Training Log Archive: BashIn the 7 days ending Mar 22, 2015:
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Sunday Mar 22, 2015 #
Note
slept:7.0
Saturday Mar 21, 2015 #
9 AM
XC Skiing - Classic race (Groomed Trail) 5:30:20 [3] 54.0 km (9.8 kph) +1114m
slept:5.25
Birkebeinerrennet 2015
Birkebeinerrennet is a 54 km classic-style cross-country ski race that travels over two mountains from Rena to Lillehammer, Norway. It’s one of the largest XC ski races in the world and is part of the World Loppet Series, which includes races like the Vasaloppet in Sweden, the Gatineau Loppet in Canada and the American Birkebeiner. In recent years, up to 17,000 skiers have taken part but this year, there were only 13,000 - likely due to last year’s controversial cancellation on race day due to high winds in the mountains.
Detailed map
The race, which started in 1932, commemorates a challenging ski journey through these mountains and forests in 1206 when Birkebeiner loyalists carried infant prince Håkon Håkonsson to safety in Trondheim. The Birkebeiners (“birch legs”) were an underdog political faction in the Norwegian civil war and were thus named because some were so poor that they wrapped birch bark around their legs instead of wearing proper footwear. It was originally an insult but today the name carries a sense of pride, strength and endurance. All race participants must carry a backpack weighing at least 3.5 kg, symbolizing the weight of the (obviously underfed) two-year-old heir to the throne. A few people tied big dolls to the back of their packs. :)
Birken also organizes half a dozen smaller ski events, several running races including a 57 km ultra, and several cycling events including the 122 km Birkebeinerrittet, the largest mountain bike race in the world.
http://www.birkebeiner.no/en/
Richard and I love cross-country skiing but we aren’t ski racers and don’t even use groomed ski tracks very often. Mostly we just play, exploring local trails or bushwhacking. Without any ski racing credentials, we would have had to start in an unseeded wave at the end of the 2.5 hour start window. To avoid that, we skied the 51 km Gatineau Loppet last month, which qualified us for Wave 11 (Richard) and Wave 16 (me) of 26 non-elite waves at the Birkie.
In the week leading up to the race, skiers talked incessantly about waxing. The local weather forecast was accompanied by a daily wax recommendation involving various products we didn’t – and likely never *would* - own, e.g. “use a horse hair brush or perhaps a wild boar brush”. Apparently, Norwegians own brushes made of every kind of animal. In every sports store, there was a huge display of waxes and related gizmos with people having animated conversations in front. The weather had been warm and icy so we were using klister and other sticky waxes but race day was going to be cooler with 6-8 cm of new snow the previous day.
Swix offered professional waxing services at the race check-in so Richard and I splurged and got glide wax (although not the expensive “racing” version) and several coats of base binder and colder grip wax. On race day, we would just add our final grip wax layers. The race is so big that there were different grip wax recommendations for Richard’s start wave vs. mine.
Cristina listened to what the professionals were doing to our skis, then prepared her skis the same way in our cabin’s dedicated waxing room, aka washroom.
Our other challenge that afternoon was stuffing enough items into our packs to total over 3.5 kg at both the start and finish of the race. It’s surprising how unhelpful our lightweight gear can be sometimes. I carried a full thermos of water that I couldn’t touch since it had to be there at the finish. I also carried 6 ski waxes and I tried unsuccessfully to stuff in a book.
The race started in Rena, which was a 2-hour drive from our cabin in Nordseter near Lillehammer. Thanks to Melissa’s generous offer to drive, we didn’t have to take the 4:30 a.m. bus to the start, which gave us an extra 75 minutes of sleep. By the way, in case Melissa’s employers read this, she really did spend most of the weekend working!
Cristina looked ready to rock.
This is Richard’s Start Wave 11; he seems to be hiding though.
This is my Wave 16 – we had 25 tracks! And there was another wave lining up beside us with 25 more tracks. It narrowed to “just” 12 tracks by the time we left the stadium. There were 425 people in my wave – as many skiers as there were in the classic Gatineau Loppet!
Zooming waaaaay in… here’s proof that I took hydration seriously.
