Abortive Ice- Remember your helmet!

Well the presentation seemed to be a success. I was possibly helped by the fact that the assessors may not have understood everything that I said, nor are familiar with the subject. The question session was wonderfully short!

This picture is to show how much snow has fallen here over the last 2 weeks. Loads and loads. Unfortunately a thaw has set in with sleet and rain- meaning that the snow depth is less than it was 2 days ago! Despite the adverse weather Martin and I still went out in search of something smooth and icy.

What we found was looked awesome and was wet, cruddy and was falling apart as we watched it! This is Foss A near Langstein, a '2 pitch route with steep bits' As Martin had forgotten his helmet and his boots didn't fit his crampons (no toe welt) I suggested we leave leading for another day. After an abortive attempt to set up a top rope we wandered along the cliff to go and have a look at Foss B. This 500m journey took well over an hour, wading through deep wet snow and backtracking whenever we found ourselves in untenable postions on the cliff! On the way we stumbled across a 200 m section of steep slabs, corners, aretes and cracks that looked as if it had been designed with climbers in mind. This will be a great area to develope when the thousands of other, better, potential areas have been climbed out. Circa 3010. There is so much rock around here and this is not a very craggy or mountainous area!

A cracking crack for a crack crack climber - No Apologies!!!!

We eventually arrived at Foss B and found another wet and cruddy semi-frozen waterfall.

At the base of this dripping jem I found some very odd looking ice. It was entirely full of cracks, as if it had been made from safety ice- like safety glass- and had had a knock. Or as if it had been smashed into a thousand shards, then during the night Santa's elves- out of work due to the recession- had stuck it all back together. Whatever the cause of this peculiar structure was, the ice was beautiful. And very weak. I could snap arm thick icicles between my hands.

Tomorrow Martin and I plan to head for falls at a higher altitude that are further inland towards Sweden, to hopefully escape the thaw.

I am willing my gloves to dry as I write..

CRoWing about not a lot, really.

I have been working on a presentation on access rights in the UK today. This presentation will be assessed for one part of the studies I am doing in Levanger, the part I call 'the theory bit'. Several interesting comparisons have come up during my research.

In England, excluding Scotland and Wales, the public now has the right to roam on access land, which totals 940,000 hectares. This is just over 7% of the total land of England. In Norway, the public have nearly untrammelled access to any land that is not residential or agricultural. This gives a right to roam on around 95% of the land. During the winter the public has the right to pass over farmland that is frozen or covered in snow- another 3%.


The CRoW Act allows the English public to walk, climb and birdwatch on access land. Activites that are not permitted are:

Driving or riding any vehicle
Using a vessel or sailboard on any non-tidal water
Having with you any animal other than a dog
Lighting or tending a fire
Intentionally killing or disturbing any wildlife
Intentionally damaging or destroying any eggs, nests or plants
Feeding livestock,
Bathing in any non-tidal water
Hunting, shooting or fishing
Using a metal detector,
Obstructing the flow of any drain or watercourse
Neglecting to shut any gate, except where it is intended to be left open,
Engaging in any organised games, or in camping, hang-gliding or para-gliding
Engaging in any activity which is organised or undertaken (whether by him or her or another) for any commercial purpose.

It is to be noted that the list of activities the public are not permitted to do is far larger than the list of permitted activities. Did you know that on a right-of-way you may only stop to 'have lunch or admire the view'?

Using the words of the Swedish Environment Protection Agency, the basic principle of Sweden's right of public access is 'Do not disturb, do not destroy.' After reading the pamphlet this organisation has produced, this principle is elaborated to:

Respect others privacy, camp anywhere for no more than 24 hours as long as it is not in someone's backyard, take your litter home, do not take anything that has economic value- trees, crops, bark, acorns(animal feed)- do not hunt or fish unless it is in the sea or permisson has been granted. You may camp, swim, pick berries and perform a host of other activities including travelling by boat on lakes, watercourses and the sea.

Ah, River Access.

