This winter we thought
we’d have lots of time to rediscover the joys of skiing, both downhill and
cross-country. What with one thing and another, events have conspired against
us and we’ve hardly done any skiing at all. January was dark and most of February
was spent in Canada .
March seemed to be our last chance to get serious if we were going to do it.
There certainly wasn’t a shortage of snow as it snowed almost every day all
month.
I have previously
mentioned the downhill ski trips to Snowman Resort (Målselv Fjellandsby) with
Celia. We had bought a three-day lift ticket so were eager to get our third
visit in. We set out in early March in a car Celia had borrowed from a friend.
We were enjoying the drive to the resort in the clear morning and it promised a
great day. We were almost there when all the dashboard lights lit up. Not sure
what was happening we pulled over and tried a few things. The car started again
and the lights had gone away, so, we continued on our journey rather nervously.
I kept looking at how narrow the road was. There weren’t any shoulders due to
the amount of snow that had been banked steeply on either side. After about
10km, I started to relax, we were almost there. Then, the car started to cough
and splutter and we lost power. We were on a curve and there was just no way to
get off the road. We rounded the corner and just coasted into the only bus stop
lay-by for miles. Relief!
Luckily, Celia speaks
Norwegian so we were able to call a tow truck. While waiting for the tow truck
driver to call us back we both really needed to find a washroom. We were in the
middle of nowhere. It was impossible to leave the road due to the deep snow. We
thought if we opened the car door into the snowbank it would provide enough
privacy and that’s what we did. As we’re both crouched down, each behind a door,
the phone rings. I answer and hand it to Celia. As she’s multi-tasking talking
to the driver while continuing to crouch, we notice over our shoulders that a
car is pulling out of the driveway right beside us. So much for our privacy.
The driver pulls up and now Celia has three tasks in process: talking to the driveway
car driver to determine where we are, relaying our location to the tow truck
driver, all while she is two inches off the ground with her knickers down. I
start to laugh and all three of us (the car driver was a middle-aged lady
luckily) end up in gales of laughter. The tow truck driver on the phone couldn’t
figure out what was so funny. That was the last bit of fun for that day. We
were towed into the nearest town where we had to leave the car for repairs. We
got the bus back to Tromsø and although we were only a couple of miles from the
resort, there was no skiing to be had that day.
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| Celia and our disabled car. |
We haven’t done much
cross-country skiing over the last few years, but, used to enjoy it although it
can be really hard work. When we found out that there was a cross-country ski
trail running the full length of Tromsøya (the island on which Tromsø is
located) and also ski trails through the surrounding mountains we thought we’d
like to take it up again. We had noticed used skis in the Salvation Army store
earlier. We should have bought them while we had the chance. Now, in March,
there just weren’t any to be had. G was able to borrow a set from a friend.
I found a store that rented them. We decided to try the hut-to-hut network in
the mountains above Tromsø. It was to be a three night outing, staying at a
mountain hut each night.
The mountain huts
belong to the Norwegian Trekking Association (www.turistforeningen.no/english).
This is an amazing organization that has been in existence for 160 years. They
manage a network of 20,000km! of marked hiking trails, 7,000km of cross-country ski trails and 460
cabins which criss-cross the entire country. They also have guided tours. The
cabins range from fully staffed lodges that provide meals to very basic huts
that provide emergency shelter only. The cabins above Tromsø are self-service.
This means they are fully equipped with beds, kitchens/cookware, wood stoves
and firewood. You only need to bring sleeping bags and food. Cabin prices are
very reasonable, only about $40 if you are a member and not much more if you
aren’t. With wonderful facilities such as this, it’s no wonder the Norwegians
love the outdoor life so much.
So, with our borrowed
and rented equipment, including a borrowed backpack and one pack of our own, we
set off. The weather forecast indicated light snow and winds with grey skies
and temperatures around 0 for the next nine days. We were hoping for a few
clear patches in this dismal forecast. We left late as we’d been told the first
hut was only a few hours of easy skiing away. We took the bus to the start
point and set off. Our map reading and compass skills were rusty and we ended
up skiing quite a bit out of our way, first up above the treeline and then down
to the river. We had a GPS, but, of course this only indicates a straight line
to the destination, it doesn’t show you the best way through. The hut is next
to the river so we thought we could use it as a ‘handrail’ to guide us there,
so, downhill we went. We ended up bushwhacking through dense brush and it
wasn’t fun. We decided to retrace our steps back up the hill. By now it was
getting on for 17:00 with
only about an hour’s daylight left. Our pack had also started to disintegrate
at the shoulder straps. We had nothing to repair it with and if it broke we’d
be in big trouble. Things were getting a little serious as we didn’t want to be
out there after dark.
About half-way back up
the hill, over to the right, I saw a rather unnatural looking squared-off ridge
where it looked like the snow had been cut off. We didn’t see this on the way
down. Looking to the left, it became immediately obvious that there was a cut
through the trees! So, we had a decision to make, left to the hut which must be
just a mile or so through the cut, or, back to the road to try again another
day. Due to the equipment problems, we decided for the known path back to the
road and arrived just after dark. It was lucky we made this choice for we found
out that the weather forecast had been changed at the last minute and we were
now in for a big snowstorm and high winds the next day. We also found out that
there is a groomer which drives from Tromsø once a week across the ski trail!
All you have to do is follow its path. There was so much fresh snow and no
tracks, so, we didn’t see the path and weren’t looking for it as we weren’t
aware it existed. Anyway, we felt a bit like fools, but, better safe than
sorry. We are planning to try again in April. People tell us that skiing in the
mountains is possible even in May/June. We’ll probably be too busy with the
boat then, but, we would like to see and experience the huts. Will keep you
posted…
When we do get up to
the huts it will probably look a lot like the following photos. These were
taken from the cable car running up the side of the mountain which overlooks
the boat. The forecast for this day was heavy snow. As you can see, it was a
glorious day without a flake in sight and we took full advantage of it. Being
able to just ‘seize the day’ is one of the joys of being retired and more in
control of your own time.
On the sailing front,
we have ordered our new mainsail from Mack Sails in Florida . It will be a fully-battened main,
with a ‘Strong Track’ track slide system and a set of lazyjacks. We have measured
up for our new toilet and will be ordering it this week. We’re just going with
a basic, manual Jabsco as you can get these anywhere and will therefore be easy
to replace/repair in future. Now all we need is some better weather to get
started on our boat jobs. There is still tons of snow on the boat and it’s a
little too cold to be working outside. We’ve been told that a hot summer’s day
in Tromsø is about 15C, so, maybe the wait for warmer weather will be a too
long one. We need to get started soon as we’d like to be underway sometime in
June.
After much studying of
various charts, books and pilots, we have refined our sailing plans and have
decided that our goal for this year’s cruise is Barcelona , Spain Calais ,
through Paris
and out into the Med near Marseilles
with a final sprint across to Barcelona .
The mast will need to come down for the canal trip. We also need to stick with
the main canals. At 1.8 metres water draught and 3.2 metres air draught, Black
Sheep II is at the maximum dimensions. We expect we might touch bottom in a few
places, but, as long as there isn’t a drought this summer we should be able to squeeze
through. It is surely a better choice than going around the outside and across
the Bay of Biscay in October when the
conditions can get really bad.
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