Ski Trip

Well as you have probably noticed, it has been several months since I last posted in this thing. However, I do have legitimate reason for this. Namely, not much has happened since my last post. I did travel most of western Europe, enjoyed three months of winter school at Holsby, visited Gothemburg, Stockholm, and the Baltic sea. After all Europe is mostly boring cities and old churches so I thought I would spare you the details of said old churches and boring cities.

But in the last few weeks something truly interesting did happen over here in Sweden so I thought I should share it with you all. We enjoyed our third trip of the year with the Discovery program up in Lappland, which is in northern Sweden.

Our trip started the Sunday after regular winter school ended. We prepared gear and food for several days beforehand and finally set out early Sunday. We rented a large Ford european style hutterite van and started our drive up north. Another guy came along to drive and give us weather reports as he has to work up north away. We stopped in Stockholm to pick up our Finnish telemark ski guide who would be joining us for the trip. She has worked at Holsby for a term or two so had a few connections to the school. We then continued to drive until late evening and stopped at the base of large hill on the Baltic coast. After an hour hike or so up the hill we reached a small cabin at the top where we would 'spend the night'. Which really just means that the two girls on the trip slept in the cabin and the rest of us rolled our stuff out on the snow under the stars, which was nice as well. Speaking of which, our team consists normally of 8 people, four girls, and four guys. Unfortunately, one girl couldn't come along because of breathing trouble in cold climate and two others backed out days beforehand because of illness. So our team was greatly reduced to the four of us guys and just one of our female team members. Back to the story, we woke early the next morning and continued our drive north. The town where we stayed for a few days to learn telemark and sleep is called Tarnaby and apparently all the good downhill skiers to come out of Sweden have come from this one small town. At our arrival in Tarnaby we went straight to a small church building where we would stay the few days before our trip. The next day we went straight to the ski resort at Tarnaby and rented our equipment. Tragically, telemark skiing is a sport reserved for those with small feet. The first day out I received the biggest pair of telemark boots currently in production, size 31.5. After skiing a day in the boots I concluded that I would be able to join the trip, but I would not have toes afterwards. As we thought that this was an unacceptable price to pay for a few short days of skiing we went back to the ski shop to look for alternatives. They ended up giving me the largest alpine boots that they had and a mixed binding. The boots fit well and the binding also allowed me to participate in our trip. The skis had an alpine/telemark mixed binding. Which means that the binding was a regular downhill binding that pivots in front of the toe. So for the touring portion of the trip I would have a loose heel and be able to move just as well as the telemarkers and for extended downhill portions i could simply lock my heel into place and ski downhill normally. So that was a huge relief.

With our skis all figure out we were finally ready to depart to the backcountry. We ran into some problems the first day in form of pouring rain down at the base of the mountain. Thankfully, the rain let up my 11am and we were able to set out. Unfortunately, we lost enough time that we wouldn't be able to reach basecamp the first day. After riding the chairlifts to the top of the hill we were able to start off into the backcountry. After a few hours of skiing we reached our first camp next to a small cabin in a mountain valley. We dug our tents and kitchen areas into the snow and set up camp. The next day we left and arrived at our basecamp site early in the day. We spent the next sixish hours digging. Digging in tents, digging kitchen areas, digging snow caves, digging bathrooms. Being fairly exhausted after so much digging sleep came easy, whether or not you were basically sleeping in a large snowbank. The weather wasnt totally agreeable. It was windy, snowy, and worst of all, warm. The daytime temperature hovered somewhere around zero the whole trip. So when the snow fell, it instantly turned to water as soon as it touched you. Making for a very very wet week. Our second day in camp saw us head out to hike up the largest mountain in the area. Unfortunately, some extreme wind and snow forced us to turn back several hours into the trip. On the way back whiteout conditions made navigation difficult and slowed us quite a bit. Also, this hefty wind decided to switch direction at the last second and blow from the opposite way from the days before. So many of our snow walls and windbreaks were useless or worse. So for the rest of the day we dug. Dug more walls, better kitchens, bigger snowcaves. A pattern started to emerge in that this trip would be more digging and less skiing. That evening left us extremely wet and cold. When you would sit in a windbreak or snowcave any snow that touches you would immediately melt. Then as soon as you stood up into the wind you would immediately freeze solid, making for a really interesting situation. The following day was a decided rest day (not that we had done much skiing anyway). So we headed down into the valley to a small cabin/hostel thing on a major snowmobile route. We hung out there that day and dried a lot of our gear in their drying room. Our driver, Peter, came up and cooked us moose fajitas which were awesome. After the afternoon there we skied back to camp and readied for the following day. We planned another day trip the following day but unfortunately it was so windy and warm that we decided to stay in camp the next day. So we basically chilled in snowcaves and dug some more. This last day was the conclusion of our trip and unfortunately we didnt actually get to do much ski touring but had a good time nonetheless. Our final day out was going to be pretty intense. We woke up at 430am on Tuesday and literally broke camp. There is this slight paranoia that they have over here, we literally had to destroy everything that we had made. Our snow caves were under almost two meters of snow and we had to dig off the roofs, stomp it down and then fill in the holes. It was exhausting and took a long time. By the time this was all done we were able to set out at about 7am. We skied until about 230pm and made it back to our home base. We showered, saunaed and then ate one more meal there before heading out. We left Tarnaby at 530pm and drove until 1am. On the way we saw some awesome northern lights as we drove south. It was a great cap to the trip and and a first for a lot of the Europeans with us. At 1am we stopped at a rest stop and slept on the ground outside the bus. We then woke up after a few hours and continued our drive back to Holsby.