In the UK access is granted, often under restrictive conditions, to 2% of England's waterways. When I describe this to my Norwegian friends they look at me with incomprehension. They ask "does the landowner own the water also?" In Norway and Sweden you may paddle on any waterway. I think this applies to most of Europe too. Click here for a link to the River Access Uk campain and get involved. Scroll halfway down the page and log your support. Write to your MP. Talk to landowners and fishermen.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." Ghandi.

After several hours of writing, researching and realising that the English access situation really boils my piss, I felt that I needed some fresh air. I checked the temperature outside- around freezing- waxed my borrowed skis and headed out for a few hours. With all the snow that has fallen here lately- the most consistent below freezing temps and snowfall for 15 years- it was possible to start skiing right from the front door. I headed off down the road and was soon lost in the rhythms of classic cross country technique. I followed my nose down the road out of Levanger for 30 mins, remaining within boundaries, trammelled by the edges of life. Then... I remembered that I could ski almost wherever I wanted, as long as I kept away from homes and buildings. At the next opportunity I simply turned right and was away over the fields, through 6 to 8 inches of heavy powder. I felt nervous with this new-found freedom. I wasn't on a right of way. Surely someone was going to step out and shout at me, turn me around, mayby let fly a barrel of bird-shot over my head.

Flakes cold on my face. Swish swish, swish swish. No fences. White infinity. Freedom.

For you Chris, blue skies and snow!

Today the Friluftsliv class went off piste! We headed up to the local hills and set off between the pines through acres of fluffy white powder. The sky was blue, the snow deep and endless and, well, it was awesome. We headed off around the side of a hill, steadily climbing all the while.





This is pretty hard work for a novice and I was soon stripped down to a thermal and fleece. When Eivind, the lecturer, asked me if I was cold I looked at him in astonishment. Couldn't he see the snow melting in a large circle around me as I pumped out the equivalent heat of a small power station?


Lunch was taken at the civilised time of 12.00 in a sheltered spot. I learnt a few more words for sky, clouds and sun and persuaded Tone to give me some wood. We headed back via the top of the hill we had been circling, which meant a long and scary traverse across hard snow/ice before a wonderful descent through knee deep powder. This skiing lark is alright!

Catching Up

I have been so busy lately that I seem to have had no time to blog! this is a good thing as being busy invloves things like Telemark skiing and ice climbing!


So whats been happening? Last week the class and I spent 3 days at a small ski resort called Meraker. We were learning to Telemark, which has to be the technique of the Gods. When it works it feels like you are gliding through silk and the feeling of flow as you shift weight from one foot to another is immensly satisfying. Then you return to earth with a bump as you deck it and get a face full of snow.

I was so busy concentrating on learning the technique that I didn't take any pics of the slopes. Here are a few taken in the cabin we shared.
'

At the weekend the weather was pretty crap, heavy snow and strong wind, and I was fairly shattered from skiing. So when Gudmund suggested a leisurely afternoon of pulling on plastic in Trondheim I accepted. After 3 hours of sending problems that included a swinging start from hanging rings, a 2 feet upside down hang, a 5 foot dyno and various other kooky tricky problems I was properly knackered. So we returned to Gudmund's with the idea of watching a 'classic' film by Jim Jarmusch, Down By Law, and having an early end to the day. At 1.30 in the morning after many beers, some whisky and a 'few' hands of Vingt-et-un I staggered home and slept like a log.
This is an odd pic I took inside the wall. I'm not sure what settings I had fiddled with, or if the marks are dust specks, dirt on the lens or ghosts. A few others pics I have taken also have these marks, but never in the same places. Weird!
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The 2 feet upside down hang.

Ice in Lundadalen.

Last weekend, the 7th and 8th February, I had my second internet date. Edvard had described himself as an ‘old fossil’ but had been climbing ice for around 8 years. He was 50, rotund and was wearing a pair of glasses with only one lens. His car was full of a wide ranging collection of crap. Goggles, spilled cinnamon, beer cans and spanners competed for space on a floor that hadn’t seen a Hoover. Ever. His clothing was battered and the crampon holes in his trousers were covered in swathes of gaffer tape. The heating in his car didn’t work and it was -12 deg C!

