Imminent Ice

For the first time since arriving in Norway I have been close to climbable ice. It felt good.

Gudmund is quite possibly the most active local climber. He may well be the only local climber. We met through the internet and had our first date today. It went very well, we found we share all sorts of interests, including diy, good coffee, self employment and blondes.

Picture an intense, skinny bloke in jeans and a singlet, surrounded by piles of wood and insulation. Stubble and tatoos. The door was open when I called round and a shouted 'hallo, come in' met my knock. Cheese and mustard on fresh bread and real good coffee were offered and consumed and we nattered about climbing, carpenters, training and work.

It seems that to place a person you have to know what they do for a living. In some ways people are far more than their work, yet it does provide a view into their lives. Of especial interest is the way they talk about work. Is it with passion or derision? Do they follow a dream or are they conforming? Or simply making ends meet. Do they have commitments that they choose to meet through unrewarding toil? Does work trap a person or release them?

Soon we were driving out to visit the local crag, Ekne. Ekne is more of an area than a crag. There are 4 developed areas and more walls hidden amongst the trees. I saw 2 of these areas today. The last has an difficult looking crack sprouting a drooping blob of ice halfway up. The plan is to return at the weekend and top-rope this frozen offering. No pics yet.

Before we reached the main area of Ekne we stopped underneath a long spread of steep rock to have a look at some possible ice lines.

This corner (above) looks like it would go but the protection is doubtful. The answer? Ab in an bolt it! Sport ice!

This is a line that would take screws, unfortunatly the start is unformed and a top-out improbable. Gudmund is no longer wearing a singlet. Not cool; Freezing!

This line may go and be protectable.

"Is this Ekne I asked?" "No" came the answer, "all of this is unclimbed. Nobody comes here. The crag is a bit further on..." All the routes at Ekne were bolted by Gudmund and there are around 150 routes with plenty more lines to go at. And no climbers! Heaven. The pic below shows the base of the first wall which also give plenty of hard bouldering problems.

The next shot is of the upper wall or overveggan(sp?) It is in the middle left of the pic, on the skyline.

Tian Shan!

The clouds were coloured a beautiful pink by the sunrise this morning. I was in a hurry so only took enough time to take 3 pics. I think this is the best.

Following an add in UKC I had applied to join an expedition going to the Tian Shan in central Asia. On Friday I was offered a place and well, I felt the only sensible answer was YES!. The aim of the exped is best expressed as:

"to undertake quality exploratory mountaineering in remote areas; ideally an area where we can get a mix of technical and classic first ascents - so that we can cater to all aspects of the team. It is not about how high we can go; it's about finding an engaging route/mountain that just 'needs' to be done because it has an interesting and feasible(ish) line. So we will travel to an area with quality long rock routes, mixed possibilities and the adventure of the unknown; and climb (lots). "

The team is comprised of 8 people at the moment, including a doctor from Australia, an Army mountaineering instructor from NZ and a young student who is studying in Oxford. Now it also has an 'old' student from Ambleside. Sally Brown is or brave leader and it is her drive that has got the idea up and running. She advertised for new members because she has lost other team members to wives. Luckily I do not have a wife, nor do I plan on getting one soon.

The particular area we are going to focus on is the Borkoldoy range. Here are some pics and a google map. We fly out in early August and return early September. The weather is generally stable at this time of year.

Awesome! Needles to say I am fairly excited by the idea and will keep you up to date with developments.

The knife is very nearly finished...

Throwing rocks at the sunset.

I needed some fresh air and exercise after a day inside making a sheath for my knife. Close to where I live is a natural harbour. I was walking around this when I decided to stop to take some pictures of the sunset, using a mini-tripod this time. My friend Ben from Eagle River, Alaska had reminded me about using the timer to eliminate shake when activating the shutter. I had taken a few shots when I was struck by an idea- if I could coincide throwing a rock into the water with taking a picture then I could get some interesting shots.

I never did complete the walk.

The ultimate picture requires a near perfect co-ordination between 3 factors- the camera, the rock and the stopwatch. This is a challenge for a man who regularly falls off the pavement/over his feet/off chairs! The camera is consistent, 13 seconds from pressing the button to taking the picture. The rock is more variable, averaging 2.5 seconds flight before splashdown. The co-ordination between pressing the buttons on camera and stopwatch (left hand and right hand together!) got harder as my fingers got colder, and it wasn’t easy to begin with. But probably the most challenging part was throwing the rock in the right direction!

