Sunday 23 November 2008

It's snow joke, it's still here!

Yes the snow is still here, in fact there is even more of the stuff. Myself and M took a wander around the Nattlandsfjellet Rim on Saturday. It was hard work with the extra snow and at times we were postholing through knee deep drifts but the sun was out, the sky was blue and wreaths of mist span up the hillsides from the city far below. When the mists periodically blotted out the sun you could feel the air chill discernibly. We took a short break in the shelter of large boulder, drank coffee, ate chocolate, peanuts and cashews and soaked up the rays like a couple of solar panels. M employed the arse crampon on a frighteningly frequent basis, so much so that I was starting to think that she was actually enjoying it. 

On the way home we passed several local families enjoying the terrifyingly steep forest tracks on their various sleds and glissades. We must remember to pick up a snow shovel of some description. It looks a much more enjoyable and faster way to get down off the mountain and it's not often that a piece of safety equipment can be so much fun too.

8 comments:

Martin Rye said...

Not fair it is only a couple inches deep here and going fast.

Joe Newton said...

I've just been over and had a look at the snow on your blog Martin. I didn't realise the UK had been dusted too. Even a little bit of snow changes the way things look, the same old trails take on a whole new character.

Nielsen Brown said...

Fantastic, sadly the snow was not quite as good where we were in Sweden, but nevertheless was beautiful. Got me rethinking my gear for the next trip in a couple of weeks.

Joe Newton said...

Nielsen, I must stop being lazy and buy myself a tent (I don't fancy camping out in these conditions in a bivvy bag and tarp!). Then I'll have no excuse not to get out for a night. The only problem will be that it won't end at just a tent, then I'll need a warmer sleeping pad, warmer vest, warmer jacket, warmer bag, etc, etc...... It seems most of northern Europe got some snow this weekend.

Anonymous said...

Great stuff that. It looks either like winter from my childhood or my imagination.
Tent purchase imminent? Ah, excitement!

Joe Newton said...

ptc* - It was the most snow I had ever seen. I don't know how I managed not to resort to throwing snowballs at M, must be my age! Before the tent purchase I have one last mission with the bivvy bag planned before Christmas....

Anonymous said...

I'm a little late to the party on this one, but if you haven't already bought a snow shovel then I would definitely recommend the SnowClaw (http://www.snowclaw.com/). It's been a long time since I've been so impressed with a piece of kit - lightweight, tough, versatile, cheap and fantastically efficient. And fun..

Thank you for the comment on my blog, as well. Japan's great, I think you'd love it.

Joe Newton said...

Thanks Chris, I looked at a lot of snow shovels in the climbing/skiing shops here and most were over engineered, heavy and bulky so a Snowclaw has been put on the list for Santa. Let's hope I can be a good boy!