Hiking in Norefjell

I had a great time with Henrik, Jarle and Christoffer this weekend doing some winter camping in Norefjell.

We hiked in on fjellski, which are similar to traditional skinny cross country skis, but with a metal edge to (mildly) help with turning while descending. We started at night, and hiked for a few hours by headlamp. It was pretty windy, but not too cold -- in the upper 20sF.

We set up camp, and hunkered in. The wind blew all night, and when we woke up, visibility was poor, and it had cooled down considerably.

We hung out in the tents for the morning, waiting for the weather to improve.

It never really did, so we decided to stay with our first camp, and build some additional windbreaks for the tents.

Christoffer masterminded this latrine

We did a short excursion to find the nearest cabin. It didn't look very inviting.

We spent another night in the tents, and our windbreaks worked beautifully. I learned that traditional downhill skiing doesn't translate at all to fjellski on the way down. Despite a few faceplants, this was a perfect Norwegian weekend.

Merry Christmas from the Frost Kids

A Winter Hike

We took the T-Bane to the end of Line 1 today, where sledding, cross country skiing, and hiking trails abound. It was beautiful.

Enjoying the Snow Around Oslo

Each place that we've lived in has handled winter weather differently. Utah has a fleet of snow plows and salters that are deployed at the mere rumor of snow, and rarely is work or school interrupted by weather. Everyone cares for their own driveways and sidewalks, and you will be treated as a pariah if you do not do your share at keeping the neighborhood walkways clean.

DC puts no money into their snow removal teams, no one knows how to drive in the snow, and there might be one person on your street that owns a flimsy Target snow shovel. Everyone expects that at least once or twice during each winter school and/or work will be canceled, which is treated as a bit of a holiday.

Norway has chosen a different path. They know that battling with snow removal each year is a losing proposition, and seem to have agreed as a society that they will do nothing about it other than toss out a little gravel. Roads are not plowed. Sidewalks are not shoveled. I haven't seen even a hint of salt. I don't know if anyone owns snowblowers. Instead, everyone has snow tires, everyone wears serious boots and they may even clip spikes onto their shoes for walking around. Strollers and wheelchairs have tires like ATVs. School and work are never interrupted by snow -- everyone embraces the idea that snow has come, and they simply plan to deal with it.

I kind of love this approach. It really appeals to both my lazy side and my slow loving side.

Here are some pictures of us enjoying the snow that now covers the grounds at our apartment.

Starting over on the Christmas Decorations

Since we didn't bring much to Norway, we've had to hit reset on most of our decorations (besides the stockings). We went with the little tree because Norwegians don't put up their trees until the 23rd, so they don't go up for sale until mid-December. This one is potted, and will supposedly last as a tree for a long time. Megan was quite disappointed in our little tree, so we made her watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special. It may or may not have worked.