After taking 35 shots I was freezing but calmer and ready to call it quits. Here are five of the best:

Cross Country #2

Today Ragnar, a 63 year old man who skis at great speed with perfect technique, took me up to the Valley of the Horse for some cross country skiing. This area is in the hills overlooking Levanger. Ragnar is a very patient teacher with a lot of experience. The weather was windy and cool giving a wind-chill factor of around minus 5? This was my second time out on the skis.
We skied down a prepared track for around 7 km. I was practicing my diagonal classic technique. The scenery was so stunning that I would often be distracted from what my skis were doing, nearly resulting in multiple pile-ups on several occasions. Luckily most of the other skiers had the ability to avoid my flailing, stumbling figure as I struggled to retain my balance.

After 7 km we came to a hut, owned by the local ski club. We stopped here for a break and a coffee. The snow under Ragnar’s skis is around a metre deep.



This shot is taken from outside the hut looking North East. To the right of the flag pole a mountain is just visible. This is the highest point locally and seems to have potential winter routes on its North West flank. This definitely needs to be explored. Ski in with kit in a pulk, camp over 2 nights and see what there is to go at. Tbc…

After a brew we skiied back via another route, 14km in all. My legs are pleasantly sore, a marked change from the days after my first time out last week. Then, I felt like my inner thighs had been brutally beaten by a deperate man wielding a large stick. Kind of like an alternative take on the torture scene from Casino Royale. How Bond drove his DB7 after that I don't know..

Winter Activities- Knife making!

On Monday I met my classmates for the Winter Activites part of the program of study that has been arranged here for me. They are a cheerfull bunch of people, 13 old timers who started in September and 4 newbies including yours truly. They are a close knit group but have been very welcoming to all us newbies, including organising an ' Onsdagspils me klassen' for tomorrow which I fear roughly translates as 'Lets see how much these new folk can drink!'

Everyone is looking forward to our 3 skiing trips, 1 mountain exped and 1 sea kayak exped. Each trip lasts 3 to 5 days. Its a hard life...

Our classes have been based on learning how to make a knife and putting that knowledge into use. This includes the use of big electric bandsaws and other power tools and today I witnessed Anders nearly gaining some experiential learning in why you should not let your thumb get too close to the blade. The safety attitude here is quite different to the UK, there are few guards on the machines and no-one is made to wear safety glasses, hard hats or fluorescent jackets in the workshop. People are expected to think for themselves and be carefull. Some things I agree with, some I am uncomfortable with.

Knife making: yesterday we watched a blacksmith make a new blade in a traditional fashion at a local crafts museum. No longer cutting edge technology perhaps. We each bought a handmade blade; different designs were on offer, some having over 250 layers of metal in the blade and prices ranged from £15 to over £100. I bought a 'cheap' one. Today we were taught by another craftsman. His passion was for making handles. He would bid for rare pieces of Mexican desert Ironwood which can go for £££ and Musk Ox horn, again superbucks. I didn't understand his talk as it was all in Norwegian but Erik translated some of it for me. I also discovered from Erik what the general class sense of humour was like- very low and dirty. Seems I may fit in.

After the talk we set off on making our own handles. The pics below show the development of my knife. The handle is made out of Pear tree wood, a very hard hardwood which has been dried for 10 years before use. It was an absolute pleasure to work with this wood, an almost spiritual experience.

The idea takes shape..

Hlafway there...now for the 3 hours of sanding...

That's good enough.

Another beautifull sunrise

The views were stunning this morning as I walked in to college. I have tried to capture the moment with a few photos taken from the first bridge on the route. They are ok but could be better. Next time I will use a tripod to get a steadier platform and see if that does justice to the show.

This next one is really shaky (not the effects of the night before I hasten to add!) but I like the way it looks.

The one below is also shaky but again I like the effect.

Trees

Silver birch

A broad-leaved leopard

Motionless

Trees

Trees in wind
Seek freedom from soil
Toss their hair

Sunrise at 9.30am

It has been cold enough to freeze the river here at sea level.

The colours of the sunrise yesterday were amazing.