Here’s what the start looked like from my point of view.
Unfortunately, I misjudged my time and was forced to choose between lining up for a porta-potty or putting two final coats of grip wax on my skis after my test. I figured I could wax later once I was sure it was needed.
We started skiing and immediately began a gradual 500+ m climb up the first mountain. My grip wax slipped from the start. I knew conditions would change at a higher altitude so I waited. When I was still slipping after 6 km, I pulled off the trail and took a 4-minute waxing break. I had enough grip after that but probably should have gone with the colder wax recommended for Richard’s wave since my skis felt sluggish for both grip and glide. I missed Goose’s magic fairy dust that made my skis feel quick at the Gatineau Loppet.
Aid stations were simple and well designed for skier traffic; they offered different drinks and a few snacks. I mostly drank juice, ate banana slices and scarfed down a few lefse - Norwegian pastries with cinnamon, sugar and butter.
As suspected, my Wave 16 seeding based on the Gatineau Loppet was too generous. Looking at the results, Wave 19 would have been more appropriate but I was grateful to be surrounded by skilled skiers, many of whom gradually moved on ahead. :)
The weather was spectacular with brilliant sunshine, clear long distance views and temperature just below freezing.
One reason Richard and I wanted to do a Scandinavian loppet was to be part of a skiing event in a place where skiing is as important as hockey is in Canada. It gave us a way to get inside the culture of another country. It’s the same reason I enjoyed UTMB so much. Our usual sports are outside the mainstream at home and it’s fun to be part of an event that makes the general public excited.
Oh, and sometimes intoxicated. Ski clubs, cabin owners, skiers and random Norwegians gathered along the trail to cheer us on. I wish I’d taken photos; this is the only one I found through Google.
(Obviously not my photo!)
Spectators built snow benches and elaborate snow block walls to stop the wind. They hung big Norwegian flags, cooked over portable grills and enjoyed beverages of all kinds. They brought chairs, coolers, cushions and costumes including a few mascots like a huge dancing Bugs Bunny. Some of them brought treats to share, either with members of their own ski club or with anyone passing near their side of the trail. Random people tried to hand me cold Coke (delicious!) or a single chip (ew, disgusting). One cheerful fellow standing between the tracks tried hard to place a bottle of beer in my hand! They shouted “Heia, heia, heia!!” at us and sang songs. There were musicians providing live entertainment at the aid stations. So much fun!
I stopped a few times to take photos. Unlike Gatineau, my time didn’t matter so it felt like a fun ski tour.
By the time we got to Sjusjoen, we had 14 km left with a mix of steep downhills and flats.
This is where the race started getting a little less fun for me. Skiers dropped a lot of trash, much of it in the tracks. I was in a tuck going down a moderate hill when one of my skis hit a sticky gel wrapper (one of many that I’d already hit) and stopped suddenly. I did a hard face plant that surprised me with its impact since I didn’t feel like I was going that fast. That took away some of my nerve at a bad time – just before the steep downhills where we would lose most of the 300 m of elevation we had to drop on the way to the finish.
These downhills were narrower sections of twisting forest trail that had turned into two icy half pipes, each the width of a skier doing a partial snow plow, with a small drift of soft snow in between. It was totally skiable although not a fun nor relaxing way to give back the elevation we had gained. The thing that made it scary for me was the steady stream of skiers, some in control and some not. I’m used to skiing alone in a quiet forest, not on a track and not with crowds, and this was when my racing inexperience came into play. Some confident skiers shot past on one side or another with their skis parallel. Others veered or teetered back and forth, some rear-ended other skiers, and some crashed hard, usually causing a back-up of other bodies who fell behind them to avoid serious injury. There was a collection of broken poles along the side of the trail.
All I could think of was our friend Sian, a much better skier than I, currently on crutches after a fall on a smaller hill with a similarly uneven snow surface. There was potential to destroy my knee or my 2015 running season here so I pulled off the trail and froze like a deer in the headlights while dozens of skiers flew by. There were three particularly treacherous sections and it hit me the same way every time. I would try to wait and go when there were no skiers behind and no bodies ahead but that happened so rarely that I would finally jump in and ski down with my heart racing. There was a corner where we were directed to one side because the medics were getting ready to go up the hill. No surprise there.
