Hovden 11.02.20 – 12.02.20

Preparation:
Our intention for this trip was to improve our skiing skills. That’s why we didn´t plan an exciting ski-mountain-tour, but a trip to a place where we can find skiing tracks. The easiest way was just to go to Hovden, because we can use the bus to go there, there are huts and there are ski tracks as well. We decided just to go 3 days, because the week in Evje was very exhausting and we decided 3 days of skiing are enough for us as beginners.
Problems:
The weather was pretty bad. There was a big snowstorm outside, that’s why we decided not to follow our plan and go up the mountain but stay in the village and just camp there and ski on the tracks down there.
We didn´t think that it´s going to be different setting up a tent in the snow. So, we had big problems on Tuesday evening, because the tent pegs didn´t stick in the snow very well. Thankfully a woman offered us to sleep at her place, because we weren´t able to set up the tent safely for the night. We were really happy that we decided staying in the village, because the night would have been very dangerous, if we would have stayed up in the mountain without a tent. She explained us how to set up a tent in the snow, so we could do it the next morning.
Building our camp:
1. Find a flat area with some trees
2. Dig until you reach the ground, so can put the tarp on the ground.
3. Build up the tent in the hole you dug.
4. Tie the tent to some trees, that it´s not going to fly away with a storm.
5. For the cooking and sitting area: stamp on the snow with your skis, that the snow gets pressed together and you can stand there with your shoes, without sinking in the snow.