This week’s trip was mountain to fjord. This was a 4 day trip overall that involved 2 days of canoeing and 2 days of cycling and climbing. For 2 nights during this trip we were bivvying and for the 2nd night we were staying at trollaktiv in small huts.
The first day of this trip we set off in canoes from Bygesland, for this section of the trip we had to pack food and camping equipment to load into the canoes, and as me and one other member of the group had done a lot of canoeing we were tasked with teaching how to pack the canoes, how to is in the canoe and also basic paddle strokes, this was good for me as it gave me an opportunity to practise coaching and to gain a sense of what it would be like to lead a group on a canoe expedition. Once we set off the wind was very strong this led to the water becoming very choppy, this led to the water braking over the canoes and starting to fill them with water, we then decided to come off the water after 10 minutes to see the wind/water would calm down. After a short talk about what we should do we decided to continue on. After an hour we came to section wear we needed to cross over the lake however the wind had picked up again so we decided to pull up for lunch on a small beach, after this we had a discussion about whether we should attempt the crossing or stay the night wear we were, after a while we decided to stay, however some of the member of the group were disappointed with this decision as they felt that we could cross however not all members of the group were strong paddlers and this would have ended up with one or capsized boats therefore I felt like we made the correct decision that was good for the whole group and all this decision meant was that we would be paddling for an extra hour the next day but this would be in better conditions.
The next the day the wind and water had calmed so we pushed on, throughout the day each boat took turns leading the group to gain experience leading this sort of trip. One problem that was faced was the distance between each boat, as the day went on sometimes the gap between the front and the back boat became too big, this can be unsafe as if one boat roles it will take far longer to get to them to help get them back in their boat and as the water was very cold this could be a big problem. To remedy this problem I believe that there was more communication required within the group to allow people to know whether to slow down or speed up, also I believe the boat leading the leg should have given clear instructions about how the boats should be ordered and this distance between them as not many people did tis when it was their turn to lead. When in the boats we pared a more experienced paddler with a less experienced one, this was to give coaching opportunities to the more experienced ones and to help the less experienced paddlers perfect their technique. We placed the more experienced paddlers at the rear of the canoes so they would be able to steer the canoes and also to maintain a steady progress throughout the day, however towards the end of this day we switched paddling positions, I felt that this was a good idea as it allowed the other paddler a chance to get a feel for steering the canoe and to also practise the strokes that are usually specific the rear of the canoe such as the J-stroke. This day finished at trollaktiv wear we left the canoes and stayed in cabins overnight, also when hear we had the option to go white water rafting for fun, which 5 of us did.
The third day of the trip involved a short bike ride to the crag wear we would be camping and climbing for the rest of the day. When we first arrived the first thing we did was to rig the climbs, this was interesting to see as the method the were taught at the top of the crag was different to the one I have always used, for example all the climbs were rigged with the same long bit of rope, which was completely safe, however when rigging I have always kept my rigs completely separate, furthermore we rigged with a dynamic rope and I always rig with a static so that the rigging at the top does not move and stretch but remains wear I set it. Also the method for rigging an abseil was different to how I do it as this was using one rope halved, the way I have always done an abseil is to create a releasable one with a static rope that can be completely released if the need arises, and it was very interesting to see these other methods of rigging. Also learning about the history of the crag and how it used to be used by the British military was good, and the opportunity to try loads of new climbs was great. As we were on the edge of a lake this was a great place to bivvy.
The last day of the trip was the long bike ride back to Kristiansand. This was a 37 mile ride from the crag back to our accommodation. The main thing I found about this long ride was the teamwork that was required, for example about half way the wind began to pick up, therefore we began to ride in a line taking it in turns to be at the front to make it easier for those behind to ride, it was important to change the front person regularly as this was much harder work than being in the line, this required good communication and teamwork between team members. Further to this, at the beginning of the ride we placed the slower riders at the front so that the group would stay together and no one would be left behind, this decision was made as a group. As the bike ride was along the old train tracks for the majority of the first half of the ride is was nice to see the old stations and also the different areas in which you can camp along the way. I did not witness much group development during this trip and I believe this was due to the fact that we had been working as a group for nearly four months by this point and therefore the group was firmly in the performing stage of group development.
Overall this was a very enjoyable trip and it was good to learn new methods of rigging and to get to try out new climbs. Also the opportunity to practice coaching canoeing was invaluable.