In between, there were flats and gentle downhills so I could double pole – more work than it should have been with my poor glide but a welcome reprieve after the steep bits. Finally we rounded the bend into sunny Birkebeiner Stadium on the eastern edge of Lillehammer – such a wonderful feeling!
I finished in 5:30:20, about the same time as the 51 km Gatineau Loppet, right around my estimate. That put me about 2/3 of the way back in my age group, ahead of a few women with “real skier” names like Grete, Bjorg, Liv, Birgit and Guri. :) I hadn’t expected better than that.
Cristina’s first Birkebeinerrennet in 2013 was a tough experience but with her improved seeding in today’s great conditions, she had a very good race and finished in 5:13, around the middle of her age group.
Richard had an excellent race, finishing in 4:02 after stopping before the finish line to search in vain for the Canadian flag he had tucked too deep into his pack. He was also in the middle of his 5-year age group, which included 1200 racers!
We celebrated with Indian food and got our only post-race skier photo. Great day – great trip! :) Huge thanks to Cristina and Melissa for all their tour guiding, travel advice and assistance.
Birkebeinerrennet is a 54 km classic-style cross-country ski race that travels over two mountains from Rena to Lillehammer, Norway. It’s one of the largest XC ski races in the world and is part of the World Loppet Series, which includes races like the Vasaloppet in Sweden, the Gatineau Loppet in Canada and the American Birkebeiner. In recent years, up to 17,000 skiers have taken part but this year, there were only 13,000 - likely due to last year’s controversial cancellation on race day due to high winds in the mountains.
Detailed map
The race, which started in 1932, commemorates a challenging ski journey through these mountains and forests in 1206 when Birkebeiner loyalists carried infant prince Håkon Håkonsson to safety in Trondheim. The Birkebeiners (“birch legs”) were an underdog political faction in the Norwegian civil war and were thus named because some were so poor that they wrapped birch bark around their legs instead of wearing proper footwear. It was originally an insult but today the name carries a sense of pride, strength and endurance. All race participants must carry a backpack weighing at least 3.5 kg, symbolizing the weight of the (obviously underfed) two-year-old heir to the throne. A few people tied big dolls to the back of their packs. :)
Birken also organizes half a dozen smaller ski events, several running races including a 57 km ultra, and several cycling events including the 122 km Birkebeinerrittet, the largest mountain bike race in the world.
http://www.birkebeiner.no/en/
Richard and I love cross-country skiing but we aren’t ski racers and don’t even use groomed ski tracks very often. Mostly we just play, exploring local trails or bushwhacking. Without any ski racing credentials, we would have had to start in an unseeded wave at the end of the 2.5 hour start window. To avoid that, we skied the 51 km Gatineau Loppet last month, which qualified us for Wave 11 (Richard) and Wave 16 (me) of 26 non-elite waves at the Birkie.
In the week leading up to the race, skiers talked incessantly about waxing. The local weather forecast was accompanied by a daily wax recommendation involving various products we didn’t – and likely never *would* - own, e.g. “use a horse hair brush or perhaps a wild boar brush”. Apparently, Norwegians own brushes made of every kind of animal. In every sports store, there was a huge display of waxes and related gizmos with people having animated conversations in front. The weather had been warm and icy so we were using klister and other sticky waxes but race day was going to be cooler with 6-8 cm of new snow the previous day.
Swix offered professional waxing services at the race check-in so Richard and I splurged and got glide wax (although not the expensive “racing” version) and several coats of base binder and colder grip wax. On race day, we would just add our final grip wax layers. The race is so big that there were different grip wax recommendations for Richard’s start wave vs. mine.
Cristina listened to what the professionals were doing to our skis, then prepared her skis the same way in our cabin’s dedicated waxing room, aka washroom.
