2025

We're looking so much forward to going to Norway with a bunch of Ukrainian and Danish children and spend one magic week skiing, playing in the snow and having lots of fun!

In the mean time you may look at some photos from last years camp.

We're looking so much forward to going to Norway with a bunch of Ukrainian and Danish children and spending one magic week skiing, playing in the snow and having lots of fun!

In the meantime, you can have a look at some photos from last year's camp.

We arrived to our cabin 22.30 after a fine journey. It was a lot of bus driving but the children handled it very well and had lots of fun at the bus and new friendships were made. We had a small break at the ferry for Helsingborg and 2 very cozy meals at Ikea and McDonalds.

Todays blog will be rather short - we have to go to bed. But we'll share a few photos with you from this excellent day. Now all children - Danish and Ukrainian - are sleeping tight in their beds - recharging for tomorrows skiing.

Thanks for a wonderful day!

We arrived at our cabin at 22:30 after a fine journey. It was a lot of bus driving, but the children handled it very well and had lots of fun on the bus, and new friendships were made. We had a short break at the ferry to Helsingborg and two very cosy meals at IKEA and McDonald's.

Today's blog will be rather short - we have to go to bed. But we'll share a few photos with you from this excellent day. Now all the children - Danish and Ukrainian - are sleeping tight in their beds, recharging for tomorrow's skiing.

Thanks for a wonderful day!

Then the camp finally truly began.

We woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and bright sunshine, with high expectations for the day.

Some were up early with butterflies in their stomachs, while others had to be woken up after yesterday’s long journey and enjoyed sleeping in a bit longer.

After breakfast, we got fitted with skis, boots, helmets, and so on. Everyone worked together, and we were soon out in the snow under the most beautiful blue sky.

We then headed down together to a children’s area where we played on skis and practiced the basics. The kids caught on quickly and were ready for new challenges.

All the children were eager for more skiing after lunch, and the mountain was explored in the best possible way. Everyone got off to a great start today.

Back at the cabin, there was freshly baked bread once again to refill our energy reserves.

The afternoon was spent in our wonderful outdoor Jacuzzi, with LEGO building, games, and creative activities. Friendships are beginning to blossom all around—it's lovely to see.

For dinner, we had spaghetti bolognese, and everyone ate with great pleasure. We also introduced our “thank you for the meal” song.

After that, everyone changed into pajamas and ended the day together with evening entertainment: singing, fun competitions, and silly stories from the day.

They were tired but happy children who were then tucked in and fell asleep quickly.

Tomorrow, we look forward to more skiing, play, and friendships.

Here are some photos from today:

Waiting for breakfast.

Breakfast buffet. Freshly baked bunns.

Eating breakfast with new friends.

Finding ski equipment and adjusting it.

Gathering outside the cabin before going for the slopes.

First time skiing. It is going really well.

Anders and his group.

First day of skiing - nice style!

King of the hill.

Anders and his group.

Concentration. The piste is soft and difficult!

Spaghetti bolognese. It was a hit among the hungry skiers.

We're singing Tak for mad sangen - a tribute to our hard working kitchen crew.

Evening entertainment before bedtime.

Another great day at the mountain😀

In Ukrainian

Отже, табір нарешті розпочався по-справжньому.

Ми прокинулися від запаху щойно спеченого хліба та яскравого сонця, з великими сподіваннями на цей день.

Дехто встав рано з «метеликами в животі», інших довелося будити після вчорашньої довгої дороги, і вони насолоджувалися трохи довшим сном.

Після сніданку необхідно було підібрати лижі, черевики, шоломи тощо. Усі допомагали одне одному, тож ми швидко опинилися надворі — у снігу під неймовірно блакитним небом.

Потім усі разом попрямували до дитячої зони, де каталися на лижах, гралися і відпрацьовували базові навички. Діти швидко все схопили та були готові до нових випробувань.

Після обіду всі були налаштовані на ще більше катання, і ми чудово дослідили гору. Усі сьогодні вдало стартували.

У будиночку нас знову чекав свіжоспечений хліб, щоб підкріпитися.

Другу половину дня провели в нашій чудовій відкритій джакузі, займаючись конструюванням Lego, іграми та творчими справами. Дружба почала зміцнюватися з усіма, і це дуже приємно спостерігати.

На вечерю у нас були спагеті болоньєзе, які всі їли з великим задоволенням. Також ми познайомилися з нашою піснею «дякуємо за їжу».

Після цього всі одягли піжами й завершили день вечірніми розвагами: співали пісні, влаштовували веселі конкурси та розповідали кумедні історії про події дня.

