Blog 3- Haukeli to Hovden

This ski trip was our first self-organised trip where we spent 3 days and 2 nights skiing from Haukeli Centre to Hovden with 2 groups that combined into one large group. We travelled by car to Hoven and then transferred on 2 busses to arrive at haukeli rather late on the first night. The first night we camped infront of Haukeli centre, the second night was spent in a DNT hut and the last night we camped in a wide gully 7kms from Hovden. The first day involved 20km of skiing to make it the hut, with a large height gain, whilst the last 2 days were slightly shorter and much more reasonable for our level of experience.

Tom and I shared a 2 person tent (his personal tent from home) and to save weight we used it without the inner (just the fly sheet and footprint). The temperature on the first night dropped to approximately -15 degrees which really pushed my sleeping bag to the max, as it’s limit of comfort is -4 but it was combined with a thick fleece liner. This first night I was comfortable, the second night was fine as we were in the hut but the third night really tested our gear. A combination of slightly poor campsite choice (due to the wind up the gully) and the lack of an inner lining on the tent caused us to wake up covered in snow inside our tent. During this night I was rather cold and woke up multiple times. Len’s advice on having a hot water Nalgene bottle helped, but once the water cooled down I woke up and struggled to sleep. I am now considering purchasing a winter sleeping bag for the remainder of the semester and I am patiently waiting for my bivvy bag to arrive which will provide another layer of insulation. Another 2 things that I learnt from that night was to always bring the inner of the tent and to not leave your shoes in the cold air well. Not only did I wake up covered in snow, I also had to put on solid frozen boots also covered in snow.
As this was the first substantial self-organised trip, different roles were displayed in the dynamics of the group. Aaron became the dominant leader as he did most of the organising and research of the route during the planning stage. Laura challenged his leadership at times but was mostly shut down by Aaron or the rest of the group. I feel as if she would have been the dominant leader of their group but as our 2 groups combined Aaron became the leader of both. Marijn became the entertainer with his light hearted spirit even whilst falling hard off his ski’s. As we approached the ending of our 20km day I became the encourager in attempt to support some of the others who were finding it tough, such as Jed and the German girls. There were a few social loafers on this trip but I feel that this is because some people are still a little shy and haven’t gained confidence with speaking out in front of the group yet.

For dinners, the first night I ate a pre made vegie pasta dish from home as we were camping only 100m away from the bus stop. The second night I ate pesto tortellini and for the last night was a lightweight meal, just tomato soup and instant mash potato. This was the first time I had ever tried tortellini and I enjoyed it. I found it to be filling but it was a little on the heavy side. I think in the future it will be lighter and cheaper to bring dry pasta instead. For lunches I ate ham, salami and cheese wraps with a dot of sweet chilli sauce. I would usually add tomato and cucumber but I tried to save a bit more weight and decided to leave them out. Next time I think I will add them as they do increase the nutritional value of the lunches. I will also pre make the wraps before I leave which will make lunch stops less rushed trying to cut and prepare. For breakfasts I just ate calorie cakes which tasted alright but are a bit boring and repetitive. Next time I will try to buy some powdered milk and make warm cereal instead.
Overall I believe this camp was successful, our plan complied with the practical outcome and we all arrived at Hovden safely. The plan for the first day of skiing may have been a little ambitious but we managed to pull it off and as a reward we were able to sleep in the DNT hut. Our equipment did let us down in some areas but for the future trips we will know to bring and inner for our tent and my bivvy bag should arrive which will make the trips a lot more comfortable. My food kept me full and gave me enough energy to complete the trip comfortably but in the future I will try to reduce weight and increase the nutritional value of meals. This trip was a very valuable experience from which I have learnt how to improve the quality of future trips!