Given free hand to combine Skiing Field Trip 2 and the much recommended Holmenkollen Skiing Festival my group decided on doing that to also save on transportation costs. We headed from Haukeliseter to Holmenkollen north of Oslo on Thursday and had a beautiful drive. Especially the mountains of the Hardangervidda left of us towering up 1000m from the valley we were driving in were really impressive. In Holmenkollen we saw the athletes doing racing and ski-jumping from very close which was also quite breathtaking athleticism.
From Thursday until Monday we camped out in the woods with me spending three nights in the hammock. I discovered that my combination of Therma-Rest Xtherm + Mountain Equipment Glacier 1000, silk liner and my Danish Bushcraft bivvy as quite alight weight combination of sleeping kit can take up to -10 degrees Celsius even in the hammock if set up properly. Amazing stuff to be able to spend nights out at that temperature in the hammock especially when getting awoken by the sun. One night I did bother warming up my Nalgene bottle with close-to boiling water which kept my sleeping bag even warmer for about 5-6 hours. 9/10 would definitely do that again as soon as it drops below -7ish.
Last thing that I need to note down from that trip is, that when reigniting a fire on the next day that has still got little heat, follow this order:
1. collect fresh/dry/definitely lightable birch bark/material.
2. dig up embers and give them little oxygen to see how much is left.
3. pile that together and place birch bark on top, which will rinkle
4. gently give oxygen until it’s hot enough to catch a flame
5. enjoy a nice morning fire