Потім діти, хоча й втомлені, але щасливі, лягли спати й швидко заснули.

Завтра знову на нас чекає катання на лижах, ігри та нові дружні стосунки.

In Danish

Vi vågnede til duften af nybagt brød og høj sol, og store forventninger til dagen.

Nogen var tidligt oppe med sommerfugle i maven, andre måtte vækkes efter den lange tur i går og nød at sove lidt længere.

Efter morgenmaden skulle der tilpasses ski, støvler, hjelme mm. Alle samarbejdede og vi var hurtigt ude i sneen og den flotteste blå himmel.

Herefter gik vi i samlet flok ned til et børneområde, hvor der blev leget på ski og øvet de basale ting. Ungerne fangede det hurtigt og blev klar til nye udfordringer.

Alle børn var klar på mere ski efter frokost, og bjerget blev udforsket på fineste vis. Alle kom godt fra start i dag.

Hjemme i hytten var der igen friskbagt brød til at fylde depoterne op.

Eftermiddagen blev brugt i vores skønne udendørs jacuzzi, med Lego-bygning, spil og kreative aktiviteter. Venskaber begynder at spire på kryds og tværs, det er dejligt at se.

Til aftensmad fik vi spagetti bolognese og der blev spist med stort velbehag. Og så fik vi introduceret vores ‘tak for mad’-sang.

Derefter hoppede alle i nattøj og sluttede sammen dagen af med aftenunderholdning med sang, sjove konkurrencer og skøre historier fra dagen der gik.

Det var nogen trætte men glade børn der derefter blev puttet og sov hurtigt.

I morgen kan vi se frem til mere ski, leg og venskaber.

Then the camp finally truly began.

We woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and bright sunshine, with high expectations for the day.

Some were up early with butterflies in their tummies, while others had to be woken up after yesterday's long journey and enjoyed sleeping in a bit longer.

After breakfast, we got fitted with skis, boots, helmets and so on. Everyone worked together, and we were soon out in the snow under the most beautiful blue sky.

We then headed down together to a children's area where we played on skis and practised the basics. The kids caught on quickly and were ready for new challenges.

All the children were eager for more skiing after lunch, and the mountain was explored in the best possible way. Everyone got off to a great start today.

Back at the cabin, there was freshly baked bread once again to refill our energy reserves.

The afternoon was spent in our wonderful outdoor Jacuzzi, with LEGO building, games and creative activities. Friendships are beginning to blossom all around—it's lovely to see.

For dinner, we had spaghetti bolognese, and everyone ate with great pleasure. We also introduced our “thank you for the meal” song.

After that, everyone changed into pyjamas and ended the day together with evening entertainment: singing, fun competitions and silly stories from the day.

They were tired but happy children who were then tucked in and fell asleep quickly.

Tomorrow, we look forward to more skiing, play and friendships.

Here are some photos from today:

Waiting for breakfast.

Breakfast buffet. Freshly baked buns.

Eating breakfast with new friends.

Finding ski equipment and adjusting it.

Gathering outside the cabin before heading for the slopes.

First time skiing. It's going really well.

Anders and his group.

First day of skiing - nice style!

King of the hill.

Anders and his group.

Concentration. The piste is soft and difficult!

Spaghetti bolognese. It was a hit among the hungry skiers.

We're singing "Tak for mad"-sangen (the Danish thank-you-for-the-meal song) - a tribute to our hard-working kitchen crew.

Evening entertainment before bedtime.

Another great day on the mountain😀

In Ukrainian

So, the camp had finally truly begun.

We woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and bright sunshine, with high hopes for the day.

Some were up early with butterflies in their tummies, while others had to be woken up after yesterday's long journey and enjoyed a slightly longer sleep.

After breakfast, we needed to sort out skis, boots, helmets and so on. Everyone helped one another, so we were soon outdoors—in the snow, beneath an incredibly blue sky.

Then we all headed together to a children's area, where we skied, played and practised the basics. The children picked everything up quickly and were ready for new challenges.

After lunch, everyone was keen for even more skiing, and we explored the mountain wonderfully. Everyone got off to a great start today.

Back at the cabin, freshly baked bread was waiting for us once again to refuel.

We spent the second half of the day in our lovely outdoor Jacuzzi, building with Lego, playing games and doing creative activities. Friendships have started to grow between everyone, and it's a real joy to see.

For dinner, we had spaghetti bolognese, which everyone ate with great pleasure. We also got to know our “thank you for the food” song.

After that, everyone put on their pyjamas and rounded off the day with evening entertainment: singing songs, holding fun competitions and telling amusing stories about the day's events.

