Our final trip self organised field trip
Our final trip started in the weekend of the 6th – 8th of March in Bortelid, about 100 kilometers north-east of Kristiansand. We prepared dinner for the two nights, in advance. Breakfast and Lunch we made everyone for himself.
Packing List
Common gear
– inner tent
– tent poles
– snow pegs
– 4 gas cans
– Stove adaptor
– ski wax
Sleepgear
– inflatable mat
– insulation mat
– sleeping bag
– inlay
– bivauoc bag
Clothes
– 2 pairs of sock
– woolen longunderwear (merino)
– woolen t-shirt
– soft-shell trousers
– fleece
– waterproof jacket/trouser
– gloves
– mits
– ski boots
– buff
– gaiters
– down jacket
Gear
– Backpack 70L
– Dry bags
– Plastic bags
– notebook + pencil
– knife
– compass
– map + mapcase
– snow shovel
– headlight + spare battery
– mobile
– avalanche stick
– ski’s, skipoles
– goggles, sunglasses
– thermos
– spoon/Knife
– mat to sit on
hygiene and health
– first-aid-kit
– rescue blanket
– toothbrush + paste
– sun cream
Execution of the trip
DAY 1 Our trip started on Friday, 6th of March.
We took the local bus from the city center of Kristiansand to Bortelid. On the bus we met Anne, Adele, Katja, Luke and Will, who were on their way to make their own cross-country trip. We agreed that we want to meet up before the second night at the DNT hut Gaukhei.
While we were sitting in the second bus, the bus driver asked us whether we should call the bus from Åseral to Bortelid, since the bus is only driving when necessary. But we did not luckily the bus driver was so kind to bring us all the way to Bortelid. When we arrived the weather was very good it was very warm around 4 °C and the sun was out. We choose the red Swix wax, but the snow was very wet so the wax did not have enough structure to hold on to the snow. In that conditions the only alternative was klister but none of us had some.
The first part was very hard. We stayed on the tracks for the first 2,5 kilometers. But after some time we realized, that we were not at the point where we had originally planned. We just followed the ski track without paying attention to the map. We made a detour of about 1 km to get back on our planned route. Shortly after that, we left the tracks into the even moister snow. During that time the weather started to get worse. The warm and sunny day turned into a cloudy and very windy day.
We reached Langstøltjønnæ, which was a lake north-east of Bortelid, and as soon as we reached it the weather started to get even worse. We realized that the wind is going to be very strong on the lake. It got so bad that we had to herring-bone even on the flat ground, just not to get push backwards. After that we tried to stay between trees along the lake to have some protection from the wind.
We took the breaks in natural shelters that blocked the wind. After a while the wind got really exhausting and our mood changed from happy to annoyed. By 4 p.m. we arrived at the designated camp, we located our tent between the trees at the bank of a lake. Finding dry wood was really hard, since everything was covered in snow. In the end we managed to get the fire going, but could not keep it on for more than 45 minutes. After dinner we went for a ski-around on the lake to get warm before we went to bed. The night was very windy and our tent just had three snow pegs with it; therefore the sides of the tent were only weighed down with snow.
DAY 2
We started the second day with making porridge for breakfast and discussing the plans for the day. The weather conditions had not changed, so we decided to change our plans and make our way towards the DNT-Route to Gaukhei as quick as possible.
The marked DNT- Route went almost parallel to our planned route. We packed up the tent and started by 10 o’clock. It was very foggy and windy, so we were glad about the marked route to the DNT-Hut. The snow structure was still very wet and the wax was not working very well. Especially the sections uphill were really hard. We slipped a lot and had to herring-bone quite a lot. At a waterfall we could fill up our water bottles. As we got closer to the hut, the weather and the view got worse. Sometimes we were not able to see more than 70 meters. Thanks to the marked route we always knew that we were on the right way, but even though the weather was bad we always knew where we were on the map.
All in all we made just 8 km in just over five hours, so we arrived at 15:20 at the Gaukhei hut. First we just wanted to wait there for the other group we met on the bus and to warm up a bit. But in the end we decided to spend the night there. The weather didn´t changed so view was still bad.
Day 3
The plan for the last day was 18 km back to the Bortelid Skisenter. Our group did not have a lot of experience in ski touring, so we were unsure how long the last section would take us. A Norwegian, who stayed at the hut, told us that he skied this section uphill within 5 hours. We wanted to start early, because we still needed to find out if there was a bus driving to Kristiansand on Sunday. We tried to call the bus company during our trip, but we did not have any phone service.
We started at 8:30 in the morning, with strong winds. Luckily, the wind came from the west and was on our backs the first four kilometers, which was the uphill section. So we were able to make the first four kilometers in 40 minutes. The wax was working quite well compared to the other days. The next section was a flat part 3 kilometer south. During this part the wind got stronger and was still coming from the west so it almost blew us over. We discovered fresh Reindeer tracks, so naturally we looked the rest of the day for a reindeer flock, but unfortunately didn’t have any luck.
After 2 hours of skiing, the sky cleared up and our moods changed. With some sunshine, we started to play around in the melting snow. When we crossed a lake there was already a layer of water on the surface so we were really happy to make it to the other side. About five kilometers before the ski center, we were back to the prepared ski tracks. After some breaks in the sun, we arrived in Bortelid at 13:30. After a while we found out, that the bus to Kristiansand would go, at 17:45 so we passed time by practicing telemark turns and waiting in a hut.
Reflection on the learning outcomes
I divided our learning outcome into two groups; the first being hard skills, and the second being the group dynamic experience.
On the trip we increased many hard skills like: how to navigate in the winter without seeing many features, learning how to build a tent in a storm, and understanding that the weather is a very important influence on the route especially in relation to speed. Besides that I think we all improved our ski technique some of us learned it the easy way and some learned the hard way. The most challenging part was maybe the condition. Melting snow and heavy wind turned a normal route into a very hard one.
Group dynamic processes before and after
According to Tuckman´s model, every group has to pass four stages:
- Forming: The group gets to know each other
- Storming: disagreement arises in the group; arguing occurs; positions, authority and influence are questioned
- Norming: common ground, rules and regulations are found
- Performing: the group performs as a unit; tasks are solved together; strengths and weaknesses of the group members are taken into consideration
I think we passed the storming stage in our first planning process. In our second try we performed better even though not every group member was completely involved in the planning and performing process. After some days together our group became a unit, despite the different efforts given by group members in the planning process, we still solved the challenges of the trip together.