Thought I'd post this here in case anyone else comes looking for the info I was after a couple of months ago.
I flew to Oslo, spent the night in Gardermoen airport and bought petrol (2l) at the closest circle K petrol station. I took the shuttle train to Oslo central then the Oslo-Bergen line to Finse.
From Finse I took six days to ski Finse-Kraekkja-Stigstuv-Rauhellern-Lagaros-Marbu-Kalhovd-Helberghytte-Rjukan skilift. The Marbu-Kalhovd route was different to that marked out most years in that there was not the usual snow cover; instead I covered this stretch entirely on frozen lakes. Total distance was 144km. I descended to Rjukan via the telepherique and stayed a night at the old school hostel in Rjukan (really friendly owner, can't recommend it enough) then was lucky enough to get a lift back to Oslo, I had my flight date changed so I could get home the next day because the weather was good in the peak I even managed to visit the Fram and Kon Tiki museums before my flight.
I used a snowsled pulk (they seem to have been acquired/merged with Aiguille Alpine now), I made my own traces using two 6 foot lengths of PVC pipe and enough 6mm cord to go round the pulk, through the pipe and attach to my harness. I crossed the pvc pipes to give more control, joining them with some bungee cord. For a pulling harness I bought some military surplus webbing from ebay and used some snapgates and 5mm cord to add clip-in points. This worked fine on the terrain I encountered and was reasonably comfortable. To stop the drifting snow from getting into everything I stuffed my rucksack, tent and rollmat into an army surplus bivvy bag then secured this with some cheap elastic straps from screwfix. I kept my shovel on the outside and an omm bag full of useful things up front for easy access...water, snacks, sunglasses, sunscreen, cash etc. This worked well and saved opening/closing bivvy bag. I used a MSR XGK for melting snow, I used 1000kcal dehydrated meals to avoid cooking. During the day I snacked on dried mango, honey roasted cashews, salami and cheese.
I didn't use the hut system (personal thing, seeing if I could do without) but if anyone else is doing this or a similar trip I recon that would be a more enjoyable way to do it. I was just making life hard for myself This would let you ditch the pulk. and go a lot lighter/faster.
The ski setup I used is what UKC users had recommended I go with (metal edged nordic touring skis, Fisher S-bound 78s, Salomon boots and bindings, black diamond walking poles). I took skins (wouldn't bother without the pulk) and used them for a few sections (less so once I'd sussed herringboning). For navigation I took a 1:150k map of Hardangervidda (available online) and the paid version of Norgekart (excellent mapping app) plus a power bank to recharge my phone.
Hope this info is as useful to anyone else thinking of doing this as the replies to my questions a few months ago were to me.
Robert