Then the children, though tired, were happy as they went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

Tomorrow, more skiing, games and new friendships await us once again.

In Danish

We woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and bright sunshine, with high expectations for the day.

Some were up early with butterflies in their tummies, while others had to be woken up after the long journey yesterday and enjoyed sleeping a little longer.

After breakfast, skis, boots, helmets and so on had to be fitted. Everyone worked together and we were soon out in the snow and the most beautiful blue sky.

Then we headed down together as one big group to a children's area, where we played on skis and practised the basics. The kids caught on quickly and were ready for new challenges.

All the children were up for more skiing after lunch, and the mountain was explored in the finest fashion. Everyone got off to a good start today.

Back home at the cabin there was freshly baked bread again to top up the tanks.

The afternoon was spent in our lovely outdoor jacuzzi, with Lego building, games and creative activities. Friendships are beginning to sprout in all directions—it's lovely to see.

For dinner we had spaghetti bolognese and it was eaten with great relish. And then we introduced our 'thank you for the food' song.

After that, everyone hopped into their pyjamas and rounded off the day together with evening entertainment featuring singing, funny competitions and silly stories from the day gone by.

They were some tired but happy children who were then tucked in and fell asleep quickly.

Tomorrow we can look forward to more skiing, play and friendships.

Another great day at the mountains. We started out with a solid breakfast and then spent some time outside the house organizing a group foto (we'll share it later) and then off to skiing in 4 groups. Morning skiing went well - green, blue, and red pistes were explored. The children are getting better and better at skiing. We had sandwiches for lunch at the base of the beginners area - well deserved. Then more skiing in new groups before returning to our cabin for a snack (admitted, we eat a lot😀) and playing - inside and outside - taking a shower, or posting letters through our internal mailbox. For dinner we had borscht. A new and pleasant experience for the Danish children and a well known favourite dish for the Ukrainians. We ended this nice day by gathering for evening entertainment telling stories, singing songs - our camp song got an additional verse - and we found out which volunteer could have the largest number of marshmallows in the mouth. Another fine day at Trysil had come to an end.

Inspecting the ski teams before breakfast.

Important part of skiing: helping each other!

Top of the mountain - spectacular view!

Chair lift towards the top!

Painting the 'fastelavnstønde' for tomorrows 'fastelavnsfest'.

Afternoon snack - much appreciated after skiing.

Playing games and relaxing after skiing.

Borscht for dinner. According to some of the children it tasted just like their mom's😀.

Another great day in the mountains. We started out with a solid breakfast and then spent some time outside the house organising a group photo (we'll share it later) before heading off to ski in four groups. Morning skiing went well - green, blue and red pistes were explored. The children are getting better and better at skiing. We had sandwiches for lunch at the base of the beginners' area - well deserved. Then more skiing in new groups before returning to our cabin for a snack (admittedly, we eat a lot😀) and playing - inside and outside - taking a shower, or posting letters through our internal mailbox. For dinner we had borscht. A new and pleasant experience for the Danish children and a well-known favourite dish for the Ukrainians. We ended this lovely day by gathering for evening entertainment, telling stories and singing songs - our camp song got an additional verse - and we found out which volunteer could fit the largest number of marshmallows in their mouth. Another fine day at Trysil had come to an end.

Inspecting the ski teams before breakfast.

Important part of skiing: helping each other!

Top of the mountain - spectacular view!

Chair lift towards the top!

Painting the 'fastelavnstønde' (the barrel used in the Danish Shrovetide game) for tomorrow's 'fastelavnsfest' (Shrovetide party).

Afternoon snack - much appreciated after skiing.

Playing games and relaxing after skiing.

Borscht for dinner. According to some of the children it tasted just like their mum's😀.

The children are getting used to the routines at the camp. Up at 7.30, breakfast, and then jump into skiing clothes and we're ready to go! We've been all over the mountain today as the children are getting more used to skiing and improving fast. We had lunch at our cabin - pita sandwiches served through the windows of our cabin. We had other plans that skiing this afternoon. Fastelavnsfest - slå katten af tønden - including face painting. Dinner was a Danish traditional dish - medisterpølse with red cabbage, mashed potatoes, and salat. As always the children had a good appetite. After dinner those children that wished could go skiing and 20 children chose to do so. We had a couple of hours of skiing at the childrens area. Back in the cabin we finished off the day with the camp song (a Ukrainian verse added), a competition in building spaghetti/marshmellows towers, and then our good night song before sending all children off to bed.

Pita sandwiches served from the windows of our cabin.

Intensive slå-katten-af-tønden.

