02.02 – 06.02 (Monday – Friday)
Ski trip to Evje Troll Aktiv
Finally! Our ski course! We drove with our own cars to Evje, which is about one hour away in the north. We stayed there for 5 days and slept in cabins from Troll Aktiv. During the days we went to different areas to practise our ski techniques and to have fun and tour around. We were always split up into two groups, so in each there were 11 of us. One group went with Len, the other with Tim – the owner of Troll Aktiv.
02.02.15
On this first day I went with Lens group and we skied around the area near Troll Aktiv. We didn’t go too far as we only had the afternoon and Len taught us some technique skills. So we had to follow him around, go uphill, and go downhill. We tried to bend our knees while skiing over little barrows and not to fall during the holes. On our way back Len showed us, how to do telemark turns – the thing you actually do with country skis. But that was a little too hard for us but we still had fun practising it.
In the evening we had a waxing lesson.
– Track up the wax from the heel 65 cm up
– or: one boot length over the toe
– sticking wax is supposed to support the kick
– uphill/ flat: while pushing all the weight on one ski, the snow crystals in the now fixate to the wax on the ski
– downhill: weight is on both skis, so the skis don’t touch the snow in the kicking area and you can go fast without being braked
– you should use many layers (about 3)
– for each new layer start about 5cm more inside to smooth the edges
– put only softer wax on harder wax, not the other way round
– choose the wax depending on air temperature/ snow temperature/ old or new snow
03.02.15
On the second day I was in Lens group and we went out to practise our technique skills. We used the leupe and later we went for a little tour in beautiful weather. The skiing gets better and better and we also tried the skating.
In the evening we hat a lesson about winter safety and first aid.
Who gets cold weather injuries?
– women get cold quicker than men
– younger people and older people get cold quicker
– people who are used to warm climate
– people with less experience
– people with bad or wrong equipment
– people with high alcohol or cigarette consume
– people who neglect being cold
– people who eat the wrong food
– dehydrated people
– people who have done too much activity or too less
– people who stay outside for a longe and exposed period
Injuries:
– hypothermia
– frost bites
– chilblains
– trench foot / emersion foot
– sunburn
– snow blindness
– carbon monoxide poisoning (cooking inside)
If somebody is absent, trips a lot, has no orientation and wants to lay down put up a tent immediately! Warm up the person and give him or her water and something sweet (hot chocolate e.g.). If the person is really cold a fit person should lay with him or her in to the sleeping bag to warm him or her up. Don’t think, that it is over after some hours, even if the person insists on feeling better. A Hypothermina needs at least 2 days of recovery.
04.02.15
On this day I have been in Tim’s group and we went out for a larger tour. It was mostly uphill and kind of exhausting. But we could practice the uphill skills and our strength. Arriving the top is always worth all the work before. The downhill afterwards has been a lot of fun and we fell a lot because it was really steep.
In the evening an intern of Troll Aktiv organised a Snowshoeing tour for us. We also had to navigate in the dark and walk without headlights. That was a really nice variety.
05.02.15
On Thursday we made a large tour and had to walk uphill for a very long time. This was really exhausting and annoying for me as I didn’t feel so well at this day. But once we were up we had a nice skiing tour with Tim and he told us a lot about touring, snow conditions and animals living out in the forest. The top was amazing but windy, and we went down together with Lens group. But the way down was not the way Tim planned to go and so we had a really steep part, which was exhausting, and tirening after the walk in the morning. Some passages had to be crossed by foot and it took us quiet a while to make our way down the hill.
In the evening Adele and Flurin prepared a lecture about how to pack a bag in winter:
– spare gloves
– spare clothes
– food
– tent and tarp
– rope
– bivi bag
– sleeping bag
– insulation mat
– water bottle
– thermos
– bathroom utensils
– stove, spare gas
– avalanche pole
have easy access to
– down jacket
– lunch and snacks
– snow shovel
– first aid kit
– fire starting
– ski goggles
– balaclava
–> heavy and rarely used stuff goes down à balance
–> watch the sides to have good skiing movement
–> put everything into waterproof bags
06.02.15
On this last day we could choose between a technical lesson with Len or a tour with Tim. As I have been sick for the whole week I went with Len and practised my technique. Unfortunately it was a bit boring because we practised a lot of basic skills that some of us already knew. But it was a nice day in the sun and a good end for this nice week.
20.02 – 23.02 (Friday – Monday)
Self organised skiing trip to Hovden
After taking the bus to Hovden Katja, Sharon, Jais, Will and me started our first ski trip on our own. We had o walk to get to the starting leupe, waxed our skis and started in nice weather. The first stage of the route was challenging for me. As we were not used to ski with big and heavy backpack we lost balance all the time in the beginning. And it was even harder to get up again. Most of the way was uphill so we had to work quite hard on the first day. But I think this was a good decision, so we got used to it and the following three days seemed to be easier compared with that. But the last two km were quite challenging for the most of us, and we were happy and proud to reach the hut. As we needed more time than we planned, we had to be quick to arrive at the hut in the light. It started getting dark already. This could be dangerous.
After a comfortable night in the DNT hut (Tjørnbrotbu) we started early the net morning to get to our camping area. We changed our original plan and went a bit further and found a good spot. I was happy to have other people to decide about with where to pitch the tent and it was nice to do it as a group. As we arrived in the early afternoon to the campsite and had everything prepared before 4 o’clock it was a challenge to stay warm. So we were skiing around and playing and giving each other tips on our skiing skills. But still this couldn’t keep me warm. So after dinner I was really cold and scared about the night. But Sharon and I did some running which really helped us to get warmed up. I was a bit scared about being cold at night. But the night was way more comfortable than I imagined and so the night in the tent gave me a positive impression. Maybe this was because there were 5 of us in a 4 men tent…
Staying at the DNT huts was probably the best idea ever. We really enjoyed those lovely cabins. Especially after the night in the tent we were all looking forward to have another cosy night in the next cabin. While skiing there we had really good weather and practised our orientation skills. Navigation turned out to be way more difficult then in Jegersberg before. As everything was covered in snow and the path was not always marked, it was hard to find the exact place on the map. It was difficult to differentiate lakes from open areas and streams were not visible at all. But we figured it out and worked a lot with the compass so this was a good practice.
This night we shared the cabin (Berdalsbu) with lots of Norwegian people which was really nice. The last day was our way home. I was happy to had it done because I got really bad blisters from my shoes…
For the next trip I have to prevent my feet better from getting blisters. I also realised that I am not a lunch person, I wasn’t hungry the most of the time and I really didn’t like my lunch, furthermore I packed too much. So next time I’ll focus more on snacks.