This trip was the big one for me. This was something that I had not come remotely close to doing before. This was the reason I’d come to Norway. I was a mixture of nerves and excitement. I had everything packed and ready and we had put everything in the car. It took us 3 and a half hours to get to where we wanted to go, plus a couple of toilet stops and one stop because we wanted to get out the car to look at a beautiful waterfall we drove past. When we arrived we got all the kit out of the van and split into town groups between Len and Tim We then had a quick talk about the kind of equipment we had brought with us and why we needed it. Then we proceeded to wax our skis and then leave the car park and head towards our destination. It was a slow journey up the hills as it was a long distance we wanted to reserve our energy, as our bag packs were big and heavy. We took a couple of breaks of the way, taking on water and a quick snack. By the time we had made it to the DNT it was getting on in the afternoon, as we were quick tired as a group. We dropped our bags outside and went into the cabins to look after. They were actually nicer than I was expecting, with a fully working kitchen stove and a log burner to keep the whole cabin warm with comfy looking beds. Then we gathered in the ‘living room’ and Tim gave us a talk about the cabins and how they are used, what the rules are for using them and how much they cost and how long you can stay for. It was all very interesting and I think they are a very good idea and encourage people to go out and take part in outdoor pursuits. The decision was then made that we wouldn’t be making our snow holes that night as it was starting to get late and the sun was going down. Plus it had recently rained a couple of days ago so the snow was still wet, making the conditions for building a snow hole hard. So we just had the rest of the night to relax in the cabins and make dinner. I took this as an opportunity to go out with Mike and Chris to build a snow ramp, which like in Oslo, I went for it, and failed miserably! Falling face first into the snow, but luckily I had built an area of soft snow so it didn’t hurt.

The next day we woke up and met outside the cabins early and then after a quick look at the map of the local area and a scan area, we headed off to go look around for a suitable area to start building our snow holes. We took with us just our skis and snow probes as we didn’t need anything else. We found several places where the hill was steep enough and the snow probe went in at least two meters, which is needed when building a snow hole. We then decided to go for a short tour around the area just for fun and it was a nice day and we had plenty of time to kill. Upon returning to the cabins, we collected our bags and in our groups of 3s and 4s we headed back out to certain spots where we had decided to start building. My groups was the closest to the cabins, this made sense to me as it meant if anything happened we could get there quickly to the teachers. We started off using the snow shovels so build the entrance, then as we started making the beds we had to use ice saws to cut off blocks so we could use them as a door. After 5 hours approximately of digging, we were finally done! By the time we were finished it was getting towards dinner so we settled down for the rest of the night and relaxed.

The following morning, we were once again up nice and early as today we would be travelling up the peaks of the mountains which were around 4400 meters high. I was really excited and couldn’t wait to get started. We took turns in taking legs to guide ourselves up the mountain using our maps and compasses to lead the way. When we were at the top, we got out an emergency shelter bubble as the we needed a break and the wind was very cold. This was ideal and it only took 20 seconds to get set up and it really did warm us all up when we were inside and it allowed us to get a snack and a drink. On we went afterwards and we took a route down this hill that for me, was extremely nerve racking as I had not been down a hill this steep before. We had to slowly ski across it and the snow was slightly hard on the top layer so it made it even harder. After we go to the bottom I sighed a breath of relief and on we continued with the journey. It was then my turn to lead and it was a learning experience for me as I’d never been up in the mountains before leading group with a map and compass. After successfully leading the group to the next destination, someone else took over and so on until we returned back to the snow holes. That night, Len came out and told us that outside the temperature would be dropping to around 15 below. Luckily however it was a lot warmer in our snow hole and we were melting snow inside so it warmed the room up. After a poor nights sleep I then woke up in the morning and started packing my things. After everyone was done and all the rubbish was collected we met at the cabins one final time. We then split into 2 groups and headed back different ways, I was in Lens group and we took a slow route however we did this so we could work on our navigation skills. Before we knew it we were back at the cars and there was time for one last group discussion before we left to go back home.