Skisafari and skisafari light

Another quite windy day, but less than yesterday. Great safari conditions! One group skied up to Gråhøgdbu and down by the canyon, the other group around Veslbøllia and Veslefjell.

Sunny Tuesday

7AM: -13 Celsius, light breeze from N, no clouds!
Update: It's easy to be a guide when it's nice and sunny, not to much wind and great skiing conditions :-) We had a great tour to Dørfallet/canyon and round Veslefjell, and a longer one on the Troll-løype to Måsåplassen, just skiing towards the sun the whole day!

Wednesday update

Since Robert have been busy with marking skitracks and rescuing dogs today, I can tell you that we had a really nice day today. We had a beautiful sunrise (we have been waiting for it) and a nice tour in fresh snow in the area around Veslefjell. We also went to the top, this time from the south. The other group went to the Canyon. By the time we got back, it started snowing again.

 Muen said good morning!

 ....and good bye.

Todays troll! Angry?

Veslefjell

Some of us went to the top of Veslefjell and then around. Lots of light, fluffy snow. Even sunshine at the end of the tour!! Beautiful colors towards the west in the afternoon.

 

Tuesday - Veslefjellet

7AM: -13.9 Celsius, light breeze from N, partly cloudy, good visibility. Yesterday`s total precipitation: 2.3mm.
7PM: Great day out on and around Veslefjellet enjoying scenery. It turned out to be a cold and sunny day.

After a windy night

7AM: -4.4 Celsius, gentle breeze from NW, clear, good visibility. Total precipitation in last 24hrs: 1.2mm. Total snow depth is around 80cm.

9PM update: Lovely ski/snowshoe combination tour around Veslefjell and to Myafallet, bit windy but sunny conditions.

Warm Wednesday

Good morning at 6AM: +2.9 Celsius, light breeze from N, partly cloudy, great visibility. Probably today is our first klister day - having mainly plus degrees all night and looking at more plus degrees for the next two days.
Afternoon update: It was "vario klister day", but some of us decided to use snowshoes and visit Veslefjellet - looking at the full panoramic view of Venabygdsfjellet. Later on this afternoon we still had time to enjoy more skiing.

Another day out

What a day! Sunny and clear sky all day long - amazing sunrise and sunset colours. We went up Veslefjellet to see the views, which were stunning - Jotunheimen, Rondane and the whole Venabygdsfjellet in clear view. Great mix day of snowshoeing and skiing. I hope the forecast is wrong, so we will not have too cloudy and snowy day tomorrow.

Snowshoe tour

Another cold morning, temperature around -20 Celsius. We decided to head out and see Dorfallet, Veslefjellet and panoramic views of the central part of Venabygdsfjellet. We had keep moving all the time to keep comfortable and warm, but of course managed to enjoy scenery. Good 4 hours snowshoeing in varied snowconditions gave us a good workout.
Looking at the clouds it seems like there is a change on the way, maybe tomorrow?

Thursday

Weather update at 7AM: -6.3 Celsius, gentle breeze from NW, partly cloudy. We are probably looking at another fine day. Most of the trails have been cut again in the last 36hrs.
We had a nice "mixed condition" tour on Veslefjellet with some beautiful light conditions.

Mild Monday

Weather update at 7AM: -4.2 Celsius, light air from E-SE, low visibility(fog). According to the forecast it should get colder for the rest of the week.
Trails prepared yesterday were: Trabeliafjellet and Kyrkjegardsfjellet Rounds, trail to Jønnhalt Gjesteseter and most of the trails in the central area connecting Lundes, Venabu Fjellhotell and Spidsbergseter.
We had a great day with amazing light conditions.

Back to normal

Good morning! Weather update at 7AM: -7.5 Celsius, light breeze from N-NW, partly cloudy and about 10cm of fresh snow in last 24hrs. We have definitely passed half a meter of snow depth. It is time for trail maintenance. Weather forecast: sunny - partly cloudy days and colder temperatures are expected and maybe another change this weekend, which could bring more precipitation. The following trails have been prepared: Trabeliafjellet and Kyrkjegardsfjellet Rundt, almost all the trails in the central areas and we have been out looking at Veslefjellet area, which will be ready tomorrow afternoon.

Clear sky and wind

7AM: -9 Celsius, gentle breeze from W - NW, clear. Expecting clouds, wind and maybe more snow later on. Few trails were prepared yesterday Trimloypa, Veslefjellet and Trabeliafjellet rounds, but it has been blowing hard, so might not be good enough.

7PM update: partly cloudy day with a few snow showers, windy some places, but trails were holding well. Trails prepared today: Trabeliafjellet, Kyrkjegardsfjellet, Trimloypa, Hogasen and tracks between Venabu and Spidsbergseter.

Colder again

Good morning. 8AM: -23.7 Celsius, light air, clear sky and still dark. Waiting for a beautiful sunrise and a great day out. It was!

Around Veslefjellet

We had a little tour around Veslefjellet, which was just great again. Enjoying the sunshine, light breeze and the remoteness. This time of the year is one of the best in the whole season, since there are less people around and the lights are fantastic. Temperature warmed up as I was expecting that (-5,5 Celsius), but now it is back again on -11 Celsius. Looking at the weather in the UK, maybe we should export some snow from there :). I hope you are all enjoying it over there or you are already planning putting out a sign: The carpark is full :) I guess 15-30cm of snow in one day would cause very similar problems anywhere around the world, the only difference is how quickly people can adapt to it.

First tour of 2009, "little mountain"

We had our first tour of the year today and decided to climb a small peak - Veslefjellet, which is not too far from the hotel. The peak has a perfect location with a full panorama of the surrounding peaks of Venabygdfjellet. The peak is easily accessible from Veslefjell Rundt (clockwise round) taking the long ridge after leaving Brenflya signpost. Since it is located just on the vegetation line it has its unique view of the remote-treeless north and the forrested southern areas. Looking at the first picture you can see the view towards the North with the scenic Dorfallet canyon curving in the distance. Looking at the second picture, you can spot Trabeliafjellet on the left, Dynjefjell on the right and Venabufjellhotell in the middle. Muen (1424m) , the highest peak on the plateau is also clearly visible from the top along with Grahogdbu DNT hut (well known for accomodating many "hut to hut skiers" and summer tourists, part of the Den Norske Turistforening -DNT- hut system). You can see on the third picture that Muen is easily surmountable even from the top of Veslefjell ;-)