Monday the 4th of February was the first day of our basic backcountry skiing course. Due to lots of snow on the weekend before we had already tried out our Skis in the local Area Jegersberg where they make a Loype in these kind of weather conditions. The first time we went it was actually going quite well despite a great balancing deficit on most of our group. After scraping off all the old wax and waxing our Skis for the first time the skiing experience to our surprise seemed to drastically worsen as we were slipping all over the place not getting any grip. Thus I wasn’t overly excited for skiing a whole week in Evje.
After a good hours drive through snow and rain up to Evje where the TrollAktiv Outdoor Center is located we got a couple of hours to settle in to be ready on skis at 1 pm. After finding out that our second instructor Tim is in fact taller than Len I went with the tall group to start off on a flat area with really basic skiing technique. After covering different ways of jumping and turning we just played around in a small area with and without poles slowly getting a hang of how to glide with every step and balance out the body on the Skis. As I have quite a bit of experience in Downhill Skiing I was used to two planks on my feet though I was surprised by how different/much harder the skiing experience was an backcountry Skis for the moment.
The following hours included lots of balancing exercises (one legged, telemark position, alternating these, “tip-toing”, changing directions) and we even went up on a nearby hill to practice the walking and turning uphill in deep snow. Every bit of the day was supported by our instructor Tim who gave tips and especially corrected knee and angle flexion and a dynamic but straight body posture with the arms in front of the body to support the balance. What I found most helpful for myself was to take slow and controlled turns while “tacking” up the hill to stop yourself from slipping backwards. Also I learned to just take my own line in the deep snow to slow down a great deal and thus to be able to take on sections a lot steeper than expected.
The consensus of the day was that backcountry skiing would be very different to what I had already learned in Downhill Skiing but that following the instructions and support of Len and Tim promised great improvements for the upcoming week. Also the pessimistic attitude to the sport that I had gained from my experience in Jegersberg was all gone as with the right waxing (blue for -1 – -7) that we did beforehand there was no struggle for grip which made the well instructed skiing lessons even more enjoyable.
In the evening we attended a lecture held by Tim the founder and owner of TrollAktiv which has developed into one of the best Outdoor Centres of Norway throughout 25 years of hard work. The lecture took about 60 minutes and took us through the topic of waxing your Skis right. We learned about the three waxes in our SWIX tour pack and why to prefer the blue wax because of its big temperature range. Also we learned that instead of using gliding wax on the whole ski, which we did use on our first waxing of ours skis one can also use 2 base layers of green wax (hard wax -8 – -15) as gliding wax with 3 thin layers of blue xtra. Another occurrence that we would got taught about and would encounter later on in the week was how hard it is to find the right wax around 0 degrees Celsius. It has got something to do with the drastic change of the shape of the snow crystals and last resort in this case can be the use of Klister which should be avoided otherwise as it is really hard to get off and isn’t good for the skis if used a lot.
This first day in Evje was already a very informative and eventful day that got everybody excited for the rest of the week.
On our second day at TrollAktiv we went to the nearby Cross-Counrty Skiing resort in the area of Haagås. At about negative 3 to negative 6 degrees two layers of blue wax that I had put on the night before worked very well. All the others had very good grip as well which enabled us to walk up a lot steeper hills than the day before without using the “herringbone”-technique. Since it was a stunner of a day with not many clouds sunscreen was very much necessary. Even though Tim suggested sunglasses for everybody who had some with them I wore my ski goggles. Unlike the expectation they did not make me feel too hot and were the perfect choice for a second day on the Skis as they protected me as an ambitious beginner from the sun and the faceplants.
I was again on a group with Tim as an instructor and we weighted a lot of the day on descends and technique also learning different breaking techniques. The first one we learned was the plowing breaking technique, which unlike in downhill skiing requires more balance and strength at lower speeds already as with the half-bindings and loose boots it is harder to transfer all your breaking power into the straight in to the ski. This technique is also only useful at relatively slow speeds and is not to be used in deeper snow as it kind of loses its effect. Another probably more elegant and better way of breaking is not as simple as it sounds: turning.
Turning to change directions so that you don’t go down the hill but parallel to it can be done in combination with the plowing technique by putting weight on the outside foot and sliding in the other one for the turn. It can also be done by a sort of parallel turn popping the bodyweight out of your knees to take the turn preferable on a knoll. That is because opposed to a ditch the skis have the least contact to the slope and are easier to turn. Yet another way to turn is one in combination with the Telemark-position. The Telemark-position on the backcountryski in detail goes as follows: kneel down while keeping around 50% of your bodyweight on each foot, stay upright in your torso with your hands little more than hipwidth apart in front of you for balance reasons. This position will allow you to stabilize a straight descend but also make long or sharp turns (depending on your speed and skill). It also allows for a smoother fall because of the low center of gravity and looks pretty badass if mastered. For a left corner put your right foot forward and start turning your upper body slightly to follow with hips and lower body to make the turn. Through alternating your feet on a descend you can take a couple of turns in the Telemark-position.
