Last thursday Len placed the duty on us to go on a self-organised daytrip in small groups, ski around and light a fire. Martin, Jonas, Max and I went to the familiar area of Jegersberg for cross-country skiing. The day before we had bought some firewood which we took it with us to make a bonfire for lunch and had packed our daypacks with all the required equipment for a day trip. Fortunately, the weather was perfectly sunny, the temperatures were cold and the snow was good. Because of the easy waxing in such conditions, I decided to go with my classic skis and Martin and I went some rounds on the tracks. The area where the tracks are placed are pretty undulating with steep up- and downhills, perfect for improving my downhill ski technique on cross-country skis and to run with high intensity. I rotated the leading position with Martin and we tried to keep a fast pace up. We looked at each others technique and I gave Martin some advice how to groove his skiing technique. In the second round, we met some of the other outdoor students and gave them some advice to enhance their skiing techinque. Then we continued running.

After the two rounds we met Max and Jonas at the flat area within the 500m circuit, where the norwegian students had taken us on the first monday trip. Max took the lead and had already started a bonfire that burned very well. We sat together at the fire, had lunch and talked to the other outdoor students we met there. Because our fire burned worse with the time we discussed about the reasons and in the end we all agreed that it was because the fire was build directly on the snow what made the ground really wet after some time. Nevertheless, the bonfire was big enough to keep us warm and to grill our sausages.

Having had enough break, Martin and I continued our rounds on the track and we decamped for two further rounds. We mutually motivated us to keep a high pace and not let ourselves be distracted by other things. We occasionally stopped in the sun though and just enjoyed its nice warmth.

In the end we ran some of the 500m rounds until Max and Jonas arrived and we headed back home together.

With weather like we had that day an outdoor trip cannot be anything but amazing. And that is exactly how that day was. Even if I like being in a big group I enjoyed the calm of the nature and just being with Martin on those perfect cross-country tracks.

And beside rediscovering my love to classic skiing I learned helpful tips for making a bonfire.