This trip was my first ever trip to organize. I was in a group with three other girls with as little experience as I. We took it as a challenge even though there was a lot of frustration and uncertainty during the planning phase. Despite, it was a very good trip with a lot of take-home learnings!

We agreed to make it a two night trip which was the minimum. We did not feel comfortable with a longer trip and this was already a challenge for us. We decided to go to Hovden to be closer to civilization if something would occur. This made us feel safer in the snow environment and I am glad we made that decision. Also Hovden got some really nice tracks to ski with lights during the night so we would have the maximum time to practice our skiing.

Our original plan was to take the bus in the morning, build up our camp, then ski around the are and to go on a daytrip the following day. That plan changed when two of the group members did not catch the bus. We decided to stay on the bus but had to wait 8 hours for them to get to hovden with the next. The unfortunate thing was, that they had the tent so we did not have the possibility to set up the tent. When they arrived it was dark and the flat spot we had chosen to pin the tent was covered by 2 meters of snow. We saw no other way to set up the tent with our skiis on not to sink down in the snow. We stamped the area and began the difficult task of setting up the tent with skiis and in the dark. We got to the point where we had to use the pegs but did not have the right ones suitable for snow. That made it impossible for us to see how to make the tent stable and standing. At this point it was dark and we were tired.

Luckily, we arranged a plan B a few days before that really saved us. A woman from couch surfing came that late evening to pick us up and took us to her home. It was such a nice experience and a kind gesture. One that I will probably never forget.

The next day, she had told us to dig a hole with our shovels before putting up the tent in it. We used some time to watch youtube videos, also to learn how to make a bonfire in the snow. We succeeded this time and it was a really good and strengthening exercise for our small group.

Then it was time to hit the slopes for some skiing. We practiced and refreshed the skills learned at the basic ski course and had a really good time. We even continued skiing in the dark on the lighted tracks.