CrossCountry Ski Trip to TrollAktive
08.02. – 12.02.2021 in Evje
Our cozy cabin
After a short bus ride we arrived at TrollAktive, a company that offers various outdoor activities and accommodation. I moved into a small cabin with Anna, Elena, Toni and Roman. A very cosy little cabin where Roman and I slept on the open gallery and the girls were accommodated downstairs in a room with bunk beds.
At noon we went to Høgås for cross-country skiing. For me it was the very first time on this kind of ski. First Tim the owner of TrollAktiv and our ski instructor for the week practised a few things with us on the flat, like standing on a ski or doing a 180° jump. Then we prepared our skis and applied the right grip wax. With the right wax under our feet, we then went on the first small descents on prepared tracks and first exercises on how to get back up the mountain. As an enthusiastic alpine skier, it wasn’t that easy for me at first, as it was something unfamiliar. Suddenly the heel is no longer firmly attached to the ski, there is no fixed ski boot and the edges of the CrossCountry skis don’t feel like they grip at all. But it was definitely an advantage for me to have experience on alpine skis, because I quickly got used to the CrossCountry skis. However, since they have a much narrower structure, balance plays a much more important role. This will definitely benefit me for my further descents on alpine skis. Over the last few years I have acquired a little knowledge of how to wax alpine skis properly and prepare the edges. When we had applied our grip wax together with Tim, I wondered why we had only done this under the contact surface of the foot. Tim had also told us which type of wax to use. We had to buy a small wax set especially for this, which consisted of 3 different types of wax and a cork. In the evening lecture, Tim explained the whole topic of waxing in more detail. He explained the best way to apply the wax and why we needed it. He also explained why different types of wax are needed and which one is best used at which temperature. As temperatures of -6° to -10° were forecast for the next day, we waxed our skis with the blue wax intended for this purpose.
Walking across Store Stangevatn
The next day we went skiing again early in the morning to Høgås. After a few small warm-up rounds, we set off on a small ski tour. First, however, we stopped at the frozen lake Lisle Stangevatn. There Tim introduced us to cross-country skiing. By means of some technique exercises he showed us classic cross-country skiing, how to use the double pole correctly and finally a combination of these. The double pole technique was very easy for me, because I know it from alpine skiing to push myself with the poles. But the other two techniques caused me some problems at first. It was not so easy to use the kick correctly and to coordinate this with the arm swing including the use of the poles. After a short lunch break, we continued our walk-through untouched snow. On the way, Tim told us about the indigenous trees, which we also discovered along the way. At a steeper point, some of the group reached their limits and we decided to turn around and go back the way we came. On a smaller slope near our starting point we practiced our downhill skills. Using the telemark, we tried to conquer the slope and make our first telemark turns. To increase the fun factor, we looked for smaller slopes to jump over and land in the telemark. On the way back, we stopped at a local supermarket to buy a few odds and ends and groceries. Roman and I discovered the ski jump while we were there. On a lark and still full of enthusiasm from our smaller jumps, we asked Tim when we were going ski jumping. Tim said he would get back to us later about ski jumping. In the evening Len showed us what he has in his backpack for a day trip and why it is important to have some things with him. Of course, it is up to everyone personally what they bring for a day, but a first aid kit is irreplaceable and everyone should always have it with them.
On Wednesday we all met in the morning in the common room, as Len introduced us to map reading and the use of the compass. Afterwards we drove to Lake Bjorvatnet and from here we started today’s tour. The focus of the day was to put into practice what we had learned in the morning. We had maps of the region with us and different teams guided us through the morning. We did a lot of skiing along the local trails. We mastered some steeper climbs and it turned out that herringboning is much more strenuous than running up the mountain in a zig-zag pattern or even straight up. You need well-waxed skis for this, however, as I had invested a lot of time in this the night before, I was able to conquer the climbs comfortably. After our lunch break, which we spent in the sun in a beautiful open field, we found a steeper hill with lots of deep snow along the trail. Here Tim showed us more technique exercises, how to traverse a slope with the telemark position and we could also practice our telemark turns further. We went back almost the same way we came, i.e. down somewhat steeper tracks. With the narrow skis and the not exactly sharp edges, it was an enormous challenge for me. I felt really insecure on the skis and had the feeling that I could fall down at any time. We had to cross two waves, which are called camel humps, here it was important to build up a lot of speed in order not to have to run so far up the next hill. Afterwards we went back along the tracks to our starting point, here I mainly use the double pole technique and had to realize that this is very exhausting and looks much easier on TV. Since the other group was already back before us, they prepared a kind of finish line reception for us and cheered us on for the last few meters.
