Basic Ski Course at Trollaktiv Evje –15th-19th of February 

Our first big trip this semester was the basic ski course in Evje which is  about 70 km north from Kristiansand. During the Trip we stayed at the Rafting Center Troll aktiv and slept in three modern and well equipped Huts. I shared a six men hut with Dom, Martynez, Mike and Chris.

Day 1 (Monday, 15th of February):

We arrived Monday morning at Troll Aktiv around 11 am.  I was a bit exhausted from the weekend before which I spent in Hovden to go alpine skiing. The weather forecast for the week wasn’t v good and it rained the whole Monday morning. So I wasn’t disappointed about the information that we won’t go skiing this day like planed.  So Instead of having fun in the snow we had two lectures in the afternoon. The first lecture was hold by Len which was about how to prepare and wax our skis. The second lecture where hold by Tim and was about outdoor equipment and how to pack our daypack.

Day 2 (Tuesday, 16th of February):

At 9 am we drove with to big cars to the Ski center in Bortilid.  After waxing our skis we were divided into two groups. My group went the whole week with Len, the other group with Tim.  After a short briefing we started our tour. Our first stop was not far away from our starting point to practice some basic ski techniques. Basically we did the same exercise like in the first week, after Len gave us our skis.  Then Len showed us the classic style of cross country skiing and we did some different exercises.. After Lunch we went to a slope, where we practiced to go uphill and downhill. For me it was harder to go uphill. Especially the turns were very difficult and I fell down a lot. In the end of the day we made a short ski tour, before we went back to the Ski center, where we had the chance to practice everything we learned this day.

Day 3: (Wednesday, 17th of February):

On the third day we made a longer tour and Len showed us basics of telemarking.  On this day we had a lot of time to play around and to improve our telemarking. So we stopped several times, went up smaller hills ski down, while bending our knees as much as possible. First it was difficult to stay in balance, but after some hills and falls it became better and better.  At the end of the day, back at the Ski center, we had a small slalom race.

Day 4 (Thursday, 18th of February):

The plan for the fourth day was to go on a longer cross-country skiing tour. We skied manly aside the tracks threw the deep snow and crossed several lakes. On this day Len gave us a Navigation task. Every one of us had to lead the group once. On this day I felt much more comfortable with the turns, while going uphill, so that I was able to save a lot of energy. After lunch Len showed us the way to build an avalanche profile. Then it was our turn to find a good spot for creating our own avalanche profile. I led the last leg this day, to the big slope near to the ski center.  I was a bit insecure because it was steep downhill, but Len helped me a bit was not very hard to find the way but the last part was downhill and I wanted to take the direct way down. So len gave me the advice to go down in wavy lines because otherwise it could be too difficult for some members of the group. That showed that it is very important to know the limits of all members of the group and and it’s not easy to estimate them.

Day 5 (Friday, 19th of February):

The last Day was a very relaxed day. On this day we went skiing in Syrtveit. The  Snow conditions were very icy. We made a smaller round and met the other group for lunch.  On the way to our meeting place Len showed us the skating technique.  For me it was hard to find the rhythmus between gliding and pushing and it was difficult to stay in balance while carrying my backpack. Before lunch we had about an hour to  play around I used the time to practice the skating technique. Without out the backpack it was much easier to stay in balance and to find a rhythmus. After Lunch we want went back to the cars. In the evening we every nation had to present a typical game, dance or song of their country and it was much more fun than I expected.

Evaluation

All in All the trip was much better than I expected. We had good weather and snow conditions and the chance to experience skiing in different conditions.

Learning outcomes: On the Basic Ski Couse I had the chance to improve my skiing skills a lot. Most of all I improved the classic style of cross country skiing. In The week before when I skied in Jegersber it was hard for me to ski outside the slopes. After the trip it was much easier to stay in balance. We also improved our downhill and uphill techniques and learned how to save energy especially while going uphill or skiing in the deep snow. We also learned the basics of telemarking, which helped us to gain a bit more stability on the downhill parts in the deep snow. On the last day Len showed us the skating technique. At the end of the ski course I wasn’t able to skate fluently but I understood the movement so I was able to improve this technique on my own on the following trips.

Safety: On the ski trip we learned much about safety on a skip trip. Tim and Len told us about the things you should never forgot on a ski trip. In another lecture Len told us about the typical cold weather injuries, how we can prevent them and recognize them soon. We also talked about avalanches, the types and the thinks which influences the risk of an avalanche (weather, area, snow conditions, steepness, human impact etc.). We also learned how to make an avalanche profile to proof the stability of the snow.

Group Dynamics: This was the first trip we stayed that much time together. Got closer in contact with each other.  Both groups were group were a good mixture of more experience skiers and less experienced skiers. You can argue that it might been better to put the better skier together. But I think it was a good chance for us to help each other and to experience the challenges which occur when it’s an unequal group. All in all I think we worked well together and got closer in contact with each other.

Equipment: We learned more about the different types of skis especially about the cross country skis. We talked about the different areas of a typical cross country ski (Glide-Wax-Glide) and how to locate them. We had the chance to experience different snow conditions, and got a better feeling in waxing our skis. We also spoke about the 3-layer system, which offers a high flexibility, so that you can adapt easily to weather, temperature and the grade of physical activity. On the trip I had the chance to test a lot of my new clothes and experienced how my body react, while being active in cold temperatures.