In almost all breaking and turning techniques we learned an upright and strong upper body, hands in front with a flexible and dynamic lower body working knees and ankles was the key to controlled skiing. Also descending in a new track, especially if there was approx. more than 10cm of new snow was significantly slower than following tracks of the group down and allowed for a safe and sound descend even on hills that looked far too steep just a day ago.
Being on Tims group with all his knowledge about the area allowed for a great allround experience for a first full day on backcountryskis. Side Note: Pack shovel/water bottle inside day pack so there’s no way of losing it!
The evening lecture was held by Thomas, our young Danish Outdoor Instructor about Day Packs. Since we had talked about it thoroughly in class before it was a good refreshment of knowledge. One essential item that we were all missing was an emergency reflector band that can be seen from more than 10km away.
On Wednesday we stayed in the same group but changed the instructor to Thomas. We started the day off at around 10 o clock in Haagås again parting with the rest of the group into a cloudy, slightly sub-zero degree day. First up was another technique lesson where we tried to focus on gliding on the ski. First without then with poles we tried to make the ski work for us which already over 50m made obvious what kind of endurance sport Cross-country skiing actually is when done correctly and efficiently. Afterwards we went to a nearby hill that wasn’t all too steep to keep practicing on our descends and turning onpiste as well as offpiste for a drop in. All that concentrated practice and more advice from Thomas was really working well for everybody in the group. Another new thing to add today was maybe that it was essential to stay flexible in knees and ankles when going down steep into a ditch to not lose balance.
After a ski onpiste for a couple of km we picked a spot for an improvised emergency shelter. We decided to dig out an area beneath two big trees as it provided protection from the wind and precipitation and had enough room for all of us to sit of even lay (if needed) on our selfmade bench. Digging in more than half a meter of snow was a little exhausting but went really quick when dividing the work between 6 of us. It took us only 10 minutes to dig out a reasonably high wall of snow and enough room to shelter all of us for a break. Since we were given 25 minutes by Thomas I decided to collect birch bark from a nearby birch tree that was already peeling itself back heaps. Even though it had been snowing and frosty temperatures for days the birch bark was somewhere between deep-frozen and wind-dried which looked promising for a fire. I took my time (7-10 minutes) collecting about 4 hands full of birch bark while some of the others gathered some sticks of various sizes off our shelter-tree. Even though a few of those were quite wet the the fire I started with tumble dryer fluff and birch bark burned hot enough to get a quick and warm fire going. To be honest this was one of the easiest and quickest fires I have ever made, which surprised me as I had been in much easier conditions before struggling with getting a fire going. The keys to this one I reckon were the following: 1. Digging away as much snow to get a ground base 2. Building a base with finger-sized sticks and birch bark on top 3. Enough very small-thick birch bark to feed the fire in different stages, keep it burning hot to be able to set fire to other (even wet) sticks. 4. Patience in collecting and preparing before lighting the fire.
The time after lunch break we spent repeating what we had learned so far onpiste while also getting some free time to play around in the deep snow with and without skis. This little break held up a good mood and it was great that Thomas allowed us to play around a little bit when he felt we needed to. After that third day we were also able to see medium-great improvement in everybodys skiing technique and general posture and balance as we were starting to get a hang off it and getting comfortable.
Side Note: My layering for most of the week that suited me for all the practice, many stops etc. was 3 ½ layers on top, one on the bottom: woolen top, shirt, thin fleece, soft shell jacket, soft shell pants. As soon as we will get into more of an endurance ski tour or a longer break in a windy place I reckon adjusting is necessary but for Haagås my layers worked sweatless and perfect.
Thursday was a lot different from what we had experienced so far skiing. The plan for the day was announced to be a winter touring day going about 12-13km mostly downhill. Since it was getting warmer throughout the week reaching zero and plus degrees this day the waxing got a lot more complicated and we found our wax not working at all when hitting the piste. Today I was in a group of 8 led by Len who started off with teaching us the skating technique on skis with the help of his junior instructor Ruaridh. This technique is especially helpful in (long) mostly flat stretches of pisted track when the wax isn’t doing the job. Focusing on the right pole movement pushing off every or every second skate and also taking time gliding before changing feet were the helpful instructions that made skating a really fun alternative from now on. Starting off with the herringbone-technique going into a skating movement using both poles at the same time was a good practice.
In hope of not having to herringbone up every little hill we stopped to put two thin layers of red wax on which unfortunately did not grip a lot either as the conditions were just to much of a mix between old and new snow around 0 degrees and therefore unpredictable for wax. When going out in the conditions the use of skins would be advisable. Tim and his group used a last-chance-method on their skis putting red wax on without in a way a leaf arches corking it in which gave them grip.
