Activities:
Day one
After arriving at TrollAktiv around 11:00 o’ clock in the pouring rain, we split into three groups and moved into three cabins of 6, 5 and 12 at noon. Chris and I were lucky to arrive early with the bus, so we picked one of the smaller cabins to stay in. Martynas, Dominic and Michael joined us in our cosy wooden cabin and completed the ingenious quintet of . After a short lunch we were told to meet up in the bigger cabin on the West side of the area which would also be our lecture hall for the week.
Immediately we were told that we might not be going to ski that day and have a lecture on skis and waxing instead due to the bad weather conditions. Moreover it was hinted that we might not even be going skiing in the immediate hinterland but in Bortelid which is a good hour’s drive North-West up into the mountains if the weather stays the same for the rest of the week.
When the lecture was done, we headed back into our cabin, decided what to eat and prepared a fantastic fish curry with rice and lots of vegetables together. The evening continued in a relaxing but entertaining manner with occasional handstand challenges, rap performances and improvised drum solos until it was well past time to go to bed.
Day two
As forecasted the day before, it had stopped raining but the temperature stayed unchanged, so we met up 15 minutes earlier, packed up the two vans and were on our way to Bortelid by 9:30.
After a scenic ride through forestry areas, untouched nature, passing isolated lakes and huts we arrived in Bortelid Skisenter at the bottom of Mt. Vardeheii. We unloaded all our gear and got our skis ready for the day with red wax as the snow seemed quite wet at about -1°C. To our surprise, a thin layer of fresh snow on the unprepared tracks turned out to stick so well to the wax that we had to scrape the layers of snow off the gripping area to regain gliding abilities. For going uphill the layer of snow incredible amounts of grip.
We skied to the bottom of the next ski lift, following the tracks heading northeast. After the short warm up ski, we practiced turning on our skis. The two techniques used were star steps and the full twist for steep ground, the same exercises that were practiced on the first day of skiing behind Spicheren.
Afterwards Len introduced us to the classic and the double poling skiing techniques. While practicing on the nearby stretch of prepared track, it became apparent to everyone that keeping balance was key to a smooth movement and therefore maximised energy efficiency. To improve on balance, we did practice laps with and without poles.
During a short break, Len focussed our attention to each other’s lunch to get new ideas for nutritious food to bring on trips. Thereby it is important to make sure you bring interesting and tasty food because it will make you eat more. Ideally you get a good mix of fast burning carbohydrates (e.g. black bread), oily fish, avocado or nuts for fat plus fruity vitamins and lots of fluids to stay hydrated.
Further north of the track, we practised stopping and skiing curves on the slope next to the third ski lift. Stopping was done by going in a slight curve with one or two steps uphill until you come to a complete halt. In order to do a turn downhill you either stop at the side of the piste and turn around while standing or edging your skis and shifting weight onto the outside ski. When performing a turn in the snow plow stance -V- the skis stay in the V position the whole time. For steeper downhills, this technique is quite ineffective and strenuous for grown adults due to their physique and lachking flexibility throughout
Another short break marked the end of our training session and we went on a small tour on the tracks around the area. When possible I tried to practise my skating technique and noticed I had gotten a lot more confident on those skinny langrenn skis during the two days already. The sun came out and we purely enjoyed beauty of the Bortelid area on our way back to the parking lot.
Day three
Got up earlier today, had a full breakfast and got on our way in the vans, destination: Bortelid Skisenter. The weather had improved, temperatures had dropped well below zero and due to the experiences with red wax on the day before we chose to go with blue wax on that day. It didn’t seem to work too well at lower altitudes but worked better the higher we climbed up.
The tour of the day was 8 to 10 kilometres. Meanwhile, we took every possibility for a bit of off-piste downhill experience.
To keep everybody occupied we were allowed to ski ahead and practice our off-piste and skating skills which was great fun. We discovered a fireplace and wooden shelter which will be overcrowded in the summer by Norwegian families.
Back at the Bortelid Skisenteret, we skied up the main ski slope up to practice our turns and in the end jump over the big ramp close to the top of the slope on langrenn skis. A very fun but also very wobbly and scary stunt as I had never before jumped on such skis. When everybody had gone over the ramp without hurting themselves we decided it was time to stop and head back down to the cars.
Lessons:
When going downhill in deep snow, it is important to have one ski slightly further forwards as if to go telemarking with both knees are bent. This allows for much better balancing when going over bumps or drops.Thereby use your poles to stay upright when leaning to one side or the other. Furthermore it is a good exercise to switch the side of the leading ski in order to prepare for telemark-like turns. Though for starters it is more important to be able to go straight across a slope without falling than to do turns in the deep snow. Doing curves in powder shall prove to be quite difficult with a big pack on.
Remember powder is slower than prepared slopes but much harder to perform turns and stops in.
When leading in deep snow, make sure to rotate so that the person up front changes frequently. Treading in the deep snow can be exhausting even after a short while when going uphill.
