From the 5th (Monday) to 9th (Friday) of February we went to Troll Active Center in Syrtveit on our Basic Ski Course. Syrteveit is close to Evje which is an hour drive away from Kristiansand. The area around Troll Active provides lots of different opportunities for outdoor activities because it is surrounded by forests, hills and there is a river on the other side of the road. The Troll Active Center includes one main building where we had our evening lectures and many smaller cabins to live. Furthermore there is an outdoor climbing wall, a dry room for the skies and clothes and an assembly cabin with a fire place in the middle we used for our Ceilidh on our last evening. Our class stayed in two smaller cabins for six people and one bigger cabin for 12 people where we cooked, ate and set together in the evening. On our first skiing day we used the area next to Troll Active and for the other days we went to Hogas which is an area with lots of prepared skiing tracks kilometers starting with 1,5km loop up to 20 km routes. Because of the many flat parts with frozen lakes and some little mountains Hogas also offers many off-slope skiing possibilities.
For our skiing courses we were divided into two groups. One group was supervised by Len and the other group was taken by Tim the owner of Troll Active. 11 other students and I were in Tim’s group. The structure of the days were almost every day the same. We had skiing course from 9:30 to 16:00 o’clock and in the evening we had a lecture about different topics like waxing, first aid and how to pack a daypack.
After everyone had settled down in his cabin we started our first skiing lesson on Monday. On the first day we just used the area right behind our cabins at Troll Active. We learned all the basic information and techniques about cross country skis like how to put on the skis, how to stand on them, how to turn and move. In the beginning it felt quite different and unstable to stand on cross country skis compared to stand on downhill skis. The boots felt quite loose on the bindings because they are only fixed to the front of the skis and the boots are quite comfortable more like the usual hiking boots. Furthermore the cross country skis are longer and thinner than downhill skis. I have never done cross country skiing before and I haven’t done a lot of downhill skiing the last years either, so I had to get used to the new equipment at first. Tim always showed us a new technique and then he gave us time to dry it out by ourselves. So he firstly used a frontal teaching method where he explained and demonstrated everything step by step and then gave us some “learning by doing/trying” time. For the students who were more experienced or picked up techniques faster Tim always had different variations like different turning degrees (90°, 180°, 360°, etc.). The “playing” time was a good possibility for the slower students to practice their basic skiing skills. We started with how to turn on the skis and moved on to how to walk on our skis, first like normal walking and then sliding. Firstly we didn’t use our ski poles and later we started to use them. Furthermore we learned different techniques on how to walk up a hill with going sideward or using fishbone. Tim got to know our names really quickly so he could give individual feedback straight from the beginning. For getting used to our equipment and the new techniques we played several games like racing against each other’s while using various ways of moving like backwards, running or in tandems. After that Tim went with us a little bit off-slope in unprepared snow. This showed us the different feeling of skiing in prepared and unprepared snow. For the rest of the day we went to an area with a little hill, so we could play around and practice on our downhill skiing skills. In the evening we had a lecture with Tim about how to wax the skis. There I learned that in cross country skiing, the wax is used for giving them more grip and it depends on the temperature on which wax (colour) to use. Tim recommended us to put on green wax (harder wax) over the whole ski as a base and one or two layers of blue wax in the middle. I tried it out the other day and it worked well for me in our conditions which were quite cold.
On Tuesday we went to Hogas for our cross country skiing course. In the morning we went on unprepared snow to a quite hilly area for practicing more our down- and uphill skills. Tim always tried to keep us motivated by playing different games with us. For example we rode downhill all together at the same time or we searched for the person who found the riskiest spot for riding downhill. In the afternoon we went for a little snow tour through off-slope areas. We mainly went on lakes and did some little hills for practicing our up- and downhill skills. Tim told us that we always should go in a line with the “veileader” at the front because his duty is to do the orienteering and direct the group to the right destination. Moreover the veileader knows the area the best and he can warn the group in advance if there are any dangers appearing. As a veileader you always should try out the thickness of the ice on lakes with you ski pole. The group also should walk on the side of the lake, walk behind each other and with a little distance between each other, especially when you aren’t sure about the thickness of the ice. While doing the tour we also did a little bit of animal tracking. We saw some beaver dens as well as some fox and hare paw prints. Furthermore Tim taught us about the usual vegetation of this area in Norway. On this afternoon I could improve my off-slope skills a lot. In the evening we had a lecture with Len about First Aid Kit. We all had to bring our personal First Aid Kit and then we discussed together about what is important to have in there. I learned that it is really important that you put all your personal medications and needs in there as well as a tampon can be used for a lot of different occasions.
On Wednesday we went to Hogas again. At first Tim showed us the different technique of classical and freestyle cross country skiing (e.g. double pole and diagonal stride). After this we did a big ski tour up a mountain peak (Himmelnaya). This tour was quite exhausting for most of the group and the weather conditions weren’t the best. It was quite cloudy and windy. While doing the tour we also practiced some orienteering in the snowy area. I’m not really experienced in orienteering yet, so in the beginning it was quite difficult to orientate in this winter landscape with not having a lot of natural features to orientate at. After this skiing day most of us were quite tired and exhausted as it were the first time for most of us going up a bigger hill. In the evening we had a lecture with Thomas about how to pack your daypack. Everybody had to bring and show one special item of his personal daypack.
On Thursday we went to an area in between Trollactive and Hogas. First we did a ski tour up a hill and after lunch we went to a smaller hill for getting to know the Telemark technique. Tim first demonstrated the technique and then we practiced by ourselves. Starting with easy exercises and going on until we tried out the proper Telemark technique. I really liked the way how Tim taught us the new technique but in my opinion it would have been better to start in the morning with learning a new technique and doing the tour in the afternoon. Because after lunch I was already quite exhausted, so it was really difficult to get to know a new technique and I had the feeling that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way in our group. I also personally think this area wasn’t as good as Hogas. You haven’t had as many different opportunities there for instance in Hogas you will find slopes and off-piste areas for every abilities. In the evening we made a Ceilidh. Every nationality had to present something traditional of their countries culture. This was a fun night in a cozy surrounding and I had the feeling it helped bonding our group even more together than it already is.
On Friday we went back to Hogas. At first we spit our group in to two smaller ones. One group went with Tim and did some avalanche theory as well trying out to find a hidden backpack with a transceiver. The other group had time to play around on a little hill like practicing the Telemark technique. After a while we switched to the other activity. After lunch we got the task to build an emergency shelter in 30 minutes. In our group we had some communication problems in the beginning, so we didn’t define our aim probably and each person didn’t really know what to do. Finally we made a plan and starting to build a shelter under a tree. We used the branches as a roof and made it more stable with snow and our skis. Next to the entrance we built a little snow wall to protect from wind. In the end we haven’t had enough time to finish it. The shelter of the other group was amazing. They had the same idea than our group and enough time to make it really stable and finish it. Our whole group (12 people) fitted in there and it was quite cozy and warm. This was the best day of the week for me. I learned a lot of new things. Especially the emergency shelter building and the avalanche course were completely new to me and I get to know a lot of new interesting things which I can use really well for my upcoming outdoor experiences in winter times.
All in all this week was a lot of fun for me. My motivation was quite high all the time and I could improve my cross country skiing skills a lot.