This week i got chance to go skiing with Sophie! For her it was the first time cross-country skiing and i was excited to have a skiing partner who would maybe fall more time than me..

We arrived in Gautefall (a few hours north from Kritstiansand) in the evening and we stayed in beautiful cabins. There were a lot of other international students there and we were at a ski resort where people could do alpine, cross-country skiing or even snowboarding. We unpacked and made dinner before going to sleep ready for tomorrow.

In the morning we woke up nice and early, we made enough food to be out for the whole day skiing, but the plan was to not go so far. In the ski centre there were maps showing the best routes and distances you could take cross-country skiing, we chose an 8km route but we would take our time as we had the whole day. As it was the first time for Sophie we played around in the area for half an hour to get used to the ski’s and she was really good! I think  she was better than me after 3 weeks of skiing.. 

We started our little tour with Tadas and some others but after the first half an hour we decided that we would split up because we wanted to take more time than they did. Following the route was quite easy as there were coloured markers most of the way. After a few hours on the route it became clear that we were being too ambitious with the distance and there were a lot of up hills parts, which for both of us was difficult especially with it being the first time for Sophie. We decided we would follow the route until we found a good place to have lunch and then head back in the same direction.

After we found a good spot for lunch we could see that there was a different route for us to follow back, this was good because it meant we weren’t following the same tracks back. On our way back it was a really nice route and there were a lot of skiers passing. We arrived back at an area close to the ski resort in the afternoon and just stayed there to have a play around on the hills. We got back to the resort around 4pm and were told that it was a nice idea to walk to the top on the downhill ski slope for an amazing view and pictures.. of course we loved this idea! The slope was of course really steep, Sophie decided she would walk up, i began with the ski’s but after an hour it was getting really tough and it seemed dangerous if i slipped and went back down so decided to carry the ski’s too.  We finally got to the top of the slope exhausted after 1 and a half hours! They were right about the view it was amazing! The wind up there was incredible and it was so hard to even stand!

Once we came back down the slope it was 6.30/7, the others had organised a bbq and we were just in time for the last few hot dogs! We then had a well deserved rest for a few hours after dinner. In the evening we met in one of the cabins with all the other internationals which was fun and me and Adam thought it would be a good idea to go sledging in the dark… Not the best idea we’ve ever had but it was fun!

The next morning we were so exhausted from yesterdays skiing that we decided we would leave the ski’s to rest today. A few of us took a walk into the mountains which was really nice, the weather was great so we got chance to take a lot of nice pictures and some amazing views. It was nice to have a more relaxed day. In the afternoon we went back to the ski centre and sat in the cafe for the last couple of hours, pancakes and hot chocolates were well deserved!