Winter is here

The pure white fun magic is finally here, and at the moment we've got around 35 cm. snow.

The conditions are good and the trails towards Frisketjønn are marked. Trimløypa, Trabelifjell and Kyrkjegardsfjell is also cut.

The temperature is just below 0, and the weather is partly clouded. All together a perfect place to start the skiing season, spend your christmas holiday or celebrate new year.

Few more words

I also thank you all for the great winter season and we hope to see you here next season or even this summer.

End of season!

The winterseason is definately over! No skiconditions in the Venabu area. Some people managed to find places to ski throughout the Easterholiday, some gave up half way. But we had lovely weather and I think people enjoyed their holiday although it was different from what they expected. Some people had brought their bikes, some went walking or jogging along the road, some just enjoyed the sun. There is still a little snow left in the higher areas for those who really, really wants their last early-morning-tour, but they have to start on foot. Thank's for a lovely winterseason!!

Another warm night, +2 Celsius at the coldest, and another warm day, +8 Celsius at 2pm. Skiing is getting more difficult now, to many bare patches and to much water.

Warm days!

Another nice, sunny day, +7 Celsius at 2pm. The snow is melting fast now! More bare patches every day. We said the snow would last until Easter, now we hope it will last throughout the holiday too. We like the warm days, but we hope for colder nights.

Perfect conditions! If you like to get up early, and ski outside the tracks, you should have been here now! In the morning we can ski everywhere, and the hard surface lasts until lunchtime (2 p.m.), after lunch we have to stick to the trails. There are some bare patches, but the ponds we mentioned a few days ago, have dissapeared. We have arranged tours round Veslefjell/cannyon and towards Uksan-Brennflya the last two days.

Big changes

Since last time I wrote we have had big changes i the weather and ski conditions. Sunday and Monday were nice, but too warm, +10 Celsius in the middle of the day. Monday evening it started to rain..... but changed to snow during the night. Today we had a beautiful day, and although a lot of snow has melted, we still have enough left for skiing. The biggest problem is some small ponds that suddenly have appeared and some open streams. We went to Svartfjell today, crossed some streams, had icy and not too good conditions at the highest point of the skitrack and went to the top on foot. We saw some cranes. From now on they forecast cold nights (-2 - -6 Celcius) and warm days (+3 - +7) and nice sunny weather. That means easterconditions!!

Troll skimarathon

The skirace, Troll Skimarathon, 95 km of crosscountryskiing from Venabu to Sjusjøen was arranged today. A nice cold morning with breeze from the north, made the speed high the start. The winner, Håvard Hansen, finished his 95 km at 3:59:45!

Windy

Thursday and Friday was really windy, 12,9 m/s at the most. Some fresh snow made it hard to find the right wax/klister. Temperatures below zero during the night and above zero during the day

Another misty morning, with nice views. Still minus degrees during the night and good skiingconditions. + 6 Celcius in the afternoon at the warmest.

The days are quite varm now, about +5 celsius, but the conditions are still good as long as it is colder than zero during the night. Yesterday started with local mist, then nice and sunny, but windy in the afternoon. We could ski outside the tracks in the morning, if we wanted, but had to stay in the tracks in the afternoon. Today we got 2-3 cm of wet snow. That changed the conditions from"klister" and back to a soft wax. The big discussion these days is: Will there be any snow left for Easter? Lars is sure there will be enough snow at Venabygdsfjellet!!!

Easterconditions

Things can change quickly! After the nice fresh snow and perfect conditions on Friday, we had a foggy and rather warm day yesterday (+5 Celcius). Today it was a bit changing, some local mist, but mostly nice and sunny. The temperature? +8,2. Rather warm!!! That means no more cold wax on the skis, from now on we need "klister".

Another nice day! We had a few cm of snow last night, but nice, sunny weather and hardly any wind today. It was more cloudy yesterday, but we arranged a nice tour round Veslefjell and then on snowshoes down to the waterfall.

Perfect conditions

Perfect snowconditions! A hard base and soft snow on the top, makes it possible to ski everywhere! The last two days we have arranged tours to Måsåplassen, Indre Uksan and skied back from Gunstadseter.

