Doubt it, you miserable lot 
I daresay someone at least noticed that the forum ceased shuddering under the impact of my endless posting for a brief period. Although clearly you have all happily taken up the slack as I've about thirty pages of new posts to read...
Anyway. As some of you may know, I've been in Norway, completing a trek. I figure I'll put a little report up here, if you're interested, read on I say completing - I didn't actually complete it. More on that later. Where was I?
Ah yes. The trek. Well, it was 404 miles, to be completed in 14 days, starting in Bødalsætra, near the west coast on one side of the Jostedalsbreen (largest glacier in mainland Europe), crossing it, winding through Breheimen (very large very empty and very rocky), through the Jotunheimen (grassier and more populated) and ending in touristy but attractive Gjendesheim, by Norway's famous bright turquoise lake Gjende.
It was a bloody long way, and we were a) camping, b) climbing, and c) had no resupply, we had what one might describe as weighty packs. 41kg, if you're asking. What's more but the packs came on every climb - because the climbs were in the route. I don't know if many of you are climbers, but for those that aren't I'll mention that rarely do people climb with more than eight or so kilos on their back, except on large Alpine style climbs, where they could be up to 15 or so. This isn't just because of weight-induced exhaustion - it's also a question of balance. Our shortest day was 14 miles - our longest 37.
Now, reading this, you're almost undoubtedly thinking it's a bit of a mega-ego super-macho expedition. That it isn't, nor was it ever intended to be. Rather it started as a long backpacking trek between three blokes in a pub, and grew more ambitious as it went on. Conversation went rather like this:
"So, 400 miles, 14 days. Relatively flat".
"Well, flat, but we are just going to have to tackle some of those peaks in the evenings"
"God yeah"
"Actually, it'd probably be better if the route went via the tops, then we wouldn't be wasting effort on out-and-back trips"
"Good point - so, which peaks? Anyone got a list?"
"Yeah. This one looks gorgeous. Oh man, and that one. And the other"
"Yeah, and those two for old times' sake. And I've always wanted to try that one"
... &c, &c. You can see how it happened, perhaps. In case any of you are familiar with the area, amongst those we were planning were Lodalskåpa, Brenibba, Galdhøpiggen up the west face, Glittertinden via the north face and Surtningssui over the Memurutinder's ridge area.
Rather than bore you with a day by day account, I'll try to just save you the highlights. Pack weight was nasty, but I don't think any of us noticed it after the first two days - we all had modern and comfortable packs on, and it's much more the inconvenience that gets you - that is, the size of it restricting movement, and the way it shifts just when you think you're balanced.
The days were long, rather than fast - up at six, bed at ten, but we always had an hour for lunch. I slept in my Hennessy as it's lighter than a tent and I wanted to give it a thorough testing. Food was the big weighty thing - 5500kcal/day is not small, especially as it was a carb centred diet.
The big wow view - from Lodalskåpa, over most of Jostedalsbreen and in fact all the way to the sea. But really, the whole trip was a stunner - endless lakes, ice, forest, rock and of course many deer.
The big bad view - nothing. The day we crossed the Jostedalsbreen was in the thickest nastiest most dangerous fog you can imagine. There were three of us, roped up - at no point could I in the middle see both my teammates, and often I could not see either. I think all of us thought that we might have overestimated our capabilities that day.
The big fun bit - there was a glissade on Storjuvbreen that we managed to keep at for thirty solid minutes of sliding. Unbelievable fun, although when we compared how long it would have taken to climb it again it was a bit depressing!
The big scary bit - I broke one of the front points of my crampons on a rockface on day eight. This brought the trip to an end, because I fell with pack flat on my bum onto ice. I didn't break through, and as it turns out I was not injured dangerously at all, although I was in a lot of pain. But of course, with a possible spinal injury, it was curtains really, and I finished that day being lowered gently down glissades. It was a great shame to end so early - barely half way through.
But something clicked in me then, something that sort of said "you want to slow down a bit, take a few less risks". Maybe I'm just getting old (I'm 19 ), but for sure I will be taking it easy for quite a while on the climbing and super-ambitious walking front for a bit. At least as long as the doctor will make me anyway!
But all the same, it was the trip of a lifetime. Perhaps next year, if I can use my own gear instead of borrowing old nasty stuff, if I get resupply points, and I become a better climber, I'll do the route again.