Our other challenge that afternoon was stuffing enough items into our packs to total over 3.5 kg at both the start and finish of the race. It’s surprising how unhelpful our lightweight gear can be sometimes. I carried a full thermos of water that I couldn’t touch since it had to be there at the finish. I also carried 6 ski waxes and I tried unsuccessfully to stuff in a book.
The race started in Rena, which was a 2-hour drive from our cabin in Nordseter near Lillehammer. Thanks to Melissa’s generous offer to drive, we didn’t have to take the 4:30 a.m. bus to the start, which gave us an extra 75 minutes of sleep. By the way, in case Melissa’s employers read this, she really did spend most of the weekend working!
Cristina looked ready to rock.
This is Richard’s Start Wave 11; he seems to be hiding though.
This is my Wave 16 – we had 25 tracks! And there was another wave lining up beside us with 25 more tracks. It narrowed to “just” 12 tracks by the time we left the stadium. There were 425 people in my wave – as many skiers as there were in the classic Gatineau Loppet!
Zooming waaaaay in… here’s proof that I took hydration seriously.
Here’s what the start looked like from my point of view.
Unfortunately, I misjudged my time and was forced to choose between lining up for a porta-potty or putting two final coats of grip wax on my skis after my test. I figured I could wax later once I was sure it was needed.
We started skiing and immediately began a gradual 500+ m climb up the first mountain. My grip wax slipped from the start. I knew conditions would change at a higher altitude so I waited. When I was still slipping after 6 km, I pulled off the trail and took a 4-minute waxing break. I had enough grip after that but probably should have gone with the colder wax recommended for Richard’s wave since my skis felt sluggish for both grip and glide. I missed Goose’s magic fairy dust that made my skis feel quick at the Gatineau Loppet.
Aid stations were simple and well designed for skier traffic; they offered different drinks and a few snacks. I mostly drank juice, ate banana slices and scarfed down a few lefse - Norwegian pastries with cinnamon, sugar and butter.
As suspected, my Wave 16 seeding based on the Gatineau Loppet was too generous. Looking at the results, Wave 19 would have been more appropriate but I was grateful to be surrounded by skilled skiers, many of whom gradually moved on ahead. :)
The weather was spectacular with brilliant sunshine, clear long distance views and temperature just below freezing.
One reason Richard and I wanted to do a Scandinavian loppet was to be part of a skiing event in a place where skiing is as important as hockey is in Canada. It gave us a way to get inside the culture of another country. It’s the same reason I enjoyed UTMB so much. Our usual sports are outside the mainstream at home and it’s fun to be part of an event that makes the general public excited.
Oh, and sometimes intoxicated. Ski clubs, cabin owners, skiers and random Norwegians gathered along the trail to cheer us on. I wish I’d taken photos; this is the only one I found through Google.
(Obviously not my photo!)
Spectators built snow benches and elaborate snow block walls to stop the wind. They hung big Norwegian flags, cooked over portable grills and enjoyed beverages of all kinds. They brought chairs, coolers, cushions and costumes including a few mascots like a huge dancing Bugs Bunny. Some of them brought treats to share, either with members of their own ski club or with anyone passing near their side of the trail. Random people tried to hand me cold Coke (delicious!) or a single chip (ew, disgusting). One cheerful fellow standing between the tracks tried hard to place a bottle of beer in my hand! They shouted “Heia, heia, heia!!” at us and sang songs. There were musicians providing live entertainment at the aid stations. So much fun!
I stopped a few times to take photos. Unlike Gatineau, my time didn’t matter so it felt like a fun ski tour.
By the time we got to Sjusjoen, we had 14 km left with a mix of steep downhills and flats.
This is where the race started getting a little less fun for me. Skiers dropped a lot of trash, much of it in the tracks. I was in a tuck going down a moderate hill when one of my skis hit a sticky gel wrapper (one of many that I’d already hit) and stopped suddenly. I did a hard face plant that surprised me with its impact since I didn’t feel like I was going that fast. That took away some of my nerve at a bad time – just before the steep downhills where we would lose most of the 300 m of elevation we had to drop on the way to the finish.