Camp fire and snobrød.

Evening skiing!

Evening entertainment...singing songs and building towers with marshmallows and spaghetti.

And....as promised... the group fotos of all of us in front of the cabin.

The children are getting used to the routines at camp. Up at 7:30, breakfast, and then jump into ski clothes and we're ready to go! We've been all over the mountain today as the children are getting more used to skiing and improving fast. We had lunch at our cabin - pita sandwiches served through the windows of our cabin. We had plans other than skiing this afternoon: fastelavnsfest - 'slå katten af tønden' (a Danish Shrovetide game of hitting a barrel) - including face painting. Dinner was a traditional Danish dish - medisterpølse (spiced pork sausage) with red cabbage, mashed potatoes and salad. As always, the children had a good appetite. After dinner, those children who wished to could go skiing, and 20 children chose to do so. We had a couple of hours of skiing at the children's area. Back in the cabin we finished off the day with the camp song (a Ukrainian verse added), a competition building spaghetti/marshmallow towers, and then our good night song before sending all the children off to bed.

Pita sandwiches served from the windows of our cabin.

Intensive 'slå-katten-af-tønden'.

Campfire and snobrød (twist bread baked over the fire).

Evening skiing!

Evening entertainment... singing songs and building towers with marshmallows and spaghetti.

And.... as promised... the group photos of all of us in front of the cabin.

Second last day of camp. In the morning the nice smell of sausage and scrambled eggs signaled that breakfast was ready and we gathered in the dining room. After 3 days of skiing we can all feel some soreness in our feed and legs but never the less we're eager to go skiing again. Before hitting the slopes we have to do a little warm up and all children now now 'en lille and med vinge' (a little duck with wings) and Thomas - one of our volunteers - introduced another warmup exercise. Then off to skiing and as the children are getting better we can explore more parts of the mountain. So some of the groups went to black pistes, a skier cross track, and big moguls. It was a windy day so we had lunch inside a very small cabin. More skiing afterwards. It's quite warm (0+ C) so the snow is wet and heavy and harder to ski. No wonder the children were tired as we went back to the cabin around 4 o'clock. Fortunately pancakes awaited us and brought new energy. Dinner was quite a hit with sliders (small burgers) and a dessert. It was the last evening in the cabin so afterwards we had a nice party with music (latest Ukrainian pop hits), dancing and a limbo competition. We finished off the day as always - with storytelling, some songs, the camp song (now with one more verse in Ukrainian but according to the children it didn't make any sense - google translate is not always right😀). Then off to bed and a well deserved sleep.

Warm up - Thomas is running the show.

Fine skiing in the children's area.

King of the hill - with a beautiful view.

One of the groups heading for new adventures.

Mogul skiing. It's complicated but the group did really well.

Lunch..an intense experience!

Nothing beats a pancake after skiing. Taia helps out serving the hot chocolate.

Relaxing after skiing.

Lineup for the dinner.

The dining room had been decorated to make the last evening in the cabin special.

Good limbo moves at the dance floor.

Second-to-last day of camp. In the morning the lovely smell of sausage and scrambled eggs signalled that breakfast was ready, and we gathered in the dining room. After three days of skiing we can all feel some soreness in our feet and legs, but nevertheless we're eager to go skiing again. Before hitting the slopes we have to do a little warm-up, and all the children now know 'en lille and med vinge' (a little duck with wings), and Thomas - one of our volunteers - introduced another warm-up exercise. Then off to skiing, and as the children are getting better we can explore more parts of the mountain. So some of the groups went to black pistes, a skier cross track and big moguls. It was a windy day, so we had lunch inside a very small cabin. More skiing afterwards. It's quite warm (above 0°C), so the snow is wet and heavy and harder to ski. No wonder the children were tired as we went back to the cabin around 4 o'clock. Fortunately, pancakes awaited us and brought new energy. Dinner was quite a hit with sliders (small burgers) and a dessert. It was the last evening in the cabin, so afterwards we had a lovely party with music (the latest Ukrainian pop hits), dancing and a limbo competition. We finished off the day as always - with storytelling, some songs and the camp song (now with one more verse in Ukrainian, though according to the children it didn't make any sense - Google Translate isn't always right😀). Then off to bed and a well-deserved sleep.

Warm-up - Thomas is running the show.

Fine skiing in the children's area.

King of the hill - with a beautiful view.

One of the groups heading for new adventures.

Mogul skiing. It's complicated but the group did really well.

Lunch.. an intense experience!

Nothing beats a pancake after skiing. Taia helps out serving the hot chocolate.

Relaxing after skiing.