We picked up fox tracks on the way, easy to spot as their paw prints go in a straight line. Tracks of hares are also easily recognisable due to their scampering movement. As their back paws land before their front paws when scampering, the direction of travel is always where the two big tracks lay behind the two smaller ones.
Group Dynamics:
A lecturer from York St. John University joined us on this trip without any prior skiing experience which posed a challenge for Len. He made it a rule that no one must join us on any of the trips who is not a part of the class in order to avoid possible problems. Still she was sent by her university to get an insight on our daily course structure. Unfortunately it ended up in her carrying her skis up and down hills and thus slowing the whole group down. Eventually she stayed with the other group when we met them half way around the track.
Day four
Activities:
Same procedure as every day: breakfast, road trip, waxing and off on the track. The sky was full of clouds in the morning and it felt colder than the last two days. Opposing to prior belief the Slattedalen tracks had been prepared sometime during the last two days, so our journey started off on similar conditions as the last two days. However, we took the first opportunity to leave the tracks and go up in the Slattedalen valley in the deep snow until we crossed the track again. Concurrently we practiced our newly aquired winter navigation and veileding skills through leading the group to given waypoints.
Upon arrival on a plateau northwest of Vardeheii, we started looking for a wind protected spot to have lunch alongside the edge of one of the lakes. As soon as a suitable place was found we built a snow bench and enjoyed our lunch and the scenic view when the sun started breaking through the clouds. Following the lunch break Len showed us how to do a snow profile to assess the avalanche risk of a certain slope and asked us to find a suitable spot to put the theory to practice.
Back on the track we gained some more altitude until we started a fantastic off piste descend down to Kvetevatnet lake with a breath-taking view into the mountains. We were free to choose our own route to the lake as long as we followed the simple rules of staying behind the leader and staying in sight of the leader. The sun was out, motivation in the group was high and everybody seemed to be enjoying the moment as we more or less gracefully made our way down to the lake and crossed it.
After a last short brake by the outflow of the lake, we crossed over to the alpine ski area and fought our way down to the Skisenteret on the very icy slopes. Luckily no one was seriously injured on the way down. Some resorted to walk down the slope and be safe.
The great finale of our last day at Bortelid was a no poles slalom race half way up the main slope which generated a lot of excitement and energy within the group before we all got in the vans and everybody fell asleep. What a wonderful day.
Lessons:
When leading the way in deep snow make sure to leave parallel and steady tracks for the ones behind you to follow.
The leading role goes from the first in line to the second one and the prior leader lets the whole group pass while taking a break and stepping back into the line at the very end.
For a snow profile one has to dig out a free standing column of snow with a basis the size of the shovel blade as smooth and as deep as possible. Next the column is being tapped 10 times with increasing force with every set until the column breaks off. A good column shows all layers of the snow that has fallen in that particular place. If the column goes off, it will most likely do so above a smooth icy layer that doesn’t grip very well with other layers of snow. Consequently the snow column in an avalanche prone slope should give in rather quickly. If the column stays intact throughout the testing procedure, the slope can be assumed to be relatively secure. However, this does not guarantee that no avalanche will go off. The conditions of the snow can vary along the slope, which limits the predicting power of the snow profile. Even in the small testing area our snow profiles revealed noticeable differences in structure and stability.
When going downhill on an unprepared slope with langrenn skis do not simply follow in the tracks of the people before you as you will be travelling much faster and risk losing control thereby.
Day five
Activities:
On our fifth and last day of the ski trip we drove up to the local ski tracks at Evje where we would have been skiing the week if the weather had been nicer. On this Friday the weather was superb, colder than the days before and a clear blue sky. The only drawback was the icy ground which resulted from the high temperatures of the last few days.
As we got on our way to the tipi where we would stay for lunch, Len suggested to follow Jonas’ example and try skating on the hard snow. For further improvement we practiced skiing on one ski and keeping balance as long as possible without using the poles to assist. In short, the skating technique is a lot of fun and feels a lot like inline skating on tarmac. It’s a great way to gain some momentum on langrenn skis and to improve one’s overall balance on skis. Yet, it is very difficult to skate with a heavy backpack on and literally impossible to do in deep snow.
Martynas and I went on an extensive discovery tour in the area around the tipi and meanwhile practiced the skating technique on a frozen lake with icy snow on top and challenged our downhill skills on every hill we could find.
People were engaging in the Viking games Saedis introduced at our overnight stay in Jegersberg. In the course of this a game of knife throwing evolved. This lead to an overflow in energy and high levels of communal spirit which was captured in a final photo session which marked the approaching end of the trip.
On the way back Jonas triumphed over all of us who dared to challenge him to a race up to the parking lot, where we lied down in the sun until the rest of the group arrived and cheered for them enthusiastically (Jill).
Lessons:
When skating, focus on staying balanced on each ski for as long as possible before switching to the other one in a smooth and controlled motion. Start gliding outwards on a flat ski and only edge it right before switching to the other foot. Furthermore important is the correct coordination of poles and leg movement. At a normal pace a push with the poles should come with every second step i.e. on the same side. In sprints, the poles are used to support every step in order to obtain a higher speed.