These downhills were narrower sections of twisting forest trail that had turned into two icy half pipes, each the width of a skier doing a partial snow plow, with a small drift of soft snow in between. It was totally skiable although not a fun nor relaxing way to give back the elevation we had gained. The thing that made it scary for me was the steady stream of skiers, some in control and some not. I’m used to skiing alone in a quiet forest, not on a track and not with crowds, and this was when my racing inexperience came into play. Some confident skiers shot past on one side or another with their skis parallel. Others veered or teetered back and forth, some rear-ended other skiers, and some crashed hard, usually causing a back-up of other bodies who fell behind them to avoid serious injury. There was a collection of broken poles along the side of the trail.
All I could think of was our friend Sian, a much better skier than I, currently on crutches after a fall on a smaller hill with a similarly uneven snow surface. There was potential to destroy my knee or my 2015 running season here so I pulled off the trail and froze like a deer in the headlights while dozens of skiers flew by. There were three particularly treacherous sections and it hit me the same way every time. I would try to wait and go when there were no skiers behind and no bodies ahead but that happened so rarely that I would finally jump in and ski down with my heart racing. There was a corner where we were directed to one side because the medics were getting ready to go up the hill. No surprise there.
In between, there were flats and gentle downhills so I could double pole – more work than it should have been with my poor glide but a welcome reprieve after the steep bits. Finally we rounded the bend into sunny Birkebeiner Stadium on the eastern edge of Lillehammer – such a wonderful feeling!
I finished in 5:30:20, about the same time as the 51 km Gatineau Loppet, right around my estimate. That put me about 2/3 of the way back in my age group, ahead of a few women with “real skier” names like Grete, Bjorg, Liv, Birgit and Guri. :) I hadn’t expected better than that.
Cristina’s first Birkebeinerrennet in 2013 was a tough experience but with her improved seeding in today’s great conditions, she had a very good race and finished in 5:13, around the middle of her age group.
Richard had an excellent race, finishing in 4:02 after stopping before the finish line to search in vain for the Canadian flag he had tucked too deep into his pack. He was also in the middle of his 5-year age group, which included 1200 racers!
We celebrated with Indian food and got our only post-race skier photo. Great day – great trip! :) Huge thanks to Cristina and Melissa for all their tour guiding, travel advice and assistance.
Friday Mar 20, 2015 #
8 PM
Note
slept:6.5
Birkebeiner pre-race check-in, packing, etc. One of the toughest things has been getting our packs up to the required 3.5 kg at start and finish - so it can't include things you plan to consume without replacing.
We got our skis waxed professionally except for the final 2-3 coats of grip wax that we will add tomorrow when we know the final weather forecast. The waxing crew offered 4 levels of glide wax based on our racing ambitions; we chose the 2nd from the bottom. (It was still about $90 altogether.)
It snowed lightly most of the day and the temperature will not go above freezing tomorrow so we hope to leave the klister in our packs although the Swix experts recommend that racers carry it.
We leave for the start at 5:45 a.m. Melissa is very kindly getting up early to drive so we don't have to take the 4:30 a.m. bus to Rena. It's a 2-hour drive but when we arrive, organizers will offer us coffee and porridge.
If anyone is interested, live tracking will be available here. Our event is the 54 km "Birkebeinerennet".
http://www.birkebeiner.no/en/MainMenu/Results/Resu...
There are also webcams along the course.
The three of us start in different waves. It's 5 hours later here than in Toronto. If all goes well, we should all be finished by mid-morning back home. Happy Saturday, all!
'Bent - Wave 11, 8:55 a.m. - Bib # 6150
Bash - Wave 16, 9:20 a.m. - Bib #9730
Cristina - Wave 19, 9:40 a.m. - Bib #12064
We got our skis waxed professionally except for the final 2-3 coats of grip wax that we will add tomorrow when we know the final weather forecast. The waxing crew offered 4 levels of glide wax based on our racing ambitions; we chose the 2nd from the bottom. (It was still about $90 altogether.)
It snowed lightly most of the day and the temperature will not go above freezing tomorrow so we hope to leave the klister in our packs although the Swix experts recommend that racers carry it.