This was a day with a bit of everything. It was sunny and -10 Celcius in the morning, snowing and -0,1 Celcius when we returned at 2 PM. Still good conditions!

Windy start

Good morning. Yesterday we had a very different weather than we expected from the forecast, but very pleased that it happened. We were looking forward to some extra snow covering the hard melted surface and yesterday it finally came. There was a lot of wind following the snowfall, which clocked about 8.5mm (equals about 4-5cm of this wet snow) of precipitation. It gives us back our "hard wax" condition and nice trails. Today at 6AM: -4.1 Celsius, fresh breeze from NW, limited visibility.

Wednesday

Weather update at 2PM: It has been snowing and blowing in the last hours, +1 Celsius, gentle breeze from west. Seems like the klister days are over for awhile.

Tuesday

Yesterday temperatures reached a new dimension, we have not had this warm since the autumn: +8.2 Celsius. It surely helps the snow compressing and finding a new structure but hopefully it is not going to continue like this for too long. As it looks we get back to normal winter weather from tomorrow evening on.

7AM: +0.7 Celsius, gentle breeze from NW, sunny/partly cloudy, good visibility.

Mild days

Good morning. After a great day we are having another "nice-looking" one, but a bit warmer. It will help the snow to consolidate and stay on the ground for longer. 7AM: -3.2 Celsius, light breeze from S, partly cloudy, good visibility.

Weekend update

Saturday started fairly cold/windy and warmed up quickly, but the wind stayed with us for many hours burrying most of our prepared trails, but it was sunny and nice temperatures all day.
Sunday has started the same way-at 7AM: -13.2 Celsius, light breeze from north, great visibility, sunny. Expecting warmer temperatures from now on even above zero in the next couple of days.

Snowy Friday

Weather update at 7AM: -8.1 Celsius, light air from SE, limited visibility, about 2,5cm of fresh snow in last 12hrs and still snowing now. More snow expected today and clearing for tomorrow.
Nice tour off piste close to Svartfjell and Dynjefjell areas.
Evening update: we ended up with about 6cm of fresh snow from this snowfall.

Wednesday

Good morning. 6AM: -15 Celsius, light air from S-SW, clear sky, great visibility. We are expecting a nice sunny day today and some snow in the next few days.

Tuesday on Skisafari

Another day on skisafari and back on the usual Tuesday Trolløypa plan between Måsåplassen and Venabu. The weather seems stable. At 7AM: -11 celsius, light air from E-NE, overcast, good visibility.
Afternoon update: Nice tour on Trolloypa, very interesting light conditions and cloud patterns.

Sunny Monday on Dynjefjell

7AM: -7.7 Celsius, gentle breeze from N-NE, clear and sunny. We had about 2cm of fresh snow in last 24hrs.
Great tour on skisafari, skiing over Dynjefjell, little wind and nice sunny conditions. (Not much snow on top of the ridge ,but plenty on the way down to the forest. The views were stunning all around, looking at Dora canyon, Rondane and Jotunheimen National Parks.

Sunday

Good morning. At 7AM: -11 Celsius, almost no wind, overcast, good visibility. We are expecting some precipitation today.

Sunny Saturday

Good morning. At 6AM: -16.4 Celsius, light breeze from N-NE, great visibility. Nice weather and good trails for the weekend (Additional trail cut: Trolloypa to Remma, Måsåplassen direction). Enjoy the weekend.

Evening update: Great day with more wind in the afternoon period, temperature was up to -2 Celsius.

Checking marking sticks (Eldabu, Grahogdbu, Dorfallet)

Today was time for checking the sticks we put out in the end of January, most of them were in order, but some of them were blown away or knocked over. Once again I saw the reindeer herd and enjoyed the views of Rondane.

