Saturday 28 February 2009

Saturday

Good morning. 7AM: -19 Celsius, light breeze, clear sky. What a morning! Just went out for a quick sunrise skiing and it was just fantastic, colourful sky and cold condition. Snow coming later today and probably continues tomorrow on.

Friday 27 February 2009

Friday

Good morning. 8AM: Colder start, -12 Celsius, partly cloudy (just had a snow shower a few minutes ago), light breeze. It seems like we are going to have another day with good visibility and mixed light condition. Next few days seems stable and colder (blue condition) and we might get a low pressure system moving in with stronger wind and more snow.

Thursday 26 February 2009

Thursday

Good morning. 8AM: -9 Celsius, clear sky with a few clouds, light breeze. Looks like a nice day. In the last few days the maximum temperatures were close to or even above zero (max. +2,6 Celsius). Fortunately the snow is holding well and we had not had much problem with waxing either (still on blue extra or violet).

Wednesday 25 February 2009

Wednesday (Outer Circle)

Good morning. 9AM: -11 Celsius, light air, cloudy, good visibility. Expecting light snow falls later on today. Most of the trails are cut and in good condition.

Today was another Outer Circle testing day. Two of us went out to test the trails and ourselves around our beautiful area. The weather started as it was forecasted: good visibility, partly cloudy, then around 10:30 it changed to very low visibility in the higher areas and warmer. Svartfjell seemed to be covered again with some snow, just enough to have no trails under our skis. Indre Uksan was a total "white out" with no sign of the tracks. Otherwise it was a fun day out and good training and we managed it in 4:47 .

Tuesday 24 February 2009

Tuesday

Good morning. 8AM: -7 Celsius, light air, cloudy. Yesterday we reached 0 Celsius, but managed to stay there and under. Next few days seem very similar, colder morning and warming up during the day (maybe some light snow falls. Current snow depth: around 80cm

Monday 23 February 2009

Monday

Good morning. 8AM: -3 Celsius, gentle breeze, partly cloudy. Seems like we have another warm spell (yesterday max temperature was -1 Celsius), but nothing to worry about yet, since the snow is in good condition. Even blue wax was giving enough grip yesterday, but we might end up on blue extra/violet today. Just a picture from our morning trip to Indre Uksan area, looking towards the Rondane National Park.

Sunday 22 February 2009

Sunday

Good morning. 8AM: -7 Celsius, light air, foggy but fair visibility. We had about 7cm of snow in the last 24hours (13cm was forecasted), trails are being cut at the moment. Still on blue wax condition. I have to say it has been a great season(touch wood) we have only used green or blue wax (a few days violet), so lets just keep this tradition.

Saturday 21 February 2009

"Traditional Norwegian Food Buffet"



Just a speciality of Venabu Fjellhotell. Every Wednesday evening we have a buffet dinner when we serve traditional food: all kinds of cold meat (reindeer, elk, etc.), special dishes, fish and delicious deserts (icecream with cloudberry sauce, creams, etc.)

Masaplasen tour on Friday



Just a delayed report. We had a good tour on Friday from Venabu Fjellhotell to Masaplasen (about 25km). The forecast looked stable: good visibility, no snow, light air. After about 5km we saw a nice curtain of "white out" coming behind us from the Rondane area. Seemed like the weather played its own rules once again and the white out swallowed us with fog and snow. We spent the next 1 hour in the sour cream, following the bamboo sticks carefully until the sun broke through the low stratus clouds and we were back in sunny condition. Close to Remma we spotted a large herd of reindeers in the distance (north of Remma), but unfortunately I could not a take a good enough picture to publish it here. Last 5kms were just fantastic, closer to sunset, beautiful scenery through the pineforrests of Oksendalen.

Snowy Saturday

Good morning. Late update: 9AM: -9 Celsius, light air, snowing. Trails are being prepared for the weekend and next week. Expecting more snow today, maybe up to 10cm. Last 72 hours we had about 5cm extra layer. 11:30 AM: -8 Celsius, clearing, partly cloudy, sun is breaking through.

Friday 20 February 2009

Friday

Good morning. 8AM: -10 Celsius, light air, overcast, good visibility. Today we have a tour on the Trolloypa to Masaplasen. We ended with approx. 2,5cm of snow yesterday (6cm was forecasted). Today seems stable with no extra snow and tomorrow looks snowy with some stronger wind (I am still not sure which part will be real).

Thursday 19 February 2009

Thursday (Jonnhalt - Forbundsfjell Tour)



We had a nice tour today to Jonnhalt Gjesteseter, which is an old farm and guest house on the south east part of Venabygdfjellet. The place was just lovely with all the snow covering it. After leaving the farm we headed back to Forbundsfjell and climbed it from the south, which is probably the most sensible option, since it is a steep climb. We had limited visibility, but great day out.