Lineup for dinner.

The dining room had been decorated to make the last evening in the cabin special.

Good limbo moves on the dance floor.

Last day of the camp! We went out skiing as always after breakfast but this time we wouldn't come back to the cabin. So all our stuff went into the bus. We started out skiing as one big group in Valleland - the childrens area - where the children were free to ski as they liked. It was really nice to see how everybody now was skiing in a controlled and - mostly - confident way. Also the children were good at helping each or - an important part of skiing together as a group. Around 10 o'clock we regrouped into smaller groups and went up to the more advanced pistes further up the mountain. Some children were very eager to get try at least one black piste - the most difficult category - and this was accomplished (not without a bit of fear). We met for lunch at a large conference room at the Radisson Blu hotel (thanks for providing this for us free of charge) and had lunch that the kitchen crew had prepared in the morning. After lunch we skied together the whole group - 39 persons - and went to Knettsetra - a cosy cafe in the middle of the forest known for their good hot chocolate. One good thing about the hot weather was that we could enjoy the chocolate outside in a small forest next to the cafe. We even had nice sunshine. Then we went back to Valleland to participate in the traditional Valles World Championship - a small ski competition for children. Rather surprisingly all children won gold medals - well nevertheless deserved as they all completed a slalom course in full control. Then we skied a few more difficult black pistes and mogul runs. Back at the conference room we redressed from skiing clothes to travel clothes, had a nice dinner and reorganised our stuff for the bus which arrived at 19.00 and we all left 19.22. As I write this we've be driving for about 2 hours and have watched Ice Age 2 at the bus' video system. The children are chatting softly together. I don't understand what they are saying but I can easily recognize the good vibes after a long day of high activity in company with good friends. It has been a pleasure to get to know this group of children and teach them to ski. They have approached the challenge differently but they have all succeeded and more importantly they have proven to be helpful, curious, and thoughtful beings. The entire group of volunteers are thankful - and a little tired - after having spend a week together with this group of children. We're sorry that we have to say goodbye to all these new friends in the morning.

The Black 22 piste well accomplished.

The whole group heading towards Knettsetra.

Hot chocolate in the forest next to Knettsetra.

Watching Valles World Cup.

Heading out for new adventures late in the afternoon.

Cool skiers at the black 22 piste.

Improvised dinner at the conference room at Radisson Blu Hotel.

Our last dinner together.

Last day of camp! We went out skiing as always after breakfast, but this time we wouldn't be coming back to the cabin. So all our things went into the bus. We started out skiing as one big group in Valleland - the children's area - where the children were free to ski as they liked. It was really nice to see how everybody was now skiing in a controlled and - mostly - confident way. The children were also good at helping each other - an important part of skiing together as a group. Around 10 o'clock we regrouped into smaller groups and went up to the more advanced pistes further up the mountain. Some children were very eager to try at least one black piste - the most difficult category - and this was accomplished (not without a bit of fear). We met for lunch in a large conference room at the Radisson Blu hotel (thanks for providing this for us free of charge) and had the lunch that the kitchen crew had prepared in the morning. After lunch we skied together as the whole group - 39 people - and went to Knettsetra, a cosy cafe in the middle of the forest known for its good hot chocolate. One good thing about the warm weather was that we could enjoy the chocolate outside in a little wood next to the cafe. We even had lovely sunshine. Then we went back to Valleland to take part in the traditional Valles World Championship - a small ski competition for children. Rather surprisingly, all the children won gold medals - well, deserved nonetheless, as they all completed a slalom course in full control. Then we skied a few more difficult black pistes and mogul runs. Back at the conference room we changed out of our ski clothes into travel clothes, had a nice dinner and reorganised our things for the bus, which arrived at 19:00, and we all left at 19:22. As I write this, we've been driving for about two hours and have watched Ice Age 2 on the bus's video system. The children are chatting softly together. I don't understand what they're saying, but I can easily recognise the good vibes after a long day of high activity in the company of good friends. It has been a pleasure to get to know this group of children and teach them to ski. They have approached the challenge differently, but they have all succeeded, and more importantly they have proven to be helpful, curious and thoughtful beings. The entire group of volunteers is thankful - and a little tired - after having spent a week together with this group of children. We're sorry that we have to say goodbye to all these new friends in the morning.

The Black 22 piste well accomplished.

The whole group heading towards Knettsetra.

Hot chocolate in the forest next to Knettsetra.

Watching the Valles World Cup.

Heading out for new adventures late in the afternoon.

Cool skiers on the black 22 piste.

Improvised dinner in the conference room at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

Our last dinner together.