Pre-waxed ski’s with one layer of blue wax prior to leaving, and it was incredibly easier and timely than doing it out in the field with frozen ski’s. Off the bat I had already way overpacked for the week and brought too many spare clothes, however I brought them all to get me through the week as we finished the second half in Hommenkolen for the festival. I should have left half the clothes in my bag in the car still, but I didn’t think to do this until I realized how much space it took up once we got to the tent later and I started to unpack. Another solid tip I learned was to not procrastinate and start organizing/packing the night before/morning of, and instead pack 2-3 days prior in the future and triple check if I really need everything I plan to bring. On top of too many clothes, I also brought too much food and did not pack it in a logistical manner and rather shoved things in where they fit and in inconvenient packaging. I should have pre-measured my meals and stowed everything where it’s accessible only when I need it, and not in the way of other things or taking up too much unnecessary space. At least I surely did not starve or smell too bad along the way, but definitely plan to pack more efficiently in the future.

We left at around 6:45am after getting the car and ourselves loaded, and ended up in Haukeliseter around 10:30. The snow conditions slowly got better and better along the way, which was a nice sight. We grouped in the basement of the lodge and had a brief early lunch before beginning our trek which was very nice as I would have been starved by the time our actual lunch break came around. As soon as we started our trip fresh snow began to fall, and the wax was quite sticky at the start and I had to scrape off a thin layer and cork it. After doing so I was smooth cruisin’ and didn’t have any further issues with it throughout the day. One member had some major difficulties with her ski’s, but after 3 attempts of new applications she finally was able to carry on without difficulties. This happened to me on my last trip and it can be very frustrating when everyone else is going fine but you are unable to keep up and are working twice as hard to move half the distance, and we all collectively stopped and helped whenever necessary. The snow wasn’t too deep and we were moving along well throughout the morning as the beginning was almost entirely flat with a small uphill and downhill at the early start. We rotated well along the way, but there was some lack of communication, or over communication depending on the party and some tension was present in the group, but it seemed to fade  out as the day went on. I think it could have been handled better and more effectively, but frustration can take some people over and in the end left one member at a loss when he was just trying to help. I think when you’re out in a group for several days, or anytime at all that communication is key and if someone isn’t happy with something that it should be explained and discussed and not left on a dry note with no way of it being amendable in which case no one was able to take anything positive from the situation. I fortunately wasn’t involved but thought it nice to share my thoughts on it as I was confused along the way myself and I think it brought the group to collectively lose focus on everyone’s wellbeing throughout the remainder of the day.

We trekked long uphill on the second half of the day, and eventually called it a day on the middle of a lake which was a new and strange experience for me. I had ice fished before, but the idea of actually sleeping on top of frozen water was slightly displeasing though I knew it was completely safe. We pitched the tent and went 2 by 2 for setting up our sleeping quarters, and I think we could have had time better spent during this time and collectively boiled and shared water from the start, but everyone rather only focused on themselves and we had plenty of gas for the trip so I think in the future it’d be better to communicate with the group members and be okay with sharing everyone’s gas as yeah it’s decently expensive but also goes a long way, and in the end what goes around comes back around and in all everyone wouldn’t have been left in the cold for as long as they were waiting for water to boil when it could have been done earlier. We struggled immensely with our navigation for this day as well, and based on contours and surrounding area, we thought that we were in 1 of two places in which were 2 km apart. Our goal had been to arrive at the spot 2 km further towards our destination, but we pieced together later that we were in fact in the spot 2 km behind and were at quite a loss as it was a very long day, but we went up hill a lot and did not cover as much distance as originally planned.

Day two: We got up at 8:30 and some began packing their things right away as others prepped breakfast. I slept well but woke up cold several times, and had slept with woolen underwear on and two pairs of socks. The two out first could have done a small favor and waxed all ski’s instead of just there’s, but that went to further show the thought of some thinking individually rather than for the whole group. In turn I was unable to really help with getting the tent disassembled as I was waxing my ski’s and adjusting my layers during it and felt as though I was social loafing, however I wanted to help but had to get my ski’s done because those out earlier had not taken the thought to wax mine and in stead stood around and asked how things were coming along inside – in which they could have been warmer for longer had they taken this initiative. In the end I still finished in time to help pack up the outer tent and get it ready to go. Was a small frustration but rather annoying to start the day with. All in all, it took us an hour and a half to get up and everything done and packed away and ski’s on our feet as we were ready to go by 10.

