“You can only learn so much from books. We want to help people experience it for themselves.”
THE YEAR 2023 will mark the 80th anniversary of the famous commando raid against the German heavy water production facility at Telemark, Norway: Operation Gunnerside.
To mark the occasion, two Norwegian ski expeditions will allow guests to follow in the footsteps of the commandos who carried out the daring mission.
Covering the routes actually used by the Norwegian Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents in February 1943, participants can tackle either a 10-day or 15-day ski tour expedition, covering miles of sub-arctic wilderness on Europe’s highest plateau, the Hardangervidda.
Led by an international team of ex-special forces personnel and military history experts with S.O.E Expeditions, both treks will teach travellers all the required ski touring techniques and winter survival skills, while staying in some of the actual huts commandos used during the real Second World War raid.
“The Heroes of Telemark expeditions are a compelling piece of military history which celebrates physical endurance and mental strength to achieve what the allies had failed to do through a ground assault and bombing missions,” Matt Smith, the founder of S.O.E. Expeditions explains. “Through this and future expeditions, we hope to give ex-military, history enthusiasts, and those who just want to test themselves on a new style of endurance-based expedition, the chance to walk in the footsteps of legends.”
The original Operation Gunnerside took place in Nazi-occupied Norway during the Second World War. Its objective was to sabotage Germany’s attempt at producing Deuterium Oxide, commonly known as heavy water – a key ingredient in the Third Reich’s atomic bomb program. The mission was the inspiration for the 1965 British war film “Heroes of Telemark,” which starred Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris.
The 2023 expeditions will be split into two itineraries, both of which will follow historically accurate routes from the original mission.
A 10-day expedition will see participants cross the territory between the original drop zone at the Jansbu hut on the Hardangervidda to the site of the heavy water factory in Vemork Rjukan.
A second expedition, lasting 15 days, will begin with the final approach of the attack route, before embarking on the unit’s escape route into Sweden. This adventure will take place on the anniversary of the real escape, 80 years ago.
Expert tour guide, Øivind Tangstad, who will lead the expeditions, has met and talked at length to both Jens Anton Paulson, leader of the real-life Operation Grouse unit that was tasked with performing a late-1942 reconnaissance of the target, as well as Joakim Rønneberg, the commander of the Operation Gunnerside mission, which carried out the sabotage itself.
“My grandfather and grandmother were both in the cabin next to the saboteurs in Fjøsbudalen, where they stopped to do their last preparation and checks before their successful operation on the heavy water factory. So this operation is part of my family history,” said Tangstad. “The expedition will not only be an opportunity to retrace the footsteps of this amazing military story, but will also allow guests to feel and experience what the journey would have been like 80 years ago.”
Tangstad says that both expeditions will immerse participants in history.
“You can only learn so much from books,” he said. “We want to help people experience it for themselves.”
Tangstad is one of only two people in the world to have skied all the Heroes of Telemark routes.
The 10-day Heroes of Telemark attack route tour is priced from £2,395 (USD$2,750) per person; the 15-day escape route is priced from £2995 (USD$3,400). Prices include accommodation, meals, equipment and training. Former elite special forces personnel serve as guides. Flight is not included in the price.
The 10-day attack route expedition runs from Feb 9 to 18, 2023. The 15-day escape route expedition runs from Feb. 25 to March 11, 2023.
It’s recommended that participants have a good level of basic fitness.
For more information visit www.soeexpeditions.com
About S.O.E Expeditions:
S.O.E Expeditions delivers authentic SOE and special forces endurance-based adventure expeditions across Europe, Asia and North Africa, reliving some of the saboteurs and special forces most successful and daring operations of World War Two. To help raise awareness, S.O.E. Expeditions have teamed with the charity Who Dares Cares to help raise funds and awareness for veterans and emergency service personnel suffering from PTSD.
