For this trip I had very little to do with the planning process as I just tagged along at the last minute. The organising was done by Will, Katja, Anne and Adele. They based the route on a similar trip that Flourin and Kirby had completed a short time previously.

Day 1- Travel to Languid by bus then ski to Tjönndalen DNT hut (7KM).

Day 2- Ski to Gaukhei DNT hut (13KM).

Day 3- Ski to Bortelid DNT hut (18KM).

Day 4- Ski to road and get bus back to Kristiansand.

We had decided to cook the dinners together which is not something that I usually do as I find solo cooking is less hassle, however as this was their trip I didn’t say anything. This was my first self organised trip with the German girls but we had been in groups together on uni trips and it was also my first stay in a DNT hut.

We arrived at Languid and discover that the snow was very wet, we decided to walk up the initial, steep road to the plateau and then put our skis on once we reached it. The snow conditions on the plateau continued to be very wet and generally poor, this was compounded by the fact that we did not have any wax that was suitable for this snow type or temperature. Whilst it our uphill speed was nothing special and it took us longer to reach the hut we still arrived with plenty of daylight left and in good spirits.

We were the only people in the hut so set about organising it; gathering wood, making the beds up, preparing candles, etc. and soon enough, with the fire lit and dinner on the stove we were cosy and warm. The evening was spent playing cards, reading and generally relaxing.  Will was able to check the weather on his phone and we discovered that there was some bad weather coming in the next day so we decided that we would just go for a day trip and then return to the hut the next evening rather than try and push for the Gaukhei hut.

We set off up the mountain the next morning with light packs and in some light snow and wind. After we had travelled about 1.5-2km Will and Katja decided to go back to the hut as the weather was deteriorating, Anne, Adele and I decided to carry on for a while and then return later. We carried on up the hill for around another 2 KM and turned around once we reached the top of the pass. By now the wind and snow had increased significantly and with this to our back we picked up some serious speed going downhill. I think I only fell a few times which I was pretty impressed and pleased about. We returned to the hut, had some lunch and spent the time until dinner playing cards with duvets piled on top of us all.

The next day we tidied up the hut, restocked the fire wood and left. The weather was warm and sunny, because of this we had to go around some not-so-frozen-anymore lakes that we had crossed on the way up which was a little disconcerting but the trip down passed easily and we had good fun.

I had a really enjoyable time and felt like I got to know the Germans a lot better than I had previously.

Learning points:

If planning on doing considerably more cross country skiing a more comprehensive range of waxes will be required.