We leave for the start at 5:45 a.m. Melissa is very kindly getting up early to drive so we don't have to take the 4:30 a.m. bus to Rena. It's a 2-hour drive but when we arrive, organizers will offer us coffee and porridge.
If anyone is interested, live tracking will be available here. Our event is the 54 km "Birkebeinerennet".
http://www.birkebeiner.no/en/MainMenu/Results/Resu...
There are also webcams along the course.
The three of us start in different waves. It's 5 hours later here than in Toronto. If all goes well, we should all be finished by mid-morning back home. Happy Saturday, all!
'Bent - Wave 11, 8:55 a.m. - Bib # 6150
Bash - Wave 16, 9:20 a.m. - Bib #9730
Cristina - Wave 19, 9:40 a.m. - Bib #12064
Thursday Mar 19, 2015 #
11 AM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 1:32:22 [3] 15.06 km (9.8 kph) +252m
slept:7.5
Today we went to the heart of the local ski area, Sjusjøen. We could have skied there from our cabin in about 15 minutes but we've been skiing a lot lately and we'll be skiing a little more on Saturday!
Cristina had mentioned that Norwegians seldom start conversations with strangers so I was surprised when a gentleman came up to me in the parking lot while I was getting my skis ready. "Klister?" he asked. I wasn't sure what made me happier: the fact that I understood my first Norwegian conversation in its entirety or that a Norwegian thought I looked like I spoke the language and knew something about waxing. :)
Our first 5 km was on the Birkebeiner race course, skiing it in the opposite direction. For the first time this week, we saw a number of other skiers, some of them very fast, often with Norwegian or Swedish flags on their hats or racing suits. You can't see the tracks in the photo but there were 3-4 groomed classic tracks plus some space for skaters, who are less numerous than they are at home. On race day, there will likely be 8 tracks here.
A few kilometers in, this useful trail sign post was equipped with a thermometer to help us fix our wax if we screwed up.
After leaving the Birkebeiner trail, we went up a mountain and looped back to Sjusjøen. I lost my grip during the climb but I didn't want to put anything else messy on my skis since the forecast is colder for Saturday with a high of -6C. So I just did my best Bambi imitation and used my arms way too much.
The last part was a long, fast, twisting descent - a little scary since there were some ruts. In this photo, Sjusjøen is in the distance around the shore of the lake below.
When we got back, there were lots of possibilities and it was tempting to keep going.
But we went for a waffle instead because I had to try to eat one with my hands, as proper etiquette dictates. I’m not sure if I got it right but it worked.
P.S. Our dog sitter posted a photo of BazingaDog and AdventureDog – aww. :) Glad they're having a good March Break. We're seeing lots of dogs here - including on the ski trails - but we miss our pooches.
Cristina had mentioned that Norwegians seldom start conversations with strangers so I was surprised when a gentleman came up to me in the parking lot while I was getting my skis ready. "Klister?" he asked. I wasn't sure what made me happier: the fact that I understood my first Norwegian conversation in its entirety or that a Norwegian thought I looked like I spoke the language and knew something about waxing. :)
Our first 5 km was on the Birkebeiner race course, skiing it in the opposite direction. For the first time this week, we saw a number of other skiers, some of them very fast, often with Norwegian or Swedish flags on their hats or racing suits. You can't see the tracks in the photo but there were 3-4 groomed classic tracks plus some space for skaters, who are less numerous than they are at home. On race day, there will likely be 8 tracks here.
A few kilometers in, this useful trail sign post was equipped with a thermometer to help us fix our wax if we screwed up.
After leaving the Birkebeiner trail, we went up a mountain and looped back to Sjusjøen. I lost my grip during the climb but I didn't want to put anything else messy on my skis since the forecast is colder for Saturday with a high of -6C. So I just did my best Bambi imitation and used my arms way too much.
The last part was a long, fast, twisting descent - a little scary since there were some ruts. In this photo, Sjusjøen is in the distance around the shore of the lake below.
When we got back, there were lots of possibilities and it was tempting to keep going.
But we went for a waffle instead because I had to try to eat one with my hands, as proper etiquette dictates. I’m not sure if I got it right but it worked.
