Assignment 3: Hovden Ski Trip

After a successful and learning intensive basic course in Cross-country Skiing and a less successful self-organized winter trip, it was time for something bigger. The trip had to be postponed by quite some weeks, because of the corona situation, as well as the weather conditions. After waiting for a couple of weeks, more snow was promised, less rain forecasted, and sort of good temperatures were to be expected as well. After finally having the green light, we made our way to Hovden. Though this year’s trip would look quite different as we would be situated in a Hut for the first days, rather then tents.

The first day consisted off sorting our gear out and moving into our place situated close to the Hovden ski resort. The living groups were done 0at random. By that point most of us knew each other so there was no uncomfortable tension between us, while sorting out who sleeps were. Even though the group building process of smaller groups in the first months were obvious. The same people and small groups tried to move in together, the “freelancers” moved in the spaces between. This means not that much could happen, regarding to group dynamics as it was not mixed up enough. It was still nice to live together with some of the group members that I have not had a lot of contact with. The same day we went on a first short ski trip. We were divided by our accommodation situations, and Len took my group on the first orientation skiing. In a group of 12, were discovered the local area and navigated across frozen lakes and the hillside. It was a very nice skiing experience as it was very noticeable for me that I made lots of improvements in my cross-country skiing. By changing “Leaders” we got to wake up our navigating and orientating skills. On the way we also discovered multiple animal tracks that we “analysed” together. Group communication was good, regarding being on the first day, so all the important information got carried along. This was very important as a group size of 12 people brings its challenges. The plan for the following the day, the Mountain trip, was presented/talked about in the evening.

Everybody was most excited about the second day. The second was planned as the big mountain trip day. The Outdoor Education group was split into two groups of 12. The “Leader” Tim took my group this time. As it were the same people as the day before, the group feeling was good, and everybody was looking forward to the day ahead. It was also very interesting to work with Tim, as I did not have the opportunity before, and his teaching methods are different. The day brought its challenges, mostly though through snow conditions and the right choice of wax/klister. We reached our planned summit, which was very important for the feel of the group. Everybody was reassured of their ability to ski and fight through hardships. Throughout the day we saw a wild herd of reindeer as well as other animal tracks. By stopping or passing on the information everybody in the group was involved. As usual we stopped at points of interest or necessary spots to figure out where to go next. By discussing our next steps in the backcountry, with the help of our maps and compass, that skill was trained even more. On the way down, as well as up, skiing techniques did not comer too short and everybody learned something new or were able to get better. By the end of the tour, we urged Tim to tell us more about weather phenomena and how to read it. We basically got a weather lecture in the backcountry which was very informative and helpful for any other kind of adventure ahead of me.

Day three was the “snowhole day”. After scouting the location on the first day, we led the entire group to the mountainside situated right behind our accommodation. The day consisted of learning and trying methods of how to build a winter bivouac, in form of a snowhole. As well as taking layers off and on and off and on, while digging lots of snow. Being separated in multiple groups with 4-5 people made the work really hands on and communication worked at its best. After around 5-6 hours of building the snowholes were ready and safe. After dinner and moving into our frosty bed, everybody fell asleep fast, not worrying too much and trusting our construction. The dynamics in the snowhole were great. Everybody was happy with the days work and everybody reassured one another or comforted if a group member was worried about the integrity of the construction.

The last major day of our Ski Trip consisted of packing up our night camp and heading straight to the mountains ahead. One more Ski tour was planned. As the wind was horrendous, we picked out an interesting couloir for our ascend and decent with possible summiting of the ridge line. Everybody did very well, and we succeeded in that plan. On the way we got important and useful input about situational awareness and avalanche risk. The views from the top were amazing and the downhill ride, lots of fun, informative but also challenging. After we returned to our base, gliding the way back nice and easy, we rested for a couple of hours before heading back out again. One more night in an improvised bivouac was planned. We set of to the local forest area, around 400m off our accommodation, split into groups of three and started picking out a spot for our camp. It was built only with either natural materials, snow or trees and tarps, ropes. After initial struggles were overcome and a sort of save, makeshift shelter was built, everybody came together a campfire to sit together, eat and share stories. The whole trip was an amazing opportunity to learn lots of new things about skiing and survival and coping in winter. In the topic of leadership, it can be said that everybody got their fair share of knowledge and opportunity of training. The trip helped, glue the group more together and getting to know each other better.

Sadly, the groups were not mixed enough to prevent certain people of always being in the same group together. This is obviously made more difficult because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation.