Today we went cross-country skiing for the first time and it was a lot of fun. We prepped by reading about it online and watching some YouTube videos and asserted that if we stick to the groomed trails, marked as easy, we should probably be alright. It was fine. Both David and I had some falls, but overall I think we got the hang of it and by midday we were going faster and with more confidence. We started of on the recommended easy track from Charlottenlund to the nearby lake and back. We then went in the opposite direction and went all the way to Trykkkbassenget past the ski jumps (Hoppbakken).
Despite having lots (loads in Aleks’ case) of experience downhill skiing, the hardest part of the cross-country skiing seems to still be the downhills. We soon discovered that while sticking to the pre-made tracks was a great idea on the whole, on any steep downhill you were totally at the mercy of them. Braking or turning out of the tracks was not an option, and it only took as a couple of tumbles each to learn this lesson. When skiing out of the tracks things were still tricky – the skis are much narrower and you’re only clipped in at the front of the shoe. All in all they just don’t handle like normal skis. Our technique is probably dreadful, so it would perhaps make sense to go with someone who knows what they are doing next time, but we had so much fun.
We had a break for lunch and to rest a bit and then we went out on our skis again. This time we headed off the main island to Tromsdalen, which also has floodlit cross country tracks. We had a good time, but the tracks didn’t seem in nearly as good condition as those around Charlottenlund. The local people must be aware of this as we didn’t meet any skiers while we were there, which was quite a difference to Charlottenlund where we were often taken over by those who knew what they were doing. In Tromsdalen there was only a lone jogger who emerged from the darkness and made me jump and a man with his dog. We did a figure of 8 loop and then headed back to the main island to squeeze some more skiing in the well-kept tracks around Charlottenlund. My favourite location was probably on the first route we did, which we returned to late at night for our very last run. There are some large satellite dishes near Prestvanet lake which at night are illuminated in a glorious purple.
Daleks Abroad 