Friday

Cold start again, at 7AM: -18.4 Celsius, light breeze from N-NW, great visibility. Looks like we are having another brilliant day. All the trails have been cut yesterday. Unofficial snow depth: 70-73cm

Venabu-Grahogdbu-Dorfallet- Venabu tour

What a day out, brilliant snow condition - even off piste, misty and cold start then it slowly warmed up and cleared. We enjoyed a nice 5hr journey around Grahogdbu and Dorfallet. Even saw a herd of reindeer in the distance close to Ramstinden.

Colder morning

Weather update at 7AM: -16 Celsius, light air from N, local fog in central areas, but clear to the South, no precipitation in last 12 hrs.

Fog and wind - then a clear afternoon

Weather update at 7AM: -5 Celsius, gentle breeze from S-SE, foggy, limited visibility, about 1cm of snow in last 12 hrs. Seems like we are getting some snow and wind in the next 24hrs.
Evening update: It turned out to be a nice day and we enjoyed skiing in the fresh snow (about 4cm).

Tuesday

Weather update at 7AM: -3.9 Celsius, light breeze from SE, good visibility, overcast. We are testing the Trolloypa again today between Masaplassen and Venabu as part of the Skisafari program.
Evening update: Great tour on the Trolloypa, with some sun, wind and off piste adventures. We managed to find some reindeer tracks but no sign of them.

Monday

Most of the trails were cut yesterday. Today at 7AM: -9.2 Celsius, light air from E, good visibility.
Looking at the clouds today it seems like there is a change coming soon.

Sunday

Good morning. Weather update at 7AM: After another windy day now we have more settled winter weather. -9.7Celsius, gentle breeze from W-NW, partly cloudy, good visibility. Most of the trails are being or will be cut today.

More wind and some fresh snow

Weather update at 7AM: -7 Celsius, moderate breeze from W-NW, overcast, good visibility, about 2-3cm of fresh snow in last 24hrs. It has been windy here and might stay like this for today as well. Yesterday the temperature reached +3 Celsius, but fortunately dropped back down to the subzero range.
We had a very successful ski safari week! Another week is coming.

Still windy and mild

7AM: -0.2 Celsius, moderate breeze (pretty windy), overcast, good visibility. Looking at another windy day and temperatures up in the plus range and maybe some precipitation in the next few days.

Thursday

Weather update at 7AM: -2.4 Celsius, gentle breeze from NW, good visibility, partly cloudy. Yesterday the temperature reached "plus degrees" (+0.4) after many weeks of subzero and seems like this milder weather will continue throughout this week. We are also expecting windy conditions.

Sunny moments

We keep having nice weather here this week, clouds have approached the area today, but it still feels pleasant.
Today the tempareture is around -4 and -9 Celsius, partly cloudy, snow condition is great and all trails have been prepared.

Foggy morning and what an evening with Northern Lights

Weather and trail update at 7AM: -10 Celsius, light air from SW, foggy - low visibility. All the trails have been prepared in the last 36hrs including Trolloypa towards Oksendalen (to the river Remma). Hopefully this local for will lift up later on and we can enjoy another beautiful sunny day.
11PM update: Great sunny day and amazing northern lights from 9pm on.

Sunny day

Good morning! What a morning! After days of fog and misty weather finally the curtain is up. At 7AM: -11.6 Celsius, light breeze from N, great visibility. Looking forward to a nice sunny day. Skisafari has started this week. Today we make an attempt on Dynjefjellet. Tomorrow is Masaplasen, then we start moving towards the Rondane National Park: Svabudalen, Rondablikk and Muen areas.

Weekend update

Last weekend we spent most of our skiing time in fog and some fresh snow on Sunday morning. We ended up with about 5-6cm of fresh snow. The temperature stayed in the subzero range, but at some point we could have put some violet wax on instead of blue.

Foggy and milder

Weather update at 4Pm: -3.2 Celsius, light air from E-SE, foggy.

Friday

7AM: -10.7 Celsius, light air, fair visibility, approx. 2cm of fresh snow in last 24hrs.

Wind and snow

Good morning. 7AM weather update: -16.3 Celsius, gentle breeze (feels pretty cold), limited visibility, overcast, snowing and blowing. Another 2cm of fresh snow in last 24hrs.