We stopped at a supermarket before leaving town to pick up supplies and I very nearly did a runner there and then. However I had nothing else to do for the weekend and Edvard had mentioned unclimbed routes to be had.

Lundadalen is a small steep sided river valley off the E6 south of Trondheim. One side of the valley holds a number of short ice routes. We climbed 3 routes on the first day, Edvard led the first and thought it was WI4, I had the second at WI3 with a turfy top-out and Edvard led the last of the day and again thought it was WI4.

The campsite for the night was a short walk away. We arrived at an overhang after 15 minutes of walking through deep snow between silent pines. A cave extended under the overhang and gave a flat spot for a bivvy. I got a fire going and dinner was reheated Bolognese and pasta flavoured by wood smoke, followed by 12 hours sleep. Marvellous

After a late start we returned to Lundadalen and climbed the last route of the weekend. This was a lovely 60m WI4 route that we climbed in 2 pitches. The start was a steep curtain that made some rather disconcerting noises. Whenever a thinner section was struck we could hear chunks of ice falling off behind it and rattling down into an unseen void. Thankfully Ed had this lead. He also led the second pitch, which looked easy enough but got steadily harder before finishing up a vertical 4 metre section of hollow sounding but solid enough ice.
The train home was crowded and noisy which helped me stay awake enough to get off at the right stop. It had snowed heavily over the weekend in Levanger and my walk home through noiseless white streets added a touch of the sublime to an awesome weekend.

Skileik- Skiplay

Today was skiplay day. Want to know what skiplay is? Watch this:

In an attempt to bring together 2 rough and ready skills, skiing and video editing, I bring you Skileik - The Begining.

Fridge cake, tiffin, biscuit cake- whatever you call it it still tastes damn good!

This has got to be one of the easiest cakes to make. I owe the recipe to Bob, cheers mate!






300g biscuits- I think Hobnobs are the mutsnuts, others prefer Rich Tea.
200g marg or butter.
50g sugar.
2 tbsp golden syrup or honey.
50g cocoa.
I sometimes add sultanas and glace cherries and occsionally rice crispies. One day soon I will experiment with adding chopped mars bar! Bob is a purist and sticks to biscuits only.

Melt marg, sugar and golden syrup in a large pan.
Bash the biscuits to bits. I find using a rolling pin is quite satisfying.
Add cocoa to the gloop and stir around for a bit.
Mix the biscuits and gloop together.
Squash mix into a tin, frying pan, anything. I have even used an ampty orange juice carton when I made this in my van. Squash it down real hard.


Leave to set somewhere cold, until it's set.

Eat. If you're worried about how many calories it has in it, rest assured there's loads. Top tip- do some exercise either before or after eating this or any other cake.

Ekne ice clattering

On Saturday I went to a crag called Ekne with Gudmund and his partner Kirsten. Ekne is a crag with 3 main walls and literally hundreds of unexplored boulders of huge size, a partially developed climber's heaven. The aim was to try to climb a line that goes at UK 6c in the summer; now it was full of ice and looked like fun.

This picture is taken from the top of the Overveggan or Upper Wall. A spectacular location.

The route started with an ice covered ledge-which I'm stood on in the pic below-above head height with a niche above that. The hard moves came from trying to get out of the niche and established on the ice smear on the wall above it. An essential icicle gave front point placements that made this move 'possible' you can see it by my left shoulder.

Below you can see the highest point I got too. I had a really good placement for one axe. So good that when my feet and the other axe popped I couldn’t get it out and as my fingers uncurled I
let go, leaving it stuck in the smear!

Under our enthusiastic booting the important icicle rapidly got shorter and shorter until there was nothing left. As this coincided with pumped forearms we called it a day.