A whirlwind week

The last few days have been a whirlwind of meeting people, finding places and trying to get a student card. I have met Nils and Eivind, my lecturers for Batchelor Friluftsliv and Outdoor Recreation respectively; Terje who is the head of School, Lars and Anser who are classmates and a host of other folk whose names fell out of my head immediately.
Learning new names is always a challenge which becomes almost impossible for me when the names are new words.

I have found the bank, the boat shed, library, my way home, and several shops. My favourite shop is a supermarket on my route to college; it provides free coffee and biscuits to all shoppers! Co-op take note! The supermarkets are large but do not contain a lot. But they do have wide aisles - perhaps they are expecting an epidemic of obesity in the near future? Fish is popular and fruit and veg is limited.This is a view of my apartment building, Byborg A. My room looks into this area, it is on the top floor about halfway between the balconys.

The college is about 20 minutes walk from my apartment block. The route crosses 2 bridges so I am keeping a good look out for trolls. The college buildings are on the shore of Trondheimsfjord. The air often has great clarity and the views are stunning.

A potential hiding place for trolls!The route to college.

I have been given a pair of cross country skis and tomorrow I will go with a bloke -whose name I cannot remember- into the mountains to learn how to use them. He has also offered me the use of a bike if I fix it up and oil the chain etc. People have generally been very friendly and helpful which is superb, particularly as I cannot yet speak their language.

The college buildings overlook Trondheimsfjord and so have outstanding views of a seascape with hills in the background. The views are on a par with those from Hilltop in Ambleside but are wilder in appearance.
The picture above shows the offices of the lecturing staff- the small brown buildings- and the one below is of one of the main college buildings.


It is currently minus 9 degress celcius outside! Brrr!

Where to stay in Oslo

I arrived in Levanger yesterday afternoon and was met at the station by Nils and Margarita Vikander. Nils is the organiser for the Norwegian end of the exchange and is teaching a module on Friluftsliv. They made me feel very welcome and in a frenetic burst of activity showed me to my accommodation before giving me a quick tour of the town and helping me buy some food.

The journey from Windermere was pretty smooth. Windermere- Euston-Tottenham Vale- Stansted Airport- Oslo Gardemon. Negotiating the escalators on the tube was probably the hardest part. Despite the escalators being fairly short, people were still determined to push past me and my 2 huge bags, speeding their arrival at the bottom by 20 seconds at the most! They must have been late for something really important. Or do people in London simply move faster, have a faster pace of life. Do city folk die younger than their country cousins, having been worn out by the speedy pace?

I arrived in Oslo at 11.45pm and had to wait until 8.30am for a train to Levanger. Top sleeping spot in Oslo Gardemon Airport- follow your nose towards the trains (tog), take a lift down to the parking level and sneak in behind the escalator bank. Toilets are just behind you and the disabled loo has hot and cold water and a full length mirror so you can check your sartorial elegance has not been ruffled by the travelling. The space under the escalators is warm, clean and dimly lit and the noise it makes is oddly soporific, a sort of hypnotic rumble and murmur. You can wedge your bags between yourself and the underside of the escalator so if someone tries to get your kit they can’t help but wake you up. I got out my thermarest and sleeping bag and had at least 6 hours of undisturbed sleep.

The coffee in the airport was as good as any in Alaska (lots better than most in the UK) and being smiled at by pretty blondes first thing in the morning is a good way to start the day. More helpfull blondes directed me to the train station which is accessed directly from the airport. The difference in temperature between inside the airport and the staion platform was a real shock, possibly over 20*C drop.

The views from the train were awesome- and endless succession of snow covered hills, frozen rivers and birch and spruce trees. At its highest elevation the train travelled at 1100 metres above sea level through a landscape several feet deep in snow. We could see snow being blown off the tops of 2000+ metre high mountains nearby, with crenellated ridges reaching to their windswept summits from the valley floor. A landscape to loose yourself in, with icefalls and crags everywhere.

My accommodation here is clean and warm; I share a hallway, lots of storage and a bathroom with A.Nother from Belgium who is not yet here. I have been provided with cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery and Margarita left a Ferrero Rocher chocolate on my desk!

Tomorrow is the first day of college; no lessons planned, only a meeting with Nils to find out more about each other. There are only 2 other students studying Friluftsliv, an unusually low number, but this means the language barrier will be easily overcome. Nils asked me if I was interested in a week long workshop on Alpine skiing. Hmmm….hard choice this one!