Photo/text: OA Isdahl
Fun mastery, social, educational and great experiences
When talented people get together, share ideas, knowledge and experience to achieve somewhat ambitious goals, it usually turns out very well. Now Kenneth Nordal Pedersen and his Fjellkjør team and Johannes Nermo, the fifth-generation driver and owner of Nermo Hotel, have really got a great riding and adventure concept off the ground. The existing HUB riding concept for the historic hotels and restaurants lacks a pure gravel concept, and last weekend the gentlemen launched an absolutely fantastic gravel concept based at Nermo. It was a huge success.
The target group
The target group for this event, which will be held annually, is really the everyman and recruits who are not so experienced on gravel, but who want to learn. Specialists were and are welcome, of course, but the most experienced might find this terrain a little too gentle. However, Kenneth and Johannes managed to produce challenges for them too, and they also managed to transfer a great deal of knowledge to the less experienced, who therefore learned a great deal. Next year, the event will be held in the period June 5 – 7, so you’ll just have to book your place, as there is a limit of 50 participants, so it’s first come, first served.
During the weekend, the participants got to try their hand at all types of weather and driving conditions, and the conditions of course added their own unique flavor to the experiences, which were simply fantastic.
Who is Fjellkjør?
Fjellkjør was started by Kenneth Nordahl Pedersen and today consists of a core and a network of gravel and off-road enthusiasts with a very high level of expertise and skills in gravel. The network lives its own life and often organizes trips in smaller clusters that operate somewhat independently of each other. Every fall, however, a joint and larger event is organized in Hallingdalen that brings together many of the enthusiasts. The Fjellkjør network communicates on Facebook and Instagram and counts around 6,400 followers, which is quite a large group. So if you go on a trip with these people, the learning effect and usefulness for yourself will most likely be high. These people know what they’re doing.
MC Huset Nydalen helps to enhance the experience
Rune Almsetrand came up to Nermo with a large team and a selection of very interesting models from Honda and BMW. It was a popular event and rumor has it that Rune really succeeded in starting the buying process with several of the participants. It’s not easy to say no when you’ve been able to try out the sexiest things on two wheels and the money is literally burning a hole in your pocket =0)
Rune came to the rescue with a bottom pan from a wreck after one of the participants was unlucky enough to hit a rock on the slalom slope. Rune went into work on Saturday evening, dismantled the wreck and got the bottom pan up to Nermo on Sunday morning and just like that, the unfortunate driver was able to drive on, interrupted only by a good meal and a good night’s sleep. Absolutely fantastic.
Jotunheimen and Rondane
Nermo is located in Øyer municipality in Gudbrandsdalen and has easy access to both Jotunheimen and Rondane. Here you have access to a fantastic western flank and an equally delightful eastern flank that offers miles of gravel roads that allow you to take a detour in almost any direction on roads with great variety.
The level of difficulty isn’t too daunting, so absolutely everyone can stumble around with a good sense of achievement and enjoy the nature and the massive driving experiences.
This meant that everyone had a great time and could really enjoy the mountain in all its glory.
Great learning benefits
The entire group of drivers numbered about 25 men and women who together possessed hundreds of years of experience and expertise in gravel and off-road driving. This benefited the beginners, and I think most of us learned quite a lot through these days. The idea of pairing inexperienced with experienced drivers paid off and most people gradually mastered more and more of the challenges they had some problems with earlier in the day.
The storyteller Johannes Nermo
Nermo is by no means an ordinary hotel, the establishment has a long and exciting history that spans 5 generations and therefore includes stories of all kinds from love, excitement and drama. As of today, there are actually three generations living at Nermo and the King of Nermo (as I like to call him) is a fantastic storyteller who loves to convey good stories to the guests. Johannes the storyteller is nothing less than a formidable and festive communicator who is anything but boring. In this context, the stories definitely represented the dot over the proverbial “i”.
Here, Johannes tells the exciting story of Hornsjø høyfjellshotell, which was one of Norway’s largest hotels at the time. The hotel had 401 beds. The hotel is now completely abandoned and is characterized by a ghostly atmosphere that testifies to a former greatness we do not come into contact with in our everyday lives. The storyteller Johannes loves to paint pictures with his stories and is skilled at directing and dramaturgy. The stories are captivating and make an impression on absolutely everyone.
Incidentally, storytelling creates interest and becomes an essential part of the stay and not least the experiences. The network of gravel roads is enormous and at Nermo you can stay at least a week without having to drive the same roads several times. Nermo is simply an oasis where everyone can realize the dream of mastering and discovering and here everything is laid out with routes, variations and impressions that can take everyone’s breath away. Here we are at the heart of the “adventure” concept, clearly.
Building new opportunities during the pandemic
Just before the pandemic broke out, Johannes lost his left foot and now wears a prosthesis that is impossible to see when the giant of about 2 meters handles his Honda Africa Twin on the gravel roads in the mountains. The man who obviously has an iron will, built a new restaurant at the top of the hill in Hafjell during the same period, which was named “Vidsyn” and on the last day of the event, most people drove up the slalom hill to enjoy the place, the view and some simple refreshments. Vidsyn is in many ways the rye in the Hafjell sausage all year round and represents great opportunities.
A lot is going to happen at Nermo in the time to come and Johannes’ goal is of course to open a new market with exciting routes and not least food, culture and driving experiences in a new landscape. We recommend everyone who likes gravel or fun asphalt roads to find their way to Gudbrandsdalen, which really has a lot to offer. Experiences, food or driving terrain – everything is equally fantastic, equally accessible and almost addictive. We expect the future to be developed and built together with Fjellkjør, so just stay tuned.
Next year, we will try to provide three rippers, one of which will be reserved for beginners.
Get in touch now and sign up for next year.
Thank you for the trips, the experiences and not least the wonderful people.