I will put up some pictures later when I get a minute. Hope you enjoyed reading this, and feel free to ask anything I've surely missed out
Chris
I daresay someone at least noticed that the forum ceased shuddering under the impact of my endless posting for a brief period. Although clearly you have all happily taken up the slack as I've about thirty pages of new posts to read...
Anyway. As some of you may know, I've been in Norway, completing a trek. I figure I'll put a little report up here, if you're interested, read on
I say completing - I didn't actually complete it. More on that later. Where was I?Ah yes. The trek. Well, it was 404 miles, to be completed in 14 days, starting in Bødalsætra, near the west coast on one side of the Jostedalsbreen (largest glacier in mainland Europe), crossing it, winding through Breheimen (very large very empty and very rocky), through the Jotunheimen (grassier and more populated) and ending in touristy but attractive Gjendesheim, by Norway's famous bright turquoise lake Gjende.
It was a bloody long way, and we were a) camping, b) climbing, and c) had no resupply, we had what one might describe as weighty packs. 41kg, if you're asking. What's more but the packs came on every climb - because the climbs were in the route. I don't know if many of you are climbers, but for those that aren't I'll mention that rarely do people climb with more than eight or so kilos on their back, except on large Alpine style climbs, where they could be up to 15 or so. This isn't just because of weight-induced exhaustion - it's also a question of balance. Our shortest day was 14 miles - our longest 37.
Now, reading this, you're almost undoubtedly thinking it's a bit of a mega-ego super-macho expedition. That it isn't, nor was it ever intended to be. Rather it started as a long backpacking trek between three blokes in a pub, and grew more ambitious as it went on. Conversation went rather like this:
"So, 400 miles, 14 days. Relatively flat".
"Well, flat, but we are just going to have to tackle some of those peaks in the evenings"
"God yeah"
"Actually, it'd probably be better if the route went via the tops, then we wouldn't be wasting effort on out-and-back trips"
"Good point - so, which peaks? Anyone got a list?"
"Yeah. This one looks gorgeous. Oh man, and that one. And the other"
"Yeah, and those two for old times' sake. And I've always wanted to try that one"
... &c, &c. You can see how it happened, perhaps. In case any of you are familiar with the area, amongst those we were planning were Lodalskåpa, Brenibba, Galdhøpiggen up the west face, Glittertinden via the north face and Surtningssui over the Memurutinder's ridge area.
Rather than bore you with a day by day account, I'll try to just save you the highlights. Pack weight was nasty, but I don't think any of us noticed it after the first two days - we all had modern and comfortable packs on, and it's much more the inconvenience that gets you - that is, the size of it restricting movement, and the way it shifts just when you think you're balanced.
The days were long, rather than fast - up at six, bed at ten, but we always had an hour for lunch. I slept in my Hennessy as it's lighter than a tent and I wanted to give it a thorough testing. Food was the big weighty thing - 5500kcal/day is not small, especially as it was a carb centred diet.
The big wow view - from Lodalskåpa, over most of Jostedalsbreen and in fact all the way to the sea. But really, the whole trip was a stunner - endless lakes, ice, forest, rock and of course many deer.
The big bad view - nothing. The day we crossed the Jostedalsbreen was in the thickest nastiest most dangerous fog you can imagine. There were three of us, roped up - at no point could I in the middle see both my teammates, and often I could not see either. I think all of us thought that we might have overestimated our capabilities that day.
The big fun bit - there was a glissade on Storjuvbreen that we managed to keep at for thirty solid minutes of sliding. Unbelievable fun, although when we compared how long it would have taken to climb it again it was a bit depressing!
The big scary bit - I broke one of the front points of my crampons on a rockface on day eight. This brought the trip to an end, because I fell with pack flat on my bum onto ice. I didn't break through, and as it turns out I was not injured dangerously at all, although I was in a lot of pain. But of course, with a possible spinal injury, it was curtains really, and I finished that day being lowered gently down glissades. It was a great shame to end so early - barely half way through.
But something clicked in me then, something that sort of said "you want to slow down a bit, take a few less risks". Maybe I'm just getting old (I'm 19
), but for sure I will be taking it easy for quite a while on the climbing and super-ambitious walking front for a bit. At least as long as the doctor will make me anyway!But all the same, it was the trip of a lifetime. Perhaps next year, if I can use my own gear instead of borrowing old nasty stuff, if I get resupply points, and I become a better climber, I'll do the route again.
I will put up some pictures later when I get a minute. Hope you enjoyed reading this, and feel free to ask anything I've surely missed out
Chris
