Founder of Ebert Family Clinic in Frisco, Colorado at 9000′, Christine Ebert-Santos, MD, MPS spent a part of her Spring 2024 backpacking across Norway:
At 2,469m (8,100 feet), Galdhøpiggen mountain in Norway is not high enough to cause altitude sickness for most people. The 300 mountain peaks over 2000m make Norway a popular destination for downhill skiing and snowboarding, as well as Nordic skiing. The long days of sunshine at this latitude allow skiing in swimsuits and summer clothes in the spring.
Norway also has the largest glacier in Europe, Jostedalsbreem. Briksdalbreen is a finger of this glacier that is a short hike in the Jostedalsbreem National Park. There are 1,600 glaciers covering one percent of Norway. Several have resorts advertising summer skiing for the whole family.
There are 900 tunnels in Norway, including the longest tunnel in the world. Compared to Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado at 11,112 feet elevation and 1.67 miles long, Laerdal tunnel, opened in 2000, is 15 miles long with pullouts featuring colored lighting to imitate the sunrise. Some of these tunnels, like the one between the airport and downtown Oslo, go as deep as 958 feet underwater. All have phones and excellent cell phone reception. In fact, we experienced excellent reception everywhere in Norway despite the mountains and tunnels, in contrast to my sister’s house in Centennial, Colorado and many parts of Colorado.
Our last night in Norway was special. We drove two hours over narrow roads, through tunnels, over one lane bridges to Ronde Island. With a population of 150, the island is a famous bird sanctuary. We arrived just in time to see the puffins return to their nests at 8 pm. These colorful birds spend their lifespan of 30-40 years flying over the ocean, sleeping on the waves, returning to land once a year with the same mate.
The fact that Norway provides such amazing access to even this tiny town tells me how much they respect individuals. They have an average lifespan of 83 years (76 years in the USA), universal health care, one year paid leave for parents with a new baby, universal pensions, free education through college, daycare for less than $15/day, and much more. How much do they pay in taxes, you might ask? Less than what we pay when you consider the cost of health insurance, day care, school loans, with 60% of Americans who do not have anything saved for retirement.