P.S. Our dog sitter posted a photo of BazingaDog and AdventureDog – aww. :) Glad they're having a good March Break. We're seeing lots of dogs here - including on the ski trails - but we miss our pooches.
Wednesday Mar 18, 2015 #
Note
Skiing, watching for northern lights and eating moose for dinner... because when you go on vacation, you should do things you can't do in Canada. ;)
12 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 2:30:00 [3] 27.0 km (10.8 kph) +377m
slept:7.0
Even though we are staying in a cabin a few meters from hundreds of kms of XC ski trails, Cristina suggested that we go across the valley about 30K north of Lillehammer to ski at Skeikampen. Seriously?!? But now we were curious so we had to make the trip. What a spectacular ski! The perfect weather didn't hurt either. Well, it wasn't perfect for waxing - high of +6C with variable snow conditions - but we used waxless skis so we didn't have to worry about it.
Skeikampen has a downhill ski area. When we asked about buying trail passes for nordic skiing, the woman at the desk chuckled and shook her head. (This was before I'd read today's AP discussion on this subject. Silly Canadians, trying to pay to XC ski!) So we splurged on a map that we didn't really need because it would be posted at every junction and a pair of single-trip lift tickets to the top of the mountain.
Once we got up, 'Bent couldn't resist doing a few telemark turns near the top. Then we got onto the groomed XC ski trail that runs along the top of the mountain.
Today's theme was Ridiculously Photogenic Nordic Skiing. We stopped again and again to pull out cameras or the GoPro - as if *this* was the last really good view we would see for the rest of the day. A few minutes later, we'd see an even better view. Eventually - fortunately - our batteries got too cold so we were forced to do more skiing.
Btw if you're wondering why our packs are so big, we are required to carry a 3.5 kg pack for the Birkebeiner so we might as well train with one.
The first part of our route ran along the wide, flat ridge and passed the top of another downhill ski lift.
We could see for a long distance - rolling hills, small trees and lots of beautiful snow crust that Coach LD would have skated around on. (Coach, I was thinking that in a place like this, you normally sing "Oh Canada" but I'm not sure what you would have done here!)
The map shows a marsh here in summer, then we climbed up that valley in the distance where you can see little specks that are skiers.
We saw a sun dog, which has special meaning in our family.
Apologies to non-skiers but some of my photos were nothing but pure cross-country skiing porn.
We headed away from the main ski area toward Fagerhoi, crossing an open plateau that felt a little like skiing in the Antarctic. No wonder Amundsen made it to the South Pole first when he had places like this to train!
There is a skier on this trail in the distance but even *I* can't see him at this resolution and I know exactly where he is. You can see where the trail goes though.
We turned at a junction about 1 km from Fagerhoi and returned to the downhill ski area on a groomed access road - less interesting than the rest of today's skiing but still very pretty. This is the mountain we took the lift up at the start of our ski.
We'd been planning a shorter ski, i.e. fewer photo stops, and we'd also hoped to find waffles again. Alas, we did not. By the time we finished, I was light-headed and ravenous for an early dinner with chocolate cheesecake for dessert. I am fat-loading for the race.
*Time deducted for photography and added for the short section where my Ambit was paused.
Tuesday Mar 17, 2015 #
12 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 1:52 [3] 0.24 km (7.7 kph) +4m
slept:9.0
A very small amount of skiing and a very large amount of waxing. No combination of hard waxes would cut it so we had to return to the cabin for klister. Race day is forecast to be colder so we were hoping to avoid it. Luckily, the only klister we'd brought - universal - worked pretty well so we didn't have to switch to waxless skis.
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 4:04:36 [3] 41.06 km (10.1 kph) +690m
This is a typical trail in the Nordseter area - groomed classic tracks on the outside and a skate lane in the middle.
We can get on the trail system a few meters behind our cabin, as can most people around here. Along the trails, we came across small communities of vacation cabins.
Here is part of the ski trail map.
We were comfortable with the map today although the trail signs still seemed a bit random sometimes. (Yes, this was posed!)
We were skiing near or above the tree line. Although the altitude isn't significant, the latitude *is*. Nordseter is above 61 degrees of latitude, which is not far south of Yellowknife. The Gulf Stream moderates the climate.
