This week we were staying at TrollAktiv in cabins for our Ski course. As most of us had not ski’d so much before we did this trip in preparation for our mountain trip at the end of March. We arrived in Evje by car, around 1 hour away from Kristiansand, all the Brits stayed in one cabin together for 6 people which meant i had a lot of space to myself.

Day 1:

Once we had unpacked and had lunch we were divided into 2 groups, one with Len and the other with Tim who was from TrollAktiv. We started off today nice and easy and just stayed around the area practising some down hill techniques and turns etc. So far i had found skiing really difficult so hopefully this week i can improve a lot. We ate dinner together in the cabin before our evening lecture.

Day 2:

Today i was in Len’s group again, we went for a little tour but mostly focused on technique work again. The temperature was -10 degrees so very cold but the sun was out most of the day! We went further up into the mountains to find a good spot for practising more down hill stuff. I was quite tired today as there was a lot of up hill during the morning and i found it quite frustrating to work so hard and not get very far.  Once we got a bit further up we stopped for a short lunch and found a small hill which we could pracise going up and down, we did this repeatedly and Len gave us tips whilst going down each time. It was quite annoying for me as i was taking 3 times longer than anyone else just to get to the top which made me tired and had less chance to go down. When i was doing the down hill stuff i had really improved from the first few times and i wasn’t falling so much, i think i had now got the hang of controlling myself and learnt to bend my legs and relax much more when going down.

Exhausted going up hill!

I was quite exhausted from today and it was a bit frustrating for me, so when we got back to the cabin i had dinner and decided i would have an early night to get my energy up for tomorrow.

Day 3:

Tim's group for the day

Today i was in a group with Tim rather than Len, although it’s good that Len knows my skiing ability it was good to see how Tim led the group differently and it was a different experience. We took a much longer tour today. 700m up to the top of the mountain! This took us around 3 hours and i was at the back most of the time.. Again i was exhausted and felt bad that every had to keep waiting for me but Tim was really understanding and tried to encourage me as much as possible. Once we reached the top and met the other group it was totally worth it! the view was amazing. We stayed there for lunch but couldn’t hang around too long because it was so windy and people were starting to freeze.

We took a slower descent back to the bottom because it was so steep, and it was still quite early on in the day so we could take a few more breaks. Although i was still falling a lot going down i think it had improved slightly.. Tim and I had a bet that i could get back to the cabin with less than 20 falls.. he won the bet as i fell just 22 times!

Woo more down hill

Day 4:

Today was another long tour and a really big climb again, i managed it quite well and thought i was getting better than at the beginning of the week. I wasn’t taking as much time as before. We got chance to stop at a small hill and have a bit of fun just practising some more down hill stuff and we tried some telemark turning, i picked this up prett quick but still needed a lot of practise. On our descend from the mountain today it was very steep. Now both groups were together and we had to follow Tim directly as we were zig-zagging down the hill to avoid any dangerous falls. This took a lot of time as everyone had to wait for the person in front of them.

Nearing to the end of the descend Sharon and I were caught at the back, we really struggled to get down without falling every time we moved! We found it so funny but it took us around 1 hour to get to the bottom when everyone else had already left back to the cabins! I think Len now knows not to put Sharon and I in the same group haha!

700m up!

We had another lecture this evening for our final night on ski waxing in a cosy little room. The comfiest lecture i ever had.

Day 5:

The final day of the course, today we could choose our groups. We could either go with Tim on a tour or with Len to work on skills and technique. Of course i chose technique work as i still needed a lot of improvement and i didn’t really enjoy the long tours. Today was quite a nice short day, we found a big open area of land to work on and we were free to practise what were not so good at with little instructions. Len gave us a few tips and improvements where necessary but it was nice to just repeatedly practise things on my own. In the afternoon we headed back to the cabins and cleared up ready to leave.

Learning Outcomes:

This week has been really hard for me, i’m not the best skier in the world and i really struggled to keep up with everyone making me more frustrated and exhausted. I really enjoyed the trip and i can see improvements in my technique. I know that before our big trip in March i have to practise a lot more and work on my endurance and ability as these were what was holding me back from everyone else. I worked so hard this week and i am very proud of myself that i came back everyday ready to take on a new challenge even though it was tough. I am so ready to go home and rest for a few days!