We met at the garage to load up the shuttle with our ski’s and bags, and began the 3 hour drive up to Ljosland. The land slowly got snowier and snowier, and lakes became frozen the more we ascended. Upon arrival we split into our groups for the week, and prepped our skis. The temperature was warm and the snow was starting to get wet. We used pink wax for plus degree temperatures, and my ski’s were gripping surprisingly well. It was a sunny and breezy day, and after the first hour I was already regretting not applying sun cream before the departure. Fortunately I had a cap and my hood up, but the snow was shining right back at me along the way so it was not a winning situation. We were looking for a lunch break for quite some time, but the wind was far too strong funneling through the rock formations and so we carried on until we were across the large lake and the wind was low. It was then my turn to lead the group from here to our hut, which was not a long endeavor by any means as it was right over the hill between the valley in which we just had lunch below. This was nice as it was really the first “larger” downhill of the day, and was a fun descent to the lodge. Once in the lodge we claimed beds and had a small bite to eat, before strapping back into our ski’s about an hour and a half later and went on a small around to look for good snow-hole spots. My group did not think ahead before departing, and we all went without our equipment – no snow probes or shovels. It was a very freeing feeling, skiing without a bag on your back. The sun was going down and the snow was drifting across the hillsides creating a pretty surreal sight. Had we encountered any avalanche trouble along the way, it would have been a very bad time with no equipment, and we would have been stuck probing with ski’s and digging with hands which would not have been very effective. Fortunately, we did not get into any avalanche trouble and Len had discovered a beautiful ridge of extremely deep snow, which appeared to be perfect conditions for digging snow holes. We probed straight into the snow bank, 45 degrees into it, and 90 degrees straight down – all of which being more than 3 meters deep. We decided that this would surely be the place to construct our snow shelters, and we skied back down to the lodge for the night. We made dinner and my group all brought supplies for tacos and we had a massive pot of taco mix and tortillas, and we were all happily stuffed afterwards. I went into a major food coma and could barely function the rest of the night after getting terrible sleep the night before, and I went to bed shortly after 9 once Len and Tim had finished discussing the plan for the next day with us.

Woke up and made breakfast, and then my group collectively went out to gather more water. There was a snow covered river and we had to take a shovel to break through a hole large enough to dip the water buckets into, and then walked the buckets back up to the cabin. Simon respectably took one for the team and had done all of the water gathering so that not everyone had to get their hands wet. After cleaning dishes and packing our gear, we had gotten ready to head out for the morning. We had replanned our routes the night before as to where we were going to go for a ski tour the second day, before ending at the snow ridge to construct our snow holes and allow enough time to do so. I had started off with leading the group this morning, as my leading time yesterday had not counted for much before making it to the hut. We practiced our snow navigation and took several bearings to pin point where we were at certain times when we weren’t 100% certain. We followed a creek line up to a small lake, and then ascended up a hillside in which was quite steep and icy, to find a larger lake up top which was our decided way point. From here we had regrouped and made back into the valley to head back to the hut and have lunch. Halfway back we had stopped to do some avalanche safety, and group members lined up and with probes in hand, and took turns stepping and probing. We then went over to a nearby boulder that had large snow banks piled around it and Scott had been placed beneath a lip, and everyone was able to probe their way to him and get the “feel” of what it’s like to hit a person, and not just rock or ice, etc. After this we returned to the hut and made lunch, and finished cleaning it back to how we found it as there was another large group from the Netherlands coming there that evening to stay. After we were all fed and the place was cleaned up, we grabbed our belongings and began the uphill climb to the ridge above where we were going to begin our snow-hole excavating.

Upon arriving up top, we had all unstrapped from our ski’s and got our probes and shovels out, and began probing along the ridge to find where we would like to dig our snow-hole. While some group members began on the hole entrance, Michael, Petra and I began to construct a wind shelter down the slope a bit, in which we were to do all of our cooking and hanging around in the evenings and mornings. We built a nice wall all around with a comfortable bench along the inside, and dug under a snow cornice to create a nice overhead cover and a bench below. After we had made quite a nice eating area, we went and checked out how the others were doing with the snow holes. I helped to throw out loose snow in the beginning down out of the way, and to stack the ice blocks as the snow hole was too tight for everyone to be working in there. After a while of helping to keep things clean and organized, I was able to come inside and was taught how to cut the snow into blocks in order to allow easy removal, and also to be able to use them to close off the entrance for when we finish the inside. It was a pretty bizarre feeling to be taking a saw and cutting through snow which was so compacted that it became a massive brick when cut out. Our instructors had said that our snow was perfect for cutting bricks and making snow holes, as it had the perfect texture where it was easy to sculpt and held its shape. Slowly but surely the snow-hole began to take shape and we had a massive pile of bricks along the front, and likely had enough to close off all the other snow holes if needed that we began to dispose of all other bricks cut out (even though Tim and Len scolded me for intentionally smashing a brick earlier in which I was told we didn’t need.)