8AM: Good morning. Back on winter temperature after being scared by a warmer spell (-1 Celsius yesterday afternoon). -9 Celsius, light air,foggy, limited visibility, light snowfall. According to the forecast we could have about another 5-6cm of snow today, but looking at the last day`s weather it is unlikely (this is just my opinion).

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Wednesday


Good morning. 9AM: -5 Celsius, light air, low clouds. Seems like we have some warmer weather ahead of us, but still subzero temperatures.

Tuesday 17 February 2009

Myafallet



Foggy day behind us with some great memories. We had a nice ski tour today around Kyrkjegardsfjellet and a mixed ski/ snowshoe tour to Myafallet. Since there has been a lot of moisture in the air, the trees look more beautiful with their white blanket on them.
Temperature is still holding around -10 Celsius, but seems like it will be warmer in the next few days. Not much fresh snow today (even it was forecasted), just about 1cm, more expected towards the weekend, but the weather maps look very complicated, so I guess it would be hard to predict what happens in the next few days. Trails are in good condition.

Tuesday

Good morning. 9AM: -12 Celsius, light breeze, foggy, limited visibility. We have a couple of snowshoe tours today to Myafallet.

Monday 16 February 2009

Around Trabeliafjellet



Nice day out again on freshly cut trails. Little bit less visibility, but at least we were not just looking into the distance. We had more wind and some snow flakes in our way, but nothing could stop us from enjoying the tour. ...and we were not the only people out there who had the same experience...

Monday

Good morning. 8AM: -10 Celsius, light air, light snowfall, lower clouds, fair visibility. Looking at the forecast we are expecting snow in the next few days, probably not a huge amount.

Sunday 15 February 2009

Sunday

Good morning. 8AM: -11 Celsius, light snow fall, light air, overcast, good visibility. Freshly cut trails: Trabeliafjellet, Svartfjellet.

Saturday 14 February 2009

Saturday

Good morning. Late update at 11AM: -8 Celsius, light breeze, sunny with few clouds around.

Friday 13 February 2009

Myafallet tour

We had a nice tour to Myafallet. The weather was getting warmer today and reached -6 Celsius, so we were wondering about waxing for the next few days. We might start using blue extra or violet soon.

Friday

Good morning. 8AM: -11 Celsius, light breeze, sunny, but clouds are coming in slowly.

Thursday 12 February 2009

Masaplasen Tour



What a day again. Sunny, good snow, great views and some interesting things on the way to Masaplasen. Actually our trip was going on the old Trolloypa route with an additional climb on Stulshogdin close to Dorfallet. Since Trolloype has not been cut we cut our own trails, which was not so difficult today (mainly hard snow, about 25km). On the way up to Stulshogdin we found a carcass of a reindeer. Seemed about 2-3 weeks old, half burried in the snow and half eaten by local carnivores. Lot of fur and parts were scattered around the site, but it looked like the reindeer died by natural cause, since it was in a sleeping position. Later on we found a piece of reindeer skin, but nothing else around. Once again we enjoyed our last minutes in the beautiful sunset.

Thursday

Good morning. This is my 100th post on our blog. 8AM: -13 Celsius, calm, clear sky-few clouds around. All the tracks have been cut (full outer circle). Today we have a tour to Masaplasen (25km, mainly off piste, gentle tour on the Trolloypa).

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Wednesday

Good morning. 8AM: -20 Celsius, clear and sunny sky, light air. Another superb day ahead. All trails have been cut.

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Family winter holiday



What can I say? Wish I was a child again and learn how to ski at that age. We are all amazed when we see families out on the snow enjoying all kinds of winter activities (skiing, sledging, playing in the snow and commuting in pulkas). Let`s not forget our skills and enjoying our winters.

Svabudalen Tour



What a wonderful day! We had an amazing time, enjoying the crispy morning, -19 Celsius, bit heavy snow condition, little head wind, blue and sunny sky. This time we missed out on the reindeers, but everything was going as it was planned and we completed the 25km route in about 8 hours (mainly off piste) coming back for sunset.

Clear and cold Tuesday

Good morning. -19 Celsius, clear sky, light air. Last night was fantastic with the full Moon shining around, we could easily go out for a ski tour without a headtorch. Stable weather for a few more days with cold mornings. We have another tour today to Svabudalen Valley where we saw the reindeers last time.

Monday 9 February 2009

Full Moon

Sunset

Nice day



Just a quick update after a lovely morning. Sunny, few clouds are coming in, feels warm, already -8Celsius, light breeze. We had a tour this morning, it started colder and warmed up quick, but it is always great to take layers off. Almost all the trails have been cut again.

Sunny Monday

Good morning. 8AM: -17 Celsius, light breeze(from east), good visibility. Most of the trails have been cut yesterday and the rest will be prepared today and tomorrow. Weather forecast: stable weather, colder mornings, maybe sub -20`s, few more sunny days.