Self-organised forest field trip winter
When? 2.3 – 4.3
Where? Forested areas between Hovden (900 MASL) and Berdalen (814 MASL)
Our second self-organised ski trip took place in southern Norway. We started this trip in Hovden and skied southwards till a little village called Berdalen. The main aim of this field trip was to train our skiing techniques while carrying heavy gear as well as practising our orienteering skills in the winter scenery.
Day 1: We drove up till Berdalen where we parked the car and took the bus till Hovden. In cloudless sunshine and in best snow conditions, we (Janna, Tom, Scott, Linda, Laura, Zsofi, Lilla, Zoe, Frankie, Maike, Johanna, Abby, Sam and me) started our ski-trip in Hovden around 1.30pm. The boys group had just left a few minutes earlier and headed to the same DNT (Den Norske Turistforening) = The Norwegian Trekking Association) hut as we did. On the first part of our route we stayed on a prepared track.
At one junction we were quite confused in finding the right way, because the colours and the bending of the route didn’t match with the winter route we saw on our map. Some of us just kept on going in one direction, whereas the others tried to figure out which way to go. It turned out that they had to come back which led to kind of anger. This incident showed me that in the winter time you can’t just follow blindly scooter tracks. You must double check with your compass and map! As soon as we left the prepared track after about 2/3 of our daily stage, the weather changed abruptly. Strong wind and bad ground conditions made the skiing really tricky and exhausting. We rather slipped on ice than we skied. The last meters until we reached the hut were gruelling, because the freezing wind punched in our faces and made it really difficult to go ahead. Also, the visibility was miserable. Everyone struggled for her / himself to come up the hill not only physically but also mentally. After 14km we arrived around 6pm at the DNT hut called “Tjørnebrotbu” (1300 MASL), which felt like an oasis. I was in a quite good condition and could have walked further if necessary, but some of us were at the end of their tether. While it was storming outside we gathered together in front of the oven and tried to get warm again. My learning outcome at the end of this day was: I need to keep in mind that weather and snow conditions can change really fast. This means that it is unalienable to always take gear for every possible circumstance with you (sunglasses / suncream vs. goggles, extra pair of gloves, buff etc.).
Day 2: After a cosy night (20 people had to squeeze together in a 10man cabin) the boy group and two of our girls stayed at the hut, while we continued our trip in two smaller groups. I think it was a good choice to split up our big group in two smaller ones. This allowed us to stay together closer and thus, to listen to the others.
Me and Tom skiing through a white landscape.
Again, the visibility and the snow conditions were miserable. We couldn’t see where we were going to, because there were no contours recognizable. We only slipped on ice and fell down on the icy ground a lot of times, which hurt a lot. Luckily, we just had to follow the winter route, which was well-marked with branches. After we had a lunch break, Laura lost her thermos and went back to the place where she expected the bottle. Although she wanted to ski back alone, I convinced her to ski with her, while the others, who were already exhausted, kept on going. This incident taught me to always keep everything inside your bag. Luckily she found the bottle.
We made it through the forest!
Skiing the last part only with her was kind of relaxing, because we just had to look after each other and could ski in our tempo. When the marks of the winter route stopped, we had to go downhill through a thick forest, which was kind of a challenge for me. I decided to take off my skis and walk down, because I didn’t want to bump into the trees. Barely after the others, we arrived at the cosy DNT hut “Berdalsbu” (976.1 MASL).
In total, we have skied 14km this day. We cooked together, dried (and burnt!) our clothes, played games and had nice conversations.
Proud Maike with her burnt socks. Learning outcome: Don’t put the socks directly on the stovepipe! 😉
Day 3: We slept long, enjoyed our breakfast and cleaned the hut together.
Our group in the cozy hut “Berdalsbu” before the descent.
The DNT Hut “Berdalsbu” – situated nicely on a little hill and thus allows a nice view over the valley.
The day’s march was really easy, because the prepared scooter track was gently going downhill. Still I couldn’t prevent of felling once…
Me falling down the slope.
Gently skiing down to Berdalen.
Also, the weather and the snow conditions were again really nice. You could see that we all were quite happy about this and felt comfortable while skiing downwards through a forested area.
Maike tries to “kill” johanna with an icicle.
At the very end of our route (6km) we sat together in the sun and had lunch. We all were kind of relieved to be able to have managed this trip. While some of us had to wait for the bus, we jumped in our car, which we had have parked in Berdalen two days before, and drove back to Kristiansand.
My learning outcome: Although this trip wasn’t difficult with regard to orientation, it was demanding in physical and mental manner. This trip taught me to not only adapt to different weather and ground conditions, but also to bear up against really miserable conditions and don’t become discouraged.