We stopped along the trail at Pellasova where we finally got to try the famous Norwegian waffles. They don't use maple syrup here. The proper way to eat a waffle is with jam and whipped cream. 'Bent didn't take any whipped cream and the cashier pulled out an emergency bowl in case he had missed it. I guess that just isn't done here.
I'd expected a small ski chalet or hut but this place was more like a country club.
We did an out-and-back to Hornsjo. It was going to be a lollipop but we couldn't see the "not always groomed" road even when we stood at its starting point. We'd heard a big "whump!" on a slope earlier in the day so we weren't sure if we should go off-trail. There is over a meter of snow with big drifts and deep tree wells.
The trails were quiet. We saw other skiers but sometimes went a few kms without seeing anyone.
We found controls 22, 24 and 25 but we have no idea where to find the orienteering map.
After finally getting a good sleep, I had lots of energy and suggested that we go a few kms extra at the end to return by way of Lunkefjell. Partway along this route, we figured out that "fjell" means "mountain" in Norwegian, which we really should have guessed, as in "fell running". So we had a nice climb right at the end of a long day. Then we descended beside the small downhill ski run at Nordseter so it was a fast finish!
Monday Mar 16, 2015 #
4 PM
XC Skiing - Classic (Groomed Trail) 1:13:23 [3] 12.0 km (9.8 kph) +269m
slept:4.0
It took awhile to get to - and get settled into - our home for the week. We're in a cabin in Nordseter in the mountains east of Lillehammer with access to 350 km of groomed trails including the Birkebeiner route.
We're supposed to have "free wifi" but they only allow 15 minutes a day! And at the moment, there is "too much ice on the wires" to get Internet at all so I won't be posting many photos of Norwegian skiing unless we find a creative solution.
Between jet lag and today's 5:30 a.m. alarm, we didn't have much energy when we went for a late afternoon ski. According to the Sjusjoen ski shop, the correct way to wax for today's warm, icy conditions was... well, they had a display of hairy skis near the front of the store. For those who like to wax, they suggested a special base binder, ice klister and violet wax but warned that tomorrow will probably be different. So - confession time - our first ski in Norway was waxless.
Our skis worked perfectly in the hard, icy tracks. These aren't my favourite conditions but I loved this ski! We did a fair bit of climbing and descending but the grades were so gradual that it didn't seem like a big deal. It was exciting when we got high enough to see the lakes and mountains stretching off into the distance! Navigation was a little tricky in spite of the signposted trails. The place names on the arrows didn't always correspond to the map in a meaningful way, e.g. "Oslo", which is 3 hours away by car. So I had my compass out a couple of times to check our route. Tomorrow when we're awake, it will be even more fun. :)
For future reference: up-to-date info on groomed ski tracks in Norway
https://skisporet.no/
We're supposed to have "free wifi" but they only allow 15 minutes a day! And at the moment, there is "too much ice on the wires" to get Internet at all so I won't be posting many photos of Norwegian skiing unless we find a creative solution.
Between jet lag and today's 5:30 a.m. alarm, we didn't have much energy when we went for a late afternoon ski. According to the Sjusjoen ski shop, the correct way to wax for today's warm, icy conditions was... well, they had a display of hairy skis near the front of the store. For those who like to wax, they suggested a special base binder, ice klister and violet wax but warned that tomorrow will probably be different. So - confession time - our first ski in Norway was waxless.
Our skis worked perfectly in the hard, icy tracks. These aren't my favourite conditions but I loved this ski! We did a fair bit of climbing and descending but the grades were so gradual that it didn't seem like a big deal. It was exciting when we got high enough to see the lakes and mountains stretching off into the distance! Navigation was a little tricky in spite of the signposted trails. The place names on the arrows didn't always correspond to the map in a meaningful way, e.g. "Oslo", which is 3 hours away by car. So I had my compass out a couple of times to check our route. Tomorrow when we're awake, it will be even more fun. :)
For future reference: up-to-date info on groomed ski tracks in Norway
https://skisporet.no/