Skijumping in Evje
In the evening we left at 6pm for Evje to the ski jump, I never thought this would really happen. When I arrived at the ski jump, I was first impressed by the height of the jump. But luckily there were smaller ones as well as the big one. We were let onto the 10m hill without any instruction and were allowed to let off steam. When I sat on the beam and looked down, I really had a lot of respect and hardly dared to start. During the approach, I just thought, shit, what am I doing right now and I was aware that there was no turning back now. When I landed my first jump, I couldn’t keep my balance and fell onto my side, but nothing happened and my body was full of adrenaline. So of course, you always wanted to do more and use a bar further up to have more speed on the jump. At the end, Roman and I were allowed to go to the 20m hill and do our last jump there. On the higher hill, the mental cinema started all over again and I had huge respect or even fear. But here, too, I was able to get over myself and go for it. In the end, I landed relatively solidly, but I tipped over to the front and did a belly slide. That evening will probably stay in my memory forever and is definitely my highlight of the week!
Walk to Falketjørna
The next morning, we left for Gautestad and started our longest ski tour of the week from there. In the end, we skied a total of 7.5 km and 4.5 hours. We had perfect weather, sunshine, blue sky and a little wind. Had our Lunch break on the Falketjørna Lake sitting in the sun. Also, on this day, we finished on a perfect hill in the sun to further improve our technique and the first real telemark turns were visible. At the end of the day, we all met in the common room and each country presented something cultural from their country. First, we sang a song together with the Danes, as this is a tradition with them and has experienced an enormous upswing again under Corona. Germany ventured into the well-known TV format “Herzblatt” and brought a lot of atmosphere into the round. The USA, the Netherlands and Belgium introduced us to their art of dancing. Spain showed us how to build a human pyramid, the so-called Castells. A worldwide known tradition from Catalonia. There was a lot of laughter together that evening and everyone clearly enjoyed the different performances.
Thomas rides to the jump
On the last day, we went straight back to Gautestad after tidying up and cleaning our cabin. Here we looked for a large snow-covered field and set up a small children’s paradise there. This included a wave run, two jumps and a paddle run. With perfect weather, we had a lot of fun just building them. But before we could try them out, we left them in the sun for a while so that the snow would compress better. We used this time and Tim led us through various exercises to parallel skiing with the CrossCountry skis. At the beginning it was an enormous challenge for me, as I am used to the wider alpine ski, but this also helped me to learn the technique quickly. Even though it is not perfect, I can now get down the slope with it and the narrow skis. Afterwards, we had a lot of fun trying out our self-made stations and laughed a lot. Finally, we did a Chinese race on the narrow skis. Here, all participants started at the same time at a starting line and whoever reached the finish line first, of course, won the race. I came third, just missing the podium, but I won a chili sausage!
Beauty of nature
During the first weeks of the semester, we dealt a lot with the topic of group cohesion in the course. When I now look back on the week, there was a clear change in our group in particular. Due to the Corona regulations, we all got to know each other very little before this week, as we had to meet online for the first few weeks. So, it was more of a week for all of us to get to know each other better. It quickly turned out that we were all really keen on this week and all willing to learn something new. It was beneficial for the group that we all had little to no previous experience on cross-country skis. However, it quickly became apparent who already had experience on alpine skis, as it was not something completely new. As a result, some learned the techniques faster than others, but this did not affect the group chemistry. On the whole, everyone helped each other and respected each other’s learning pace. It was also beneficial that we were out in the open a lot and not on groomed trails or prepared slopes. Especially in untouched snow, everyone had a lot of fun and it was no problem that everyone fell down once. Tim also explained a lot about the vegetation and we always had our lunch breaks in the open in a beautiful place, so we respected nature. We were careful not to leave any rubbish behind and we were also careful not to destroy anything on our trails. I too would definitely do a ski course in the great outdoors. We humans are creatures of nature and not made to lock ourselves up in houses all day. You could move freely and let off steam. Especially the loose snow made it pleasant to fall down and so everyone had a lot of fun. It also teaches you to respect nature and enjoy it.
In conclusion, we were really lucky with the weather, a week of sunshine and perfect snow. Everyone laughed a lot and learned a lot, definitely a successful week! For me personally, ski jumping stands out as the highlight and will always remain in my memory!
The whole group