The Norwegian Secret to Enjoying a Long Winter

Norway does have a lot of community oriented activities especially if you have children. There are ski-clubs everywhere for cross country skiing, and those clubs often have "lys-løype" (lit tracks) and a man who drives a tracked vehicle that makes the line-tracks in the snow. This means there are clearly designated areas where skiiers can park and ski on a course. The ski-club where I live also produce a map of a nearby forest with all the winter trails marked out. The tourist board of Norway have "get outside days" for children and organised clubs all year around to encourage use of the countryside. Ski-clubs also arrange for garage-sale type events where almost new and used gear can be gotten cheaply. There is no stigma around this in Norway even among the more well off. Buying new gear for growing children is OK, but getting it cheap is more OK (a lot of Norway is wealthy because people are frugal, I think they remember times before the oil boom!).

It's almost impossible to avoid being harassed into going cross country skiing in Norway. Accept and assimilate.

Or, move to SF or LA where "winter" means a few months of scattered showers once a week and occasionally days where a hoodie is more comfortable than just a t-shirt.

Well written, thanks