Nonetheless we carried on navigating on a piste that had been prepared a couple of days ago. 1/3 through Charlotte and I took over the navigating. We encountered that the not-working wax and thus sliding around more than wanted was frustrating a little part of the group. Charlotte and myself were also leading to fast at one point leaving more than a hundred meters between first and last which is a lot too much. After our lunch break I decided to go to the back of the group which ensured the group sticking together. In terms of picking a lunch break spot I got a little stressed because afte we had passed a good that we decided not to pick there was a long stretch without any shelter from the wind. This led to us trying to rush the decision while wanting to involve the group in picking a good lunch spot in this relatively windy area. After making a bad first judgement we carried on for a couple of minutes to find ourselves a nice reasonably sheltered lunch spot well in time that everybody was happy with. When leading a group again in this kind of terrain I would have a closer look at the map in beforehand and make clear decisions on a lunch spot rather early than late (if I don’t know the upcoming terrain) to ensure nobody gets cold or frustrated just by the shear searching for a breaking spot. After all it wasn’t all bad so we carried on with one leader at each end of the group to take a dozen of partly challenging descends on our way to the offpiste bit of our skitour. While most of us were having fun and a great experience getting lots of breaking and turning practice in some struggled for confidence in breaking and turning as they were tearing themselves up on almost every descend and turn. With temporary success we encouraged the ones who struggled more as it was very natural for all of us to not feel overly confident on skis on our 4th day taking into account that our wax hadn’t been working for the whole day.
After a short meetup with the other group we took the right turn off the prepared track for our last about 4km of backcountryskiing to our destination. The mid-thick fog that had been laying upon us until now had turned into snow but since there was only light wind I reckon the weather conditions were still very manageable and enjoyable especially if picking the right number of clothing layers. Having already done a lot of navigation for the day and with Charlotte pushing on at the front none of our group of 8 was questioning when we took a left where we (if reading the map) would have considered to turn right and neither did anybody stop the group when we went past a sign marking a track to our final destination. Fortunately after about 200m it was obvious, that we are on the wrong track going around a lake instead of leading us over a hill into another direction. We checked the map together and quickly found where we were mistaken and tracked back to the signpost where we took a turn onto the right track. This one now was a black run (most difficult and/or steep) which after having skied the whole day was exhausting for a few of the whole group who had caught up by now.
If we would’ve taken more time to have a longer look at the map before turning off the track and just keep going without reevaluating which direction we are going I am quite sure we would have stopped to take the right turn for option 1 (green/easy run) or option 2 (black run) that we then took after backtracking a little. For most of the group taking the black run that hadn’t been prepared for years was very exciting taking us up two big ascends and deep-snow descends. With all the technique we had learned, Len and Tim by our side which didn’t help in the navigating and by taking our own lines for descends I personally felt very safe that we were going to make it even though we were moving very slow in such a big sized group with only a good hour of daylight left. A couple of us were struggling more than others as it indeed was a physically demanding day that you had to have a very resilient mindset for when not feeling comfortable on skis yet.
We reflected upon the day in the evening with somewhat the following conclusions for skitouringdays like these:
1. Prepare for the worst (physically and mentally), hope for the best; avoid a negative mindset and stay positive whatever comes and tries to throw you back.
2. try to save power through letting others break trail instead of pushing through for whatever reason. Communicate if you are struggling as out there it’s hard to read your mind or sometimes even physically hear you. You never know how hard the rest of the day is going to be so save power through teamwork and communication where you can. On the same point; support the struggling skiiers by changing the lead and making decisions for the group if possible and noticing your strengths/abilities could help the group out.
3. Trust your team and instructors and try to take encouragement/encourage and pick up/spread the good mood from/to others even when the day is much harder than expected.
4. Take a break to change layers/drink/eat if needed. Don’t be impatient with getting to the end as it might take longer than you think/hope and will be much more enjoyable when warm and satisfied throughout the journey.
These are just a couple of clues that I think will help to make the next skitour even more enjoyable through preparation, communication and the right mindset. Especially with Len and Tim at our side giving us free choice of where we went until the end I myself felt very safe. Being physically fit and the right layering of clothes definitely helped just as much as a good lunch and the right mindset and mood for the day to keep me and everybody around me smiling until the end of the day, notwithstanding that the weather conditions and route decisions could have been better. To emphasize this again, in this Thursday scenario a cooler head might have ensured the decision to take the easy track. All in all I reckon it was yet another great possibility to test our kit, mental and physical preparation in safe conditions before going at it on our own in the self-organized skiing tours.
Side Note: 2 Sandwiches, 100g Banana bread, 2 Chocolate bars were enough for a 7 hour day with 13km.