Bluebird Backcountry

It looks like it snowed in the Chamonix valley overnight sunday, as was forecasted, so hopefully it will stay cold there above 1900m so that it stays. Meanwhile, in Norway... :

This morning dawned super clear and a crisp fresh -12 degrees. No sign of the Northern lights Aurora overnight, though, nor tonight - it may be a bit too far South here to see it often.

It seems that the dawn and dusk at this time of year are long and drawn out. The sun rises late and sets early, but there is quite some time before and after when the sky seems bright with daylight. The sun also doesn't climb very high in the sky right now, but it was definitely out, especially up high, and there were no clouds all day.

Chilly sunrise

It looks and feels just like in BC, Canada!

 Luckily I have managed to find a couple of locals to go skinning with in the backcountry, Magnus and Frode, who's hospitality is very much appreciated.

This gave us a chance to ski some wide open terrain and drop into some trees away from the ski hill. There was a temperature inversion too, so as we skinned higher it got warmer, to perhaps -3 on the sunny ridge.

The surrounding scenery is incredible, especially from high up...

...and today I could see it all!

Frode and Magnus looking happy

The snow was fantastic again and had stayed really powdery with some surface frost crystals on top. In the alpine the wind had been pushing snow around - where it was lumpy, it was probably rocks - then in between the lumps, it was about knee deep when you stand in it in boots. That was the way I had to read the mountain to avoid the shallow areas.

It was even deeper in the forest, and my Chamois skis were really bouyant, and fast in between the trees. Being so light, they turn really easily. After skinning up in the sun, we had lunch on the ridge, and then descended into the shady side, skiing the sweet fluffy untouched snow, so amazing for November 4th.

Some action shots of my Idris Chamois skis:

    The texture of the snow was incredible, as these 2 photos show. That was all fluffy powder.

A sea of cloud in the lowlands to the East

Cheese and skis and sunshine!

The descent into the shady slopes - open and smooth with trees lower down 

This is something I've never seen before!!!

 Beside the road just past the ski hill was this old abandoned house. Its pretty amazing to see spruce trees growing on top of a roof! I've seen many abandoned houses in BC and the prairies out West, and some with grass on the roofs, but trees...? They must be 10 or 15 years old, or more...

Evening light catching the mountains

The last line was down a chairlift which has not yet been opened, which was a perfect way to end the session.

Chilly sunset

The day ended with a great colour show on the mountains:

Then it was time to go for an apres-ski hot chocolate, and that awesome Scandinavian invention, the sauna - really hot, unlike the Canadian ones which top out at 90 degrees. This one was over 100 - really nice!

Also deeply ingrained in Scandi culture is the skiing itself. Alpine or cross country skiing and snowboarding is a Norwegian birthright like tree-planting is a Canadian right of passage. Almost everyone in Norway skis or boards, even the small towners and city folk, not like in the UK where it is only a small percentage of the population who are into it.


As it is supposed to stay sunny tomorrow, I'm planning to stay one more day in Hemsedal. Frode has another day off, so we'll probably do another ski tour, then it will be time for me to go explore somewhere else, maybe North-Westwards to a coastal fjord town.