~The route ~

The first of our student organised trips involved planning and executing our own cross country ski tour. I had a small group of six which included five girls; Maike, Jo, Janna, Frankie, myself and one boy; Tom (poor guy). With only a few days notice to plan, we decided on a 45.2km tour starting in Hauliseter heading South to Hovden. According to the DNT (the Norwegian Trekking Association) the route should take 3 days and is graded as demanding, meant for ‘experienced mountain people’. As near beginners to cross country skiing and newbies to overnight touring, the route certainly challenged us. The purpose of this trip was to familiarise ourselves with the weight of carrying several days worth of equipment/food on our backs while skiing – which we soon found made life ten times more difficult. We were also expected to camp for at least two nights and acquaint with what it is like to do this for more than one night in a row. The trips aim should ultimately have increased our skiing and navigating skills.

~ Day 1 ~

The first day would be spent travelling to Haukeliseter by car and various buses. We would stay one cosy night in the DNT’s fabulous Haukeliseter Fjellstue before heading into the wilderness! As soon as we arrived I was amazed by the beauty of the place; sitting at 1000 meters altitude, gateway to the famous Hardangervidda and at the foot of lake Ståvatn (completely frozen and snow covered at this time of course), the lodge was an amazing place to begin one of my most favourite adventures as of yet.

The area we were in was called Haukelifjell, around four hours north of Kristiansand and located in the area of Vinje. Its terrain is very mountainous, though being already so high at altitude the mountains seemed like islands floating in a snowy sea. Due to it being the height of winter we sadly did not notice any local flora, though we did see on two occasions wild reindeer, which according to locals is a rare and special sighting. Though the area seemed devoid of wildlife we also saw the odd hare track and even a couple of birds which I guessed to be ptarmigan.

After bags had been dropped, we had a quick bite and used the remaining light to ski around the area. We were able to eye ball our route in good conditions which was useful when nav-ing in the inclement weather the following day.

~ Day 2 ~

We’re off! Into the snowy abyss, with help of the marked trail we began early the next morning. Our aim was to make it to the first lake ‘Ingelsvatn’ and set up camp there. The going was extremely slow in the beginning as we had to get used to the weight of our rucksacks and varying terrain. In the beginning we were only making around 2km per hour, by the end this increased to nearly 4km. We were feeling particularly strong this day so continued past the first lake that we originally planned to camp at and onto the second with the idea that we would be closer to the next DNT hut should anything serious happen during the night.

Once crossed Ingelsvatn we came to a small bealach at the top of Langevatn. This for me was a sight like I’d never seen before. It didn’t seem real and felt like I had landed on the moon. Unfortunately the picture will never do it justice.

After descending onto the lake it a cold breeze made it apparent that we would in fact be in a more sheltered spot to camp back up on the bealach. Up on the bealach we had much debate on where to camp, the area was in a slight terrain trap and we didn’t want to risk being avalanched in the night. This careful consideration would serve us well as we could see a large snow dumping on one of the slopes nearby in the morning.

Similar to my camping experience in Finse, I further learnt how much longer everything takes in the cold and snow. Stamping the snow to compact it suitable for tent pitching, putting the tent together with thick gloves on, organising our sleeping things, cooking and having to boil the snow for water are all things that took an incredible amount of time. When its -15 or so everything has to be done as fast and efficiently also to avoid loosing all feeling in the extremities. I found several times that I was so tired and cold I just wanted to give up and stop moving so much and had to almost give myself a brain slap as I knew if I did this it would have serious consequences.

~ Day 3 ~

We skied down onto Langevatn. Once crossed, the going to Holmavatnhytta was tough as the winds picked upend the ground was considerably more undulating. We stopped for lunch at the hut before embarking on a tough slog over Holmavatn itself. The snow was deep and hard to break through so we all took it in turns to break trail.The aim was to reach Sloaros, however we camped a few kilometres short as it was soon to be dark and we still wanted the challenge of camping two nights in a row and knew we would inevitably use the hut if we were right next to it.

The night reached -20C, one of the most tough for myself. One group member even suffered frost nip in the toes as we had to wait so long to boil snow into water. I stayed outside last to boil water and became horrifically cold but luckily still okay. From this I learnt how important it is that each group member states their needs and is selfish in the sense that they look after themselves. It is most important to look after yourself first then worry about others. If you don’t then you become a liability to the others.

