Marcus' Norway Trip - February 2007.
In February this year I managed to grab a few days ski touring in Norway. I met up with Harvey at Manchester Airport and was alarmed at the size of my pack compared to his. Mine being considerably heavier than his. We planned to meet up with Ian, but typical of him he was late and decided to make a detour to Oslo via Heathrow. Harvey and I stocked up on Jameson’s Whiskey and flew into Oslo. From here we caught the train to Kongsvoll about 5 hours north of Oslo. We ran up a huge bill on our evening meal, and then hit the sack. Ian polled up at 4am the next morning. Typical!
We set off for the Reinheim hut, a wee 5 hour ski. The day started fine, but as it progressed, and we went uphill, the weather went down hill with the wind in our faces. It was a bit chilly to say the least. We arrived at the hut just ahead of the Germans, and got our beach towels out on the sun beds just in case. They realized they had been beaten to the best spot so decided to camp outside. Mad! The Dutch did join us however and did all the washing up. Suckers!
We had planned to ski up Snohetta, at 2286m it’s the biggest mountain in the area. The weather was a bit grim, so we stayed in and played cards and spent the day feeding logs to the wood burner. At this point Harvey got the taste for Reindeer Bollocks and wanted them with every meal! Personally I found them disgusting. Likewise the breakfast routine was set. Porridge, made with water and no salt or sugar and a few raisins. For Ian it was just like home, but after 9 days I found, for some reason I was going off it.
After another night in the Reinheim hut, the weather improved a little and we managed to bag Snohetta. We had a nice ski down and I set a trend in which I managed to do at least one head plant to finish the day. We had Reindeer balls for tea again. Yuck.
The next morning after our porridge we set off for the Amotdalshytta, with the plan of skiing some of the mountains in the local area. We did not meet anybody on the way, likewise we had the hut to ourselves. This was good as, having had Reindeer balls for the last three days, the team wind was pretty bad! From Amotdalshytta we skied up Skuleggen with the aim of reaching Storskrmten. Unfortunately the weather got the best of us, and after a tea stop in the team “bothy bag” we turned around and skied back to the hut. We found some fantastic power and I managed a superb head plant to keep up my 100% record.
From Amotdalshytta we skied to a small two man hut at Loennechenbau. What a fantastic setting by the lake. We just hoped nobody else turned up as it was a bit small! As there where only two beds we drew straws, and Harvey lost. We settled down for the night with the door wedged open as the air supply was getting a little feted.
The tour was coming to an end as we set of on the homeward leg a compete white out. From the Reinheim hut we skied back to Kongsvall and caught the train to Oslo and home. A fantastic trip to a wonderful part of the world. It's what skiing is all about.