All in all it was a great trip, the weather wasn't always great and we didn't do as much skiing as planned but it was still a great time. This spring the Discoverry trips come pretty fast so hopefully I will post in this thing more. Bye!

The view from our first rest stop on the drive north

our tent

unfortunately this lovely waterbottle took a tumble at some point in the climb to basecamp.

Backpack at the start of the trip

view from the top of the ski resort

Swedish Military training.

First Camp

Windy/Snowy

Small Snow twister

again for some reason

the valley

Our Camp

German Chris

Our viking Alfred in the wind

Down

Six days of Grease

donezies

DreamHack Winter 2011

This weekend 8 students from Holsby and one staff member travelled to Jonkoping and attended the nerdiest thing known to man. DreamHack. DreamHack is the largest digital gaming festival in the world and set three new world records this weekend. It runs from thursday to Sunday and is the biggest LAN party in the world.

We woke up early Saturday morning and left for Jonkoping by 8am. We arrived when the doors opened at 10am. This is not to say that people hadnt been gaming all night. We walked in, bought our daypasses and walked into the first of three giant gaming rooms. We were all shocked at what we saw. Several thousand desktop computers, complete with either gaming humans or humans completely out on their keyboards. There were rows with table that held all the computers and it was a mess to say the least. Two days worth of empty coke cans and energy drinks, stacks of empty fast food cartons and blankets, pillows, and cabels all over the place. We proceeded from that room to the main one where there was a stage set up and some kind of techno pumping out for the gamers to stay awake on. It was quite the sight to see several thousand glowing monitors in a dim room with zombies walking around in the one piece fleece suits they were selling there. There was also something with displays by various gaming companies giving away free stuff and demoing their games. There was also tournaments for professional gamers that took place in a large thingy with lots of seats and a big screen. It was ridiculous, being gave standing ovations for somebody getting shot on a video game. The prizes were fairly large, the biggest being about 100 000 dollars for the winner of StarCraft 2.

I have never seen so much gaming and I felt sick after only one day just looking, not even playing in there. Some people were literally at their computers three days straight. This isnt to say that it wasnt a good experience. Ive never seen something like that. They set the record at somewhere above 13 000 joined computers at a single event. The internet was 120 gbit/s. Apparently that is stupid fast, but I wouldnt know. I got a few free shirts out of the deal and came out feeling really good about the fact that 

I have friends and dont spend all day gaming. 

 

Sleeping!

sleeping stuff

Enough Coke?

Counter Strike Finals. Prize, 150 000kr

Sea Kayaking Nov 10-13

Sorry it took so much time to put up this post but I have been really busy... or just really lazy.

