On day four, it was the same procedure than yesterday. Start at 9 o’clock, driving to Bortelid and waxing the skies with the blue, hard wax. The temperatures were a little bit lower than yesterday and it was not sunny. As consequence, I wore one additional layer, a fleece vest. Today, Sharon stayed at home which was probably the best decision for both sides because Len planned an off piste tour. We started the Slattedalen track which was not prepared two days ago but today unfortunately it was. Therefore, the first part was on piste but before we started, Len distributed a few maps (see pictures). We trained map reading because he told us several points where we should navigate to. During the trip every single student was a veileder and Len stepped back, watched and gave us feedback at lunch. He did not comment during the situations which was really good because you guided with learning by doing without influence or irritation. You had to “read” and deal with nature on your own which kept my motivation really high and as consequence, my learning outcome was really high, too.

After a while, Len asked us if we want to go uphill on the track or off piste. He gave us the chance to participate in a democratic decision. According to the lecture about group leadership it is very good for a leader to involve the group. Involvement leads to curiosity and higher motivation which has a positive impact on the learning outcome. We decided to go off piste and that was a lot of fun. Of course, it was more exhausting but for the first time of my life I was skiing in powder. As mentioned above, Len transferred the leading role to us and as soon as the leader got tired he steps out of the self-made track and the person behind continued and the leader walked for the whole time in position no 2. When this new guide was tired he and the leader stepped off the track and person no 3 took over. The “old” guide continued as last one because in the back of the queue the track is really good and not that exhausting. So, in the back you had the chance to recover and enjoy nature. We stuck to this method until we reached the top and followed the track for a couple of hundred metres.

There, we found a wind-protected lunch spot under the cover of a rock. For the first time, we needed our shuffles due to building a snow bench for all of us. The weather conditions were very windy and the sky was clouded. As consequence, I put on my two extra layers that I carried with me. During lunch, I was warm with was also because Caitlin shared her reindeer skin with me. It was a perfect protection against the cold snow and it is very light. Only disadvantage is the packing size which explains why she is carrying a big daypack with her. After lunch, Len showed us how to do a snow profile which is used to calculate the avalanche risk. This profile is a ‘must have’ before an off piste tour and takes about 30 to 45 minutes because only with this profile you are able to analyse the different snow layers and its condition. After teaching us how to do it, it was our turn to make and analyse such a snow profile. This was really interesting because our spot was only a couple of meters away from Len’s spot but our profile was not identical but a little bit different.

Following to this, we started our off piste way down into the valley and used a ski track only for the last slope down to the parking slot. This part of our tour was the best of the whole week! It was an amazing feeling to ski in the powder where no one has been before, we even crossed a frozen lake. Moreover, I noticed that my balance and skills improved because I did only fall for one or two times. Again, one of us was the group leader and chose a way for the group and Len accepted playing around in a particular manner. As long as we stayed behind the group leader we could do our way which has two reasons. First, if you are behind the leader you can see where he/she goes and explore you limits without getting lost. Second, you do no take away the leading part which happens at the moment you are in front of the leader which means you do not stick to your role in the group.

To put it in a nutshell, this was the best day of the week! We trained leading, skiing in powder and were taught in avalanche risk. Moreover, during the break I realized that I need an extra layer for my legs. One that I can put on during a break or when the weather conditions change to rain/wind. Therefore, I am looking for a windproof and waterproof pair of overtrousers.