging ourselves out of a mess.

Bumps and bruises notwithstanding, I know I haven't had so much fun in one day since I was three.

Next day, we're in two biathlon teams - Shackleton and Scott. Both groups seem destined for failure: one explorer's team missed its goal and survived, the other reached it but perished.

We're shown how to use weighty .22 rifles and asked to take five pot shots at tiny targets while still out of breath from completing a ski circuit.

Scott edges the contest but at a price: Andrew falls on his bad shoulder, makes a "you guys go on" speech, and plods back to the hot chocolate in the manner of Captain Oates. Over dinner, the consensus is none of us has lived life this intensely for some time, and a few are making plans for next year.

After all, Norway has unanswerable advantages as a winter sports destination: boundless miles of pristine scenery, a season that lasts until May, the chance to ski the length of the country in hut-to-hut stages and no-mobile wilderness.

The week winds up with a taste-of-Norway trip to Lauvåsen (by minibus for most; only two of the group are deemed capable of covering the 10km on skis without injury).

It's here we encounter Norway's answer to the après-ski excesses of the Alps: good company by the fireside and linie aquavit, a flavoured spirit distilled from potatoes.

We're talked through aquavit etiquette, which consists of holding the glass to your chest, inhaling the aroma, taking a sip and making eye contact with your neighbour - a social custom that only consolidates the bonds that have developed between us.

I overdo things, recklessly knocking back shots that have no effect at all until I hit the freshest air in the world, with predictable consequences. By the time I get home, I'm wondering if it was a dream. Of course it was.

DETAILS:

THE PACKAGE
Nordic Challenge has seven nights from £950pp full-board including ski rental. Clients collected from Vinstra rail station, 20 mins from hotel and three hours from Oslo. See www.nsb.no. Flights extra. www.nordicchallenge.com
British Airways flies daily to Oslo, returns from Heathrow from £171. www.ba.com

www.visitnorway.com