Well anyway, a couple of weeks ago we went on our second trip of the year, sea kayaking in the Baltic. There was already a travel weekend planned for this weekend so we didn't have to miss any classes. Travel weekend started on Thursday and ended Sunday evening so that was to be the length of our trip. We left thursday morning and drove about an hour and a half to the ocean, where we picked up our rental kayaks (which were actually pretty nice). After about an hour of learning how to pack these blasted compartments properly we carried the kayaks down the pier without dying on the slippery wood and tossed them in the water. We then proceeded to enter the kayaking without stepping in the goose poop which was everywhere. Thankfully my feet fit in the kayaking but I still had to take off my boots to sit properly. When  figuring out what you are going to do with your boots you are faced with the tough decision of whether or not you should put your dirty boots with you in the kayak or if you wash them off in the sea and then put wet boots with you in your kayak. Either option kinda sucks but having lots of water is better then lots of dirt. Anyway, once safely in our kayaks we started on our way. Each day a different pair of people navigated and led the group in our travels. The first day I was co-leading with Danielle (from BC). As it was completely foggy we really had to rely on our maps and compass. At times we would cross large stretches of open water in which we could literally see nothing. At this point we really hoped that our compasses were accurate and that we weren't too stupid to use them. Thankfully, we did know how to use them and successfully navigated through the fog and the ten million islands around. Our first campsite was pretty soggy as we found it in near darkness and we were pretty rushed. Once my tent partner (Christopher (the german)) and I had set up our tent we figured out that we set up right on some pretty funky mushrooms that made us smell like really strong garlic. It wasn't  ideal. Anyway, we had a good night there and woke up to clear skies, which was a nice change from pure fog all day. The next day we started and actually got to take a look at the scenery which was nice. Its very similar to the whiteshell but with more rock. The tides are almost nonexistent and the sea was completely calm for three of the four days we paddled. That night we set up at a very nice spot inside a fairly narrow channel and actually got to see the sun go down. I also tried to fish a bit as we had a brought a very old fishing rod with us that had a knock-off mepps with only two thirds of a treble hook attached. Well i started fishing after sundown and would cast for a bit, pack it in, then immediately turn back as some idiot fish would jump exactly where I had been casting one minute ago. This happened about three times until i got too frustrated to try again. The next was even foggier than the first and we did a lot of blind navigation which was cool. Unfortunately we almost ran out of daylight looking for a camping spot and we picked a spot on the windward side of an island. A light wind kicked up in the evening and the fog got pushed up on land and  soaked everything. Our tents were under trees and it sounded like it was raining there was so much water dripping from the trees. The last day had a bit of wind but nothing to complain about with all the calm we had had the days previous.

Now that I have kinda outlined the trip I can give a few details.
Well, my cook group and I had the great idea that we should have instant mashed potatoes for one of our meals. This was a mighty fine idea, however, we (not me though) only brought one packet of potatoes instead of three. So we had potato soup. It was awful. Unfortunately, you cant just not eat, so we ate soup that tasted like butter and potatoes and water. But mostly water.
I have always liked canoes better than kayaks, maybe that was because I had just canoed more in the past but now i know exactly why. Getting out of a kayak is like playing russian roulette. It was by-far the most dangerous thing I have done in Sweden so far. Its completely unreasonable how uncomfortable, inconvenient, unstable and every other kind of un- or in- word that you can think of including unawesome. Anyway, people almost ate it trying to get out for pee breaks all the time. Slippery rocks and kayaks dont mix well and the Baltic sea is literally completely surrounded by slippery rocks. So the moral of the story is, I still like canoes better.

Oh ya, when you think your going in a straight line towards one point in fog you are actually not. You're slowly going in a circle but you think your such a pro and really keeping your reference point in the fog. But your wrong, your not a pro and your actually 60 degrees off. But thats what compasses are for so no worries. You just have to be staring downwards at your compass constantly. 

And fleece liners are awesome. 

Thats all I have for now!

First sun of the trip second day

Alfred's sweet sunglasses
 

Our only sunset

Icy kayaks and fog makes for cold mornings

fleece pants are awesome

no-shave progress Nov 12

Great View!

Christopher and his skirt

First Trip

Last week we embarked on our first Discovery trip of the year! We were told almost nothing before the trip started apart from the length. We only learned of our departing time the day of, and even then we didn't know where we were going (not that it mattered). We had five two-man tents and were split up into tent partners and food groups of two or three. Food groups planned suppers together and divided up the weight of the four dinners we would be bringing on the trip, breakfast and lunch were both individual meals.

