Finse, Norway February 2009
From our various points of the UK we descended on Standstead with intuitive precision, arriving within 2 minutes of each other. The battle with the baggage began, checking-in a mass of specialist equipment and personal kit. This included 5 bags of sparkling new skis, a pile of paulks and food for the week. The 12 hour journey to Finse commenced and we settled into excited journey mode, it was good to catch up with everybody particularly Caroline and Carl who we had not seen together since the Cambridge teacher Talkback.
After a long train journey through snow covered Norway (from Oslo to our destination), we eventually arrived in darkness at Finse, a remote hamlet with a railway station (no roads) a hotel and just a few houses. We dragged our mound of equipment 200 metres to our comfortable base for the week.
Refreshed from a welcome rest, the next day we spent the first part of the morning, organising our equipment and ‘tweaking’ our personal kit. We were soon ready to explore the area on our new skis. Early trepidation soon gave way to confident striding as we crossed the frozen lake and headed up towards the heights of a mountain pass. Three hours of rhythmic skiing took us to a superb, pristine high level Col fuelled by cheesy wraps and haribo. Returning via the gentle downhill slopes we were all amazed how well we had developed the cross country techniques, but we were all tired from the 14 kilometre trek. The next day was spent locally on the Finse inclines having fun dashing down the slopes and more importantly making use of Carl’s custom boot fitting service. This consisted of baking our boots in the oven and wearing them tightly buckled for 20 minutes of agony. However, there was wisdom in this endeavour as the boots were now moulded perfectly to our feet.
The highlight of the trip was the overnight expedition. We dragged the paulks up through a stunning, remote valley and made camp in a wild, windy plateau. Our camp craft was tested but we all coped with the difficult -12 degree conditions, thankfully cocooned in several hundred pounds worth of high quality down. Finse’s rugged beauty provided a the most impressive snowy backdrop that brought home the magnificent bleakness of Arctic environments...Greenland began to feel just a little closer in our minds as we tackled with the prospect of our future endeavour. Returning to Finse, we were significantly advanced in our preparation for the Greenland crossing thanks to the considerable input of Carl, Carolyn and Steve. A thoroughly fulfilling trip with many highlights.
From our various points of the UK we descended on Standstead with intuitive precision, arriving within 2 minutes of each other. The battle with the baggage began, checking-in a mass of specialist equipment and personal kit. This included 5 bags of sparkling new skis, a pile of paulks and food for the week. The 12 hour journey to Finse commenced and we settled into excited journey mode, it was good to catch up with everybody particularly Caroline and Carl who we had not seen together since the Cambridge teacher Talkback.
After a long train journey through snow covered Norway (from Oslo to our destination), we eventually arrived in darkness at Finse, a remote hamlet with a railway station (no roads) a hotel and just a few houses. We dragged our mound of equipment 200 metres to our comfortable base for the week.
Refreshed from a welcome rest, the next day we spent the first part of the morning, organising our equipment and ‘tweaking’ our personal kit. We were soon ready to explore the area on our new skis. Early trepidation soon gave way to confident striding as we crossed the frozen lake and headed up towards the heights of a mountain pass. Three hours of rhythmic skiing took us to a superb, pristine high level Col fuelled by cheesy wraps and haribo. Returning via the gentle downhill slopes we were all amazed how well we had developed the cross country techniques, but we were all tired from the 14 kilometre trek. The next day was spent locally on the Finse inclines having fun dashing down the slopes and more importantly making use of Carl’s custom boot fitting service. This consisted of baking our boots in the oven and wearing them tightly buckled for 20 minutes of agony. However, there was wisdom in this endeavour as the boots were now moulded perfectly to our feet.
The highlight of the trip was the overnight expedition. We dragged the paulks up through a stunning, remote valley and made camp in a wild, windy plateau. Our camp craft was tested but we all coped with the difficult -12 degree conditions, thankfully cocooned in several hundred pounds worth of high quality down. Finse’s rugged beauty provided a the most impressive snowy backdrop that brought home the magnificent bleakness of Arctic environments...Greenland began to feel just a little closer in our minds as we tackled with the prospect of our future endeavour. Returning to Finse, we were significantly advanced in our preparation for the Greenland crossing thanks to the considerable input of Carl, Carolyn and Steve. A thoroughly fulfilling trip with many highlights.
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