Conditions were just as great on the second day as they were the first as fresh snow had came overnight. We began our day with a rather gradual uphill, and eventually over two lakes. We found ourselves taking breaks whenever someone needed something which made our day take longer than it should have, but was something we later discussed in the evening and better planned for the day to follow to plan our breaks in a timely manner. We crossed a massive lake with very poor visibility and did an awesome job at rotating along the way, and we eventually found ourselves at a small hut at the end of the lake and found it a perfect spot to sit and have lunch. After lunch, we had our first nice downhill sector of the trip, and it was nice with the fresh powder everywhere compared to the conditions that my group had faced on our last trip with terribly icy patches everywhere. Confidence and technique were solid and I fell very few times and was able to practice my turns on the way down, the only issue was not being able to see the contours very well and we weren’t entirely sure how steep each decline was as everything pretty much blended together. We continued onward and the tension from the day prior still followed forward to today, as one member who was involved asked the other where the best spot was to go down from where they could see – as they just blindly dropped off a small ledge that none of us could see, and so the other member was trying to avoid doing the same and thus also me – but a snappy response that lead to no were is was came from the other member and we were stuck with guessing the best route in which was managed to find a better one than the one who fell, but it was obvious where we could have gone down from their point of view and the slightest bit of help was all we were asking for but they were too frustrated that they had taken a small fall. I think it’s important for everyone in our group to be able to put the group as a whole in their best interest no matter how frustrated they may be, as we’re all collectively trying to work together to make it to our destination as efficiently and also as safely as possible.

We made it to our destination in which was a DNT hut. Upon arrival we had immediately filled the pales with snow and had began to get the furnace going to melt the largest pot and also to begin to warm the room as it was almost colder inside than outside at first, then we had other smaller pots on the gas burners going in order to get as much water as we could while there was still daylight outside. After awhile of trying to keep warm and melt snow, we were able to make some tea which helped quite a bit, and then we all draped the tent on the racks above the furnace to dry it out and some other items that were in need of drying. After getting everything up we relaxed and played cards and talked about the day, especially about doing better for the next day with our breaks and stoppage time and to space out our stops and make each trek more efficient by doing so. This felt too good after the long day and harsh conditions that we faced for most of it, and we each had our own room and bed which was another nice plus. We cooked tacos for dinner and had some cookies during cards and it was a nice relaxing evening. Everyone was asleep early and we woke up at 07:30 and immediately began to get breakfast going and to start cleaning up, all the while packing and waxing. We were out of the hut and ready to go by 9, which was our goal in order to try and get a good distance as Ditte was planning to catch the bus before 15:00 the next day.

Our timed out break schedule worked out great, and we took one break after 30-40minutes to delayer, and another after 45 minutes for a snack break and quick relax for a member. After this we trekked up a hill, past the hut we had lunch at the day prior, and across a lake and did not stop until we reached the point above where we had camped out the night prior, around 13:00. Fortunately, a group of four had come through our path, each pulling a sled and created a very nice track for us, allowing us to fly downhill and cut off at least 30-45minutes of trekking from out day, as the snow was quite deep after all the powder that had come the night before and took some more work to trail break through. We had a very large amount of downhill runs this day, and we continued on and on trying to get as far as we could. We stopped and got water from a shallow river running amidst the piles of snow, and this was really great as it saved us from having to boil loads of water later. We ended up trekking 19km this day out of the 20km total distance of our route, and put the tent up 1km behind a hill with the view of the Haukeliseter lodge behind it. We talked at lunch and because of the great conditions we decided to trek it this far. After this day I had realized how desperately I need to get my bag sized. My shoulder blades were burning all trip, but especially during this long day and by the end of it I immediately got my bag off my back and quickly as I could. We put the tent up and we were in our sleeping bags by 7. I woke up between 02:00 and 03:00 and the tent was caving in and right in my face. I heard Simon move and I immediately woke him up and eventually everyone was up. Loads of snow was piled on top of the tent and we all collectively pushed up at once to knock it all off. All night the air was very dense and it was hard to breathe. The inside was very wet and my sleeping bag got soaked. Had we not shaken off the snow I think the tent would have undoubtedly collapsed on us. We had gotten at least 1/2 a meter of snow during the night, and we were up at 06:30 and on our way to the lodge by 07:30. We decided to not make breakfast and to just eat a muesli bar and break down the tent, and to have a larger meal at the lodge once we get there. The snow was extremely deep and we were even more thankful for the distance that we had gone the day prior, as it took us roughly 45 minutes to get to the lodge from where we were camped. As soon as we had arrived back to the lodge, we all got out our shovels and helped to dig out Simon’s car, and then packed everything that we didn’t need for the rest of the morning away and ready to go. Afterwards we all went to the basement of the lodge and had a nice breakfast and coffee, was an unbelievably refreshing moment.

Personal reflections:

• Bring more variety for food, was super bland – bring spices or better yet pre-spice everything and pre-portion
• Pack effectively; at least 2 days prior
• Get better headlamp before next excursion
• No more pillow or unused cooking equipment taking up needless space
•   Bring only what you’ll need, brought way too much breakfast and dinner supplies and clothes that I didn’t need and that filled up my bag and it would have been bad had I needed to take any extra equipment other than my own. Also procrastinated till the morning of and thew all of my things in my bag and together without taking the time to think effectively whether what I am bringing should really be in there, and in the end brought far too much.