On Wednesday last week we left Holsby at around 1:00 pm and drove for about forty five minutes to some random back road where we started our trip. It just so happened that moose hunting season started the day before the start of our trip so we were required to strap a goofy orange or yellow vest to the back of packs to avoid being shot by some crazy Swede. Within the first 100 meters of our trip we saw a huge, fresh gut pile. We then assumed that the we would be constantly surrounded by carnage for the next five days but we actually did not see another moose, dead or alive and only ran into a few hunters who were too lazy to get off the road. Anyway, we walked 10 km the first day and camped at a nice little lake in a fairly remote area of southern Sweden. The next day we were woken up before sunrise to the slightly annoyingly peppy voice of our leader, Timo. We went on to walk just over 20km that day and camped on the top of a hill overlooking a small town. The next few days continued in the same manner, we usually walked a bit over 20km each day at differing speeds and camped near various lakes and rivers. It got seriously cold at night and things definitely got interesting as some of the girls brought summer bags that were rated to somewhere around 5 degrees celcius. As the temperature outside was around negative five to ten this posed a serious problem. My own sleeping bag, rated to negative 10 or so was fairly decent but I had cold feet at a few points, the fleece liner will definitely be coming on the next trip. That furry Patagonia sweater I bought was probably the best purchase ever and is so awesome for being warm and furry at the same time. I almost forgot to mention that the weather was almost perfect. Clear skies every day except the last, which started with heavy fog but lifted by mid day and we had sun. By the second or third day we started to realize that we were walking back to Holsby and it was quite interesting to find our way as we had different student leaders every day who worked the map and compass. About three quarters of the trip was done walking on backcountry roads (they are everywhere in Sweden) and the rest was on trail through forest and swamp. We ended up walking 92 Km in just over four full days and getting really sore feet (no blisters though, liner socks are awesome). It was a great first trip and I"m really looking forward to the next one in November. Seeing as we were already cold on our first 'warm' fall trip it will be interesting to see how we fair on our winter trips! Here are a few pictures from the trip. Almost forgot, there was the ice cream truck that taunted us during the second day. We could here its really annoying little anthem thing from way out in the bush and continued to hear it for a while as we made our way to camp, seemingly always where we had just been. Just saying, those Swedish ice cream trucks are just all around awful.

we are really visible

sunset first day

great moose hunting stand

sunrise third day

the group minus Emelie

basically the Dead Marshes 

lots of frost

sunset third day... we are still walking at this point

Me!

Swedish Ice Cream Trucks

So, last week my friends (yes I do have some of those) and I were innocently playing some kind of sport in the field when we were lured by some kind of awful noise and a bright blue truck zooming by! Well one of the Swedish guys was nice enough to let us know that it was the ice cream truck that went by. Of course, our first reaction was to run to mommy and get money. However, we quickly realized that mommy was very far away and remembered that, unfortunately, we were going to have to pay for our own ice cream. After our initial disappointment we gathered by the road and waited. On the truck's way back we stopped it and looked at the ice cream menu. After glancing at the menu we saw that you could not, in fact, buy individual ice creams, but it was required to buy a box of at least eight! This seemed kind of funny as Europeans seem to take pride in their image as being slim and trim. What a scam considering that they are fattening up their innocent children by selling them ridiculous amounts of ice cream for large amounts of money. After spending about fifteen canadian dollars between us we sat down and shared between about six people of course. This just goes to show that Europe is the next America with extremely large children, all because of the greedy ice cream truck guys. By the way, our goal is to sometime buy the biggest box of ice cream that costs about fifty dollars and has like 45 different ice creams. We just need a snowbank to keep it in before we buy it.

Week 1 at Holsby

As this whole blogging thing is pretty new to me I'm thinking these first few posts are going to be slightly awkward. To explain this a bit, the following paragraph will kind of fill you in on my reluctance to share and explain the minute details and workings of everyday life here.

 I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea that yes people care enough about what I'm doing here to actually look up an internet page just to find out. As many of you know, I am not the type to sit and discuss in great detail the contents of fairly average days or have deep heart-to-hearts about "what I learned" in today's class, or even "what my favorite part of they day" was (sorry Dan). However, I am totally ready and willing to share the completely awesome things that may come to pass this year. So, with this fun little prelude completed, I can now start my blog.

The traveling from Winnipeg to Holsby last week went as well as could be expected but has unfortunately reaffirmed my dislike for all things air-travel. From too-large airports to stuffy airplanes the whole thing isn't much fun. I will be sure to use Matt's private jet as much as possible in the future. But one good thing does come of the cattle herding system that airports and airlines use today. By the end of our travels, we had found probably a half dozen other Holsby students and were able to help each other along in our common struggle to figure things out in Europe. The train from Copenhagen to Nassgo (crazy europeans) was extremely relaxing and would have been nice apart from the fact that we were all trying desperately not to fall asleep and miss our stop, constantly waking ourselves up to make sure we weren't in Siberia or something. Sweden feels just like home except with more people and less of everything else. Except rain. We are all settled in nicely at the school and classes will start later today.

I hope that next time I write in this blog (funny word really, "blog"), I will be newly returned from a backpacking trip which starts on October 12 (It will officially be my own fault if I fall off a cliff or something. Finally!). I will then have some awesome pictures of scenery or something (maybe even wildlife! (if there is any left)). But hopefully it will be pretty awesome. Thanks for reading!
james