~ Day 4 ~

We packed up quickly in the morning and quickly skied the last few kilometres to Slaorus DNT hut. While we could have passed the hut and finished the route that day we decided to extend it and make the most of the weather and beautiful environment. So day 4 became a rest day, enjoying hut life, sun bathing, a small tour around and practicing downhill techniques until the sun went down. i began to appreciate how nice it is to take time over trips and to also relax.

~ Day 5 ~

The most difficult day terrain wise. Steep uphill, undulating ground and extremely steep downhill made for an interesting end to the trip! Furthermore we no longer had the way marked out by sticks so this put our navigation to the test! The end leg of the journey involved an extremely steep and icy descent where we had to tack a lot. Once down the most steep section we had probably the most enjoyable part of the whole trip. We were gliding in and out of the trees, through fresh powder, feeling in control with the sun beating down. Pure bliss!

~ Equipment ~

Due to careful consideration and planning I personally didn’t have many issues when it came to equipment except perhaps bringing too many spare layers. My biggest issue is that I still have not figured out how not to get a wet sleeping bag. I usually use a very high quality bivvy bag but end up getting wet from condensation created by my body heat. Without the bivvy, I get frost on top of the sleeping bag. A loose loose situation and one Im not sure how to resolve.

In terms of group equipment, one of the group members tents was not suitable for the conditions and they were kept up worried that it wouldn’t make it through the night. After this I think we all appreciated the importance of knowing your own kit and its limits. Even though we brought enough gas canisters to last near 2 weeks, only one would work on the coldest night where we experienced about -20C. Everyone had run out of fluids and we had to wait hours to melt snow. In future I would firstly not stay outside to wait for the snow, instead do it from the warmth of the sleeping bag and save energy trying to stay warm. Secondly, I will also be making a much greater effort to protect the gas and keep it warm to ensure it works when needed!

Other learning points were to not bring so many clothes. Even with -20 degrees I still never needed nearly as many socks and thermals than I brought – all weight that could have been left behind! Building a snow wall around our tents also kept us occupied and warm during the night.

~ Nutrition ~

I had a good balance of nutrition on this trip that kept me fuelled through the long days. Planning food was difficult knowing anything with water content would freeze.  Good food moves included bringing apricots – they never freeze and provide good levels of sugar and fibre. I also baked my own cereal bars using dried fruits, oats, nuts and chocolate. Though they were heavy they were a great source of energy and never froze, also a great deal cheaper and filling compared to those of the super markets. Cous cous with instant soup added to boiling water also made for a great filling and warm lunch. For me knackebrod (crisp bread) was grim and unfulfilling, its upside is that it doesn’t freeze but its possible to protect sandwiches which are far more enjoyable. Biggest mistake in food choices was to bring wet lentils, they of course froze and ‘bloody lentils’ became a common saying throughout the days.

~ Shelters ~

Our shelter for two of four nights was our tent. This was okay but cold. Having a tent specifically designed for winter was incredibly useful, especially the ground flaps for piling snow, this kept the wind out keeping us warmer. I learnt the importance of ventilating the tent as failure to do so can result in a lot of ice inside due to condensation! We also made sure that ice in the inner tent was wiped from the inside to prevent it getting wet when packed away.

~ Coping with Equipment ~

In general I felt that I coped very well carrying all the necessary equipment. There were few items that I brought that weren’t necessary and I did well to ski with the heavy pack. I like everyone else struggled to keep balanced during downhill sections. Standing up after a fall was even more challenging which stressed how important it is to equalise weight within the rucksack. Perhaps the only thing i would have done different was to not carry so much fluid as this was incredibly heavy. I could have quite easily only used a flask as water in drink bottles froze very easily.

All in in all this was an incredible and challenging trip which I learnt greatly from. Our plan complied with the practical outcome. Our aim was to practice skiing with heavy packs and camp for more than one night in a row. We carried four days worth of equipment, camped two nights in a row and practiced our ski skills with heavy packs in tricky terrain that none of us had had any previous experience of. We journeys 45 kilometres and became close as a group. According to Tuckmans theory of group dynamics, I would say that we had arrived at the performing stage. We supported each other in every way possible, not once had a fall out and successfully completed what we set out to do.