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Friday 22 February 2008 With James’ car filled to the brim with ski gear and beer that had been chilled in the ‘fridge’ (photo), meaning that it had been put on the balcony to be snowed on overnight, we drove off into the mountains on our way to Hemsedal.
The road was icy and increasingly snowy as we left Oslo and drove to higher altitudes. Light snow was falling and the landscape was just stunning (photos). As night fell we continued driving and the snow became increasingly heavier. With the headlights on, it looked like driving through the opening scene for Star Wars (photo).
After 5 hours of driving, we approached the ski fields of Hemsedal. We could see in the distance the glow of the lights on the ski runs (photo). We drove up to the bottom of the ski run to find that there had been a large amount of snow fall that day and it was still snowing quite heavily. Ploughs were on standby to clear the carpark and cars had been snowed in (photos). It was cold! Brrrrrr!
We collected the keys for the cabin from our kind hosts who were out night-skiing
Road trip !!!
Driving in the snow and ice and then drove around trying to find the cabin. It was difficult to see because it was half way up to the rafters in snow so it took us a couple of attempts to find it. A delicious fettuccini carbonara for dinner was enjoyed while the cold skiers warmed up in the sauna and then rolled in the snow outside. Michael stayed up late doing shots of Jagermeister with the ski crowd (photo) that he wouldn’t regret too much the next morning.
Saturday 23 February 2008 An early wakeup was in order to prepare the gear for morning skiing. We needed to be out on the slopes early before the snow started to melt from the sun. There had been snowfall overnight of 10cm which was fantastic, not just for skiing but because it also made everything outside look so beautiful with a fresh layer (photo). Even the beer fridge had had the thermostat turned down overnight (photo).
We picked up a one-day ski-pass each and then had some fun trying to ride the pommel lift to the slops (photo). The pommel lift is a round disk that you ‘sit’ on with a large stick between your
legs that connects with a spring to the overhead wire. It looks a bit wrong but is quite fun to use. Barbara had a spectacular spill on her first attempt but then managed to get the hang of it thereafter.
The ski-pass system was quite amusing. Each pass was a swipe card which you would carry in your pocket and swipe on a tall gate to let you on the lift. The only pocket that was secure to carry it in is the chest pocket of our jackets. With ski poles in hand, the only way to swipe the pass hands-free is to ‘show the gate a little love’ by rubbing your torso against it! (photo)
James supervised as we fumbled around on the kiddy slopes for a while and when he was satisfied that we weren’t likely to break any limbs he headed up to the advanced runs.
After a short time playing down the bottom we headed up on the chair lift to the cafe which was half way up the mountain to meet the others for lunch. It was cold, windy and snowing lightly up there but the views from outside the cafe were
wonderful (photos). Michael devoured a hamburger for lunch while Barbara samples elk steak with gravy and vegetables - delicious.
With Barbara too nervous to ski down the ‘green slope’ we caught the chairlift back to the bottom, admiring the views on the way down (photo).
Over lunch James had cleverly observed that Michael and I were accidently using each other’s skis so after we had eaten we swapped. This wasn’t a great decision. When we got back down to the beginner slopes Barbara immediately stacked it upon her first attempt. She crawled down the rest of the short run and swapped back the skis with Michael.
Barbara enjoyed the rest of the afternoon skiing on the kiddy slopes, practicing her turns and playing on the mini skip jumps! Michael was a little more adventurous and had a couple of runs down the ‘green slope’ (photos) - very exhausting!
Late in the day we met up with James (photo), skied back to the car and returned to the cabin which had been covered in more snow during the day (photo).
Back at the cabin Michael joined other cold skiers in the sauna and then rolled in
the snow outside - very invigorating! After a lovely spaghetti Bolognese and waffles for dinner Barbara retired for the day and Michael stayed up for more Jagermeister.
Sunday 24 February 2008 Cleaning and packing was the agenda for the morning as everyone was closing up the cabin before going skiing for the day. We, however, were not skiing. We were driving further from Oslo through the countryside for the day with the aim of reaching the fjords.
This was not going to be an easy task as the snow was continuing to fall heavily in the mountains and, accordingly, many of the roads had been closed. Michael also had his first experience driving on the opposite side of the road from Australia and didn’t do too badly considering the conditions - ice, snow, wind (photo).
Not far out of Hemsedal we were stopped at a road block (photo). The road was covered in snow and had been restricted to convoy driving. The plough (photo) would not lead a line of traffic until enough cars had queued so we waited in the car for about one hour. Bored of this, Barbara stepped outside to take photos of
the lovely snow-covered countryside (photos). Unfortunately Barbara was not familiar with the snow conditions. The snow that had fallen was very fine and light but as the sun shines on it through the day a thin crust forms on top making it look solid to walk on. Therefore as soon as Barbara stepped of the side of the road, she broke through the thin crust and fell up past her knees into the snow which then continued to collapse underneath her like quicksand. She squealed and grabbed onto the edge of the road and pulled herself out of the holes in the snow (photo). In shock, Barbara gave up on the photographs and sat cosy and warm back in the car.
Soon after, the convoy began (photo) and continued for around an hour. As we drove, the snow got so deep that the ploughed snow formed high walls on either side of the road and the cabins by the roadside were up to their rafters in fresh snowfall (photo).
When the convoy was no longer necessary we stopped by the roadside to check out a traditional Norwegian wooden church (photos). James parked the car and we trudged ankle
deep in snow to see the beautiful ornate structure - it was well worth the wet boots! (photos)
We continued along the winding mountain roads (photo) past frozen waterfalls (photo) and through the longest tunnel in Europe which stretches for 24.5km. At the half way mark, the tunnel is lit up blue to make it look like the inside of a glacier (photo).
After half an hour in the tunnel we emerged at the other side face with the magnificent fjords of Flam (photos). The fjords are large bodies of water formed by melting glaciers. As we were now at much lower altitude it was no longer snowing and was in fact raining steadily, not surprisingly at the end of winter. Despite the awful weather the fjords were still quite beautiful.
It was getting late so we started heading back through the falling snow, past the snow covered mountains, frozen streams, lakes, more old wooden churches and the occasional strange barn (photos). The Norwegian highway signs also kept us amused during the trip - three guesses what is mean by ‘Piggdek 500m’!
It was a fantastic weekend spent with a great bunch of people in a
beautiful part of the world. Unfortunately it was over and we were on our way back to the lovely city of Oslo...
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