13.01.2020

Hike to Holmenkollen

Monday morning at 9am we met up with the Norwegian outdoor students. The temperature was about 0°C and it was cloudy. We started walking behind the “Spicheren – Treningssenter” since the streets were completely frozen, it was extremely slippery, even the roads with grit were hard to walk on. We moved slowly until we reached the forest, it was easier to walk there because the water has seeped into the ground instead of freezing on top of it, also the grip with the hiking boots is much better on forest floor than on asphalt. We walked on the east side of the “Nedre Jegersbergvann” a small lake right behind the UiA until we came to a large lake the “Øvre Jegersbergvann” we crossed the dam and walked further on a bigger path. The organisers of the trip, which were a small group from the Norwegian students, always looked if the walking speed was fine for everyone. Then we took a small path, to get to “Holmenkollen” a 115m high Hill. The path and especially the roots were slippery. The view on top of the Hill was beautiful, it rained lightly and the sun was shining at the same time.

After a few minutes it stopped drizzling, the wind took away the clouds and Kristiansand appeared in the distance. The Norwegian students set up a fire and we all gathered around it in a big circle. We started to discuss rules for the whole group, everyone had the chance to make some rules up. Amongst other things we made sure the everybody speaks in English, so it’s possible for everyone to join a conversation. We started to play some games to get to know each other a little better, we started of by telling our names and make a certain move, the moves were helpful to keep the names better in mind. Then we started telling short facts about ourselves, so we have something to start a conversation with.

After all these fun games one of the organisers noticed a big cloud coming towards us and we decided to pack our stuff together and head back to the university. As I feared while going up the hill, going down was even more difficult. The roots and stones on the path were still slippery so I had to be careful were to put my feet. Most of the time it was even safer to walk beside the path because the shoes had more grip on the ground there.

We walked the same way back to the University as we came but this time it felt faster for me because I talked a lot to a Norwegian student and in no time, we were back at “Spicheren” before it started to rain.