Between the 21st and the 26th of February our course had to split up in different teams and organized a skiing trip in different areas in order to prepare for the mountain safety trip in a few weeks. The goals were to go skiing with increased weight in our backpack, to increase the distance travelled and improve our orienteering and skiing skills in comparison to our basic ski course in Surveit. The aim of this assignment is to summarize the organization and realization of this trip and reflect on the results.
The organization
Our group consisted of eight people (George, Connor, Elouise, Kyle, Emma, Bowen, Richard and Me). Although we were supposed to stay in groups of five we agreed on going together since our original target was to skiing in Jotunheimen. However as the start of the trip grew closer and we did not star planning yet we decided to change to a closer location. We agreed on Hovden as our new target. I held myself back in the organization progress of the trip. Others took greater part in the organization.
We agreed on starting on Tuesday and staying in a hut for the first night then starting with our tour on Wednesday from the Haukeliseter Fjellstue. We planned to do the trip to Hovden in three days and return on Friday or Saturday. The total distance covered by the track would be around 45 km. On the way there where two hut we could sleep in however we were also keen on spending at least one night in a tent.
Additionally to the planning of the tour we also had to decide on what to bring for the whole group. We agreed on the following items additionally to our personal baggage and share them between us:
- 2 Tents
- 2 Storm kitchens
The personal equipment everybody needed to carry contained following items:
- Clothing suitable for the weather conditions
- 2 pair of gloves
- Snow shovel
- Skis
- Ski wax
- Ski shoes
- Sleeping bag
- Compass
- Knife
- First Aid Kid
- Head torch
- Cell phone
- Thermos flask
- Food
To travel there we agreed on taking the bus because it seemed to be the cheapest and easiest way to get there. Unfortunately we could not find out the price of the bus before starting.
The realization
We meet up at 8:00 at the entrance of our student accommodation to walk to the bus station together. The bus was supposed to leave at 8:45. After a four-hour trip to Haukeli we had to wait about two hours for the second bus that would drop us of at Haukeliseter Fjellstue. We arrived at our accommodation at around four o’clock and moved in to our cabins. We also inquired about tomorrow’s weather and the conditions of hour tour at the reception. The lady working there strongly advised us not to start our planned trip the following day since there would be a storm coming up. As a group we decided we would postpone the start of the tour for one day unless the weather the following day would be better than expected. However, the weather the next day did not allow us to start our tour and so we spent the day relaxing and playing games together. In the afternoon we used the time to put on our skis and discover the surrounding area and experience the weather conditions. We had made the right decision not leaving for our tour in that conditions because the wind and snowfall made it really hard to ski and even harder to orientate. In the afternoon we discussed the plans for the following days. The majority of the group had already made the decision that we should not aim to complete the originally planned tour because of our lack of experience, the new snow, uncertain weather conditions and an injury among one of our members. The alternative was to do two day tours within the reach of the hut and possibly camping for one night.
Richard and I however were really keen on completing to original trip and inquired again at the front desk about weather conditions, tour conditions and recommendations. After sharing the information with the group it was suggested that we split the group into two groups. One that stays close to the huts and one that that takes the way to Hovden. However no one would join the group to Hovden and we decided to stay as one group.
This decision let to great tensions within the group. On the one side there were some good reasons not to consider going to Hovden as a whole group. The skill level was very heterogenic and also the injury of one person prevented us from trying as a whole. However there were not that many good reasons for not splitting into smaller groups and trying to finish the original tour in my opinion.
For the next they we planned a twelve kilometer tour in the surroundings. We were fortunate that the weather was back at our side and it was sunny and windless the whole day. The snow was quite deep and the more experienced skiers took terms in leading the group. The tour confronted us with several steep climbs and icy plates. It was the first time we took our heavy backpacks with us. These facts led to a quite challenging tour for the group. We had to take several breaks and adjust the speed of the leaders. We were rewarded with spectacular view over the whole area and the group atmosphere was good and the tension of the following day decreased. During the lunch break we talked about the following day. As it seemed the others had already decided to leave with the early bus the following day. It came as a surprise to Richard and me as we had expected to do another day tour and leave either with the late bus or with a bus on Saturday. We finally decided to split up the group. Richard and I would not leave the following day and rather due a day tour and leave on Saturday and the rest would leave on Friday. After finishing the tour for the day we arrived at the hut again. We started with setting up our tent before the other half of the group arrived. We choose an elevated flat spot close to the lake. Unfortunately after finishing the set up we discovered that we camped on a smaller lake and had to change the location of our tents again. We quickly grabbed all our gear and set everything up somewhere else. The other tent group decided to move back into a hut because of the already starting sunset, a broken tent and starting signs of hypothermia of one group member. Richard, Bowen, Emma and Me took the opportunity to go at night and ski across the lake to get away from the light pollution since there was a good chance of seeing northern lights that night.
The following day we all had breakfast and relaxed in the hut of the others. After they left with the bus Richard and I started our short eight-kilometer day tour across the lake. After finishing it we climbed the mountain behind the Fjellstue and set up our tent at the top. At night we went for another ski on the top of the mountain to catch a glimpse of the northern lights and the stars without any light pollution. The next morning we quickly packed our gear in the morning and started to ski down to the huts where we took the bus back to Kristiansand.
Reflection
The Tour confronted us with different difficulties and problems and did not go as planned. Therefore we have a lot to reflect on.
During the planning process some people took greater effort in planning than others. I for example did not really take part in the planning of the route we were going to take at all. For future trips we should make sure that at least everybody know the route and knows the most important points of the trip.
One of our problems was time. Although we originally planned to leave either Friday or Saturday people had already plans for the weekend, which meant that we had time reserves.
In the terms of group dynamics we had a really interesting trip. And one could see that we developed different roles. For instance one could tell that certain people were more active in the organization process others were more active in leading the group through the deep snow, which is in line with discoveries by Belbin on group roles.
For some party of the group it felt like we had to or three different sub groups. For example we had Elouise, Kyle, Connor and George as a British group that all know each other from their home university and already have a different kind of group cohesion and can hardly to change their already acquired behavior towards each other into a new group.
Also the group taught us how decisions within our group can influence the group cohesion and atmosphere. And that individuals have to step back from their own opinions for the well being of the group, which can be quite difficult.
In summary it can be said that many small mistakes have been made during the planning and the realization of the trip that led to major challenges. And although our trip has not been successful in its original plan it rewarded us with important revelations and knowledge about ourselves group cohesion and group dynamics.
Furthermore we gained experience in navigating and orienteering in stormy conditions and skiing at night or with our big backpacks on.
References
R. Meredith Belbin 1981 Management Teams: Why they succeed or fail, Butterworth-Heinemann