After roughly 4-5 hours we had finished our snow-hole, and settled in and set up our sleeping quarters. Was an unbelievable feeling to be setting up camp inside of a snow bank, with several meters of snow above of your head and a snow bench as your mattress. Simon had bought along a candle even which made the cave have a cozy feeling, and my friend in the military said that they had to use candles in theirs and somebody would always have to be on guard watching the candle incase it went out – which meant that there was no oxygen supply – however we really didn’t have to worry about running out of oxygen as we had left the bottom of the entrance open for free air to come through, so that candle was nothing more than a nice touch that helped to brighten the place up a bit. The snow-hole was shaped like a mushroom in a since that it had an open area carved in the middle to allow for standing, and then it domed on each side to help the structure be strong and hold its shape. I was positioned on the inside of the cave and I felt that it was much more spacious and warmer than the winter tents had been. Halfway through the night, Lena had looked over – sleeping on the bench across from me – and had woken me up and gotten my attention. The ceiling above Simon and I had sunk down about a foot from our bodies, and we could hardly crawl out in the morning. This brought us grave concern as we were suppose to be in these holes for two nights, and already after the first night the cave had sunken far more than it should have. Lena and Petra’s side of the snow-hole had held its shape perfectly, and based on the structure I had definitely thought that their side would have sunk before Simon and I’s as our’s had a more narrow arch in the beginning and structurally I thought would hold much better than the other side of the cave. Len and Tim even thought that our cave would be the last one to face any troubles, however it turned out that the cornice we had built under was on a slope in which was steeper than the holes further up the ridge, and had become weaker with us excavating beneath it.

We left our belongings in the snow-hole and went on with the day as planned to worry about it after our return from skiing. The snow was wet this morning, and we had all applied klister to our ski’s in which we had all only heard horror stories of – in which it was a last resort application. My group had almost left most bags back and we were going to delegate 2 bags with probes and shovels and take turns rotating it, however I felt that this was not a practical plan and Len did as well and by the end of it everyone else had grabbed their bags and we divvied up everyones supplies back to their own bags. This day was very rough for me as I do not think I applied enough klister and I felt that I could not grip any snow all day. The plan today was to hit two peaks, and the tallest peak being 1 meter higher than the first peak we had summited. Once we climbed up halfway to the first peak we had gathered as a group to decide whether we wanted to continue the climb or not, as whatever height we ascend we have to descend, and after discussing amongst us we all decided to continue to the top. It was quite icy and steep at points and we zigzagged our way up while doing kick-turns along the way up to pivot cleanly without slipping. I still struggled with my kick-turns but Len had helped me with my foot-placement after watching a shameful attempt and when told to keep my foot closer to me rather than jutted infant it made all the difference and was much easier for me to gain balance and transition onto my newly planted foot. I believe that this was one of my favorite things about skiing, as I felt myself always learning and slowly getting better along the way and was willing and trying to learn all I could from others – granted on almost every downhill slope I had wished I could smack my ski’s together and snowboard my way down as carving on ski’s is not my strong suit, but I have slowly gotten better and when taking it slow I was able to make little mistakes and go at my own pace while putting all my concentration on my knees and foot placements. After making it up the first peak, we had quickly headed down after a brief admiration of the view as it was very windy and we knew it would take some time to get down. We switched leaders all along the way, and from here I remember Scott being the leader who was taking us to our next way point. We had grouped at the base of the valley down from the hill we had just descended down, and this was the last time I sent myself flying down the path of others as I went way too fast and ended up on my ass. Scott had lead us around a rock formation surrounded by lakes, and we had al regrouped in the middle of the lakes and studied our maps intensively. We all took bearings and all agreed that we were in a specific location needing to go East from here, aside from Scott who had thought otherwise which was fine, however we had all stood around for roughly twenty minutes discussing the situation and everyone was hungry and cold and nothing was gained. We could have “moved to prove,” West into Scott’s proclaimed location to check, however had we done so it would have set us back at least 30 minutes and been needless work and so after awhile of discussing and voting we had all agreed to go East in which majority had wished for and things turned out alright, but this was our main group debate that occurred along the trip and was not an efficient process in the slightest.

From here on we continued our journey to the second summit, and trekked across the top of a valley where we could see the other group far below us who had chosen to take the valley around the mountain, while we took the ridge across and descended down the back of the mountain. This was a slow process for me and was filled with many cautious maneuvers, as I was trying my hardest to keep control and watch out for the exposed rocks, and not end up on the other side of the mountain through taking slow carves and turns. After making it down the backside of the mountain we had our lunch break in the valley at the base of the final peak of the trip, and the tallest peak in the area. We all re applied a new layer of klister before continuing, and I made sure  to put on a much thicker coat than I had earlier. My ski’s worked a bit better this time around but still the snow conditions in general just weren’t perfect for skiing but we made do. Once we made it to the top of the first hill, we all took a bearing and went straight towards our bearing on our own path, and then once reached we all headed towards the peak which was in sight behind a hill that all of our bearings were aimed around. Once we reached the peak we all got our photos and signed the guest book and changed leaders, where Lena lead us back down the mountain towards a medium lake leading to the larger lake we had crossed the day before. It was very windy on top, and pretty steep coming down but we all made our way eventually. I took a heavy spill at the top because I was foolishly going too fast again and lost control, so through this trip I really learned to go at my own pace and that I’ll get to where I need to at a slower pace but safely. After carving back and fourth and many kick turns later we were at the base of the hill alongside the medium lake, where we could see the other group in the valley up the ridge beneath a massive cornice in which they were doing further avalanche training. We continued on down a ways until we reached a nice cornice ourselves, and here we had “buried” Charlotte under a nice pile of snow and others who hadn’t probed the day prior probed today in a line until someone had reached contact with Charlotte. This went to show just how unfortunate some may be when buried in an avalanche, as one probe came very close to her arm but missed, while the other had fortunately struck her as she was laying with all of her body close together and not stretched out. After this demonstration, Len taught us how to read the snow levels through cutting a brick on the side of a cornice and to be able to tell the different layers of snow that are stacked on top of each other, which can tell us how strong the snow is and the chances of it avalanching or not. after digging out a bit, Simon had put his skis on and walked along the edge of the cornice – in which this demonstration acted as a ridge-line no the top of a mountain, and after a few jumps he came crashing down. We did not have the best snow for this demonstration as all of the snow came from mainly one snow fall and there was pretty much just one solid layer of snow, but had there been frozen layers in between then it would have came crashing down much earlier than it had. Was a neat lesson though and gave an insight as to how avalanches can happen out of no where from skiers and other’s when peaking or along ridge-lines. We made our way down to the large lake from here, and I was in charge to lead us there. On our way down, we intersected the other group and all grouped onto the large lake and played a nice game where everybody picked a location across the lake, and then blindfolded themselves and walked 200 steps. This was to show us the chances of anybody being able to aim in the right direction in a white out without being able to see the area around them when not going off of a map and compass. From here we all made our way back to the snow-holes and discussed what we were to do about the condition of our snow-hole and another group. We were suppose to have one more night in them, and then do our emergency bivvy the next night, but after a long debate and discussion it – and Len and Tim already having an answer but wanting to hear our thoughts – it was decided that every person was to find a partner and to do the emergency snow-shelter that evening.

We took all of our belongings from our snow-hole and laid them onto a tarp. Our sleeping stuff got a little wet but not terribly, and we got to finding a spot for our emergency bivvy. Simon and I had partnered up and began to construct the same shelter as almost all other groups in which was referred to as, “the grave,” which was rather displeasing. We dug roughly a meter and a half straight down, shoulder width across and just over 2 meters lengthwise, and once this was done we began to sculpt out the dome shape about 1/3 up from the ground where we would be sleeping. Once this was all day and cleaned out and shaped nicely – about three hours later – we took a tarp over the top of the hole and then placed ski’s and poles across the tarp, and placed snow blocks along the edges of the tarp and compacted them down so that it wasn’t going anywhere. We moved our bevy’s full of our sleeping stuff into our sleeping spots, and our bags fit above our heads. I believe that this was the best night i’ve ever endured when sleeping in the winter. It was very warm and in the morning the shelter had not sunk an inch. We definitely perfected it far too much and wore ourselves out to the bare minimum through doing so, but it was a fun time and in the end a very nice shelter.

The next morning we had packed away all of our sleeping gear and loaded up our bags, and met up with others to have breakfast. We went back into our groups and began our trek back to the bus, but took a different way back than we had done so to get here and worked a lot on winter navigation. For the first part back we went up the hill and found Scott’s dropped compass, and made our way down the valley back onto the large lake. Here we practiced orienteering in whiteout conditions and Michael and I were to lead the group across, and sent one person 50 meters before telling them to stop – aimed into the direction in which we were wanting to go which was towards a small cabin across the lake that we took a bearing at before beginning – and then everyone would walk to the person sent and then send another, and so no and so fourth. We made it 3/4 across until we were directed along the outside of the lake as the water had began to appear on the other side and we didn’t want to run into any issues and so we played it safe and made it to the cabin where we found the other group having a break behind it out of the wind, and they left and let us have the area. We took turns being assigned a way point and lead the group there, and took a bearing before every departure to go off of. This was a major help to me as I was very uncertain how to take a proper bearing and Len had taught me how to do it correctly. It was a fun last day on ski’s, everything was almost all downhill or flat aside from a few hills that weren’t too much of a pain. We had met up with the other group while going down the final descent before reaching the flat path in which would lead us back to the bus, and we all had lunch together out of the wind. After a chill time we all got back on our ski’s for the last time and made our way to the bus. I had the time of my life on this trip and enjoyed every new experience as it came. Was a shame that we had to cut it a day short, however we made the most out of every situation and did what we had to do in order to work with the conditions in which we were facing. I gained a lot of appreciation for back country skiing, and enjoyed myself a lot whilst slowly getting better with each trip and excursion. This was definitely the full, “Norway experience.” and forever grateful of Len and Tim for the opportunity. On the flip side, i’m looking forward to the nice weather coming our way and for spring endeavors to start taking place, but I will miss skiing.