Norway 2013 - the +1 story...

[Andy BB]

I started planning this trip as a solo outing back in summer - booking flights, car-parking at Gatwick, first night in hotel in Oslo etc. The intention was to find a nice camping spot not too far from Sognsvann station in the Nordmarka - a km or so in deference to my old age and various injuries As a solo trip, I intended to carry all the gear - as it turned out, about 55-60kg or so - myself. Plan was to buy a cheapo sledge and do a conversion to a pulk, adding removable wheels so that I could use it as a trolley on hard ground, then use it as a pulk in the snow. As it transpired, I found it easier to use two large wheelie bags, tie the sledge to one of them, and drag them along on the tarmac/gritted paths, one in each hand whist wearing a smallish rucksack and Ribz to carry the rest. Once on snow, mount the smaller bag on top of the larger bag, and go into pulk mode. Surprisingly, it worked out pretty well, albeit somewhat top-heavy.. For some idea of size in the above photos, the smaller blue bag was three foot long.

 

[Andy BB]

I'd deliberately chosen the 1st/2nd week in January, as this, according to the annual weather reports, was the coldest part of the year. In for a penny, etc.... However, some of the guys from the North Wood crowd (who's trip to the Nordmarka last year had inspired me for this trip) heard about it, and clearly thinking that I would certainly shuffle off this mortal coil during my trip and there would be all this kit suddenly available - decided to make their expedition around the same time, and pick up some free goodies Seriously, a big thanks to Cliff, Clive, Tink, Karl and Martin for all the support provided both before and during my trip. Of which, more later....

 

[Andy BB]

Anyway, despite the early start to the planning, and the acquisition of all the necessary kit well in advance, fate/work meant that I spent 7 weeks in nov/Dec abroad, and returned home just in time for the xmas trip to Inverness at my daughter's, and various family taxi runs from Hampshire to Manchester and back at the beginning of jan, my final preparation of the sledge and last minute packing occurred overnight, before I left for the airport at 6.30 am. Oops.....

Anyway, made the flight, sweet-talked the ground-staff into ignoring the excess weight in the two hold bags, and managed to avoid them weighing my rucksack, which was 5kg over the 10kg limit...I wore the Ribz (also fully-loaded), Wiggys packboots and Antarctic parka onto the plane, which was just a tad warm...

Got the train to Oslo centre, where I'd hoped to leave my bags to do some shopping, in particular for some meths. However, they were too big for the largest lockers they provided, so gave up on that idea and headed for the hostel - the Perminalen - where I'd booked a room for the first night to get myself sorted out and get some decent rest before the trek into the forest. Luckily I'd managed to send a voicemail to Cliff, who agreed to bring me some meths out (very important as it turned out...)

Following morning, headed out on the train. Set off on the wrong path - always a good start - and took the scenic route along the footpath by the Sognsvann lake. As this was heavily gritted, I ended up dragging the bags along on their wheels, which, after a km or so, introduced me to a whole new set of muscles I'd forgotten about decades ago....After talking to various locals on this path, eventually decided I had to head off uphill through the woods to join up with the path I should have been on all along. That was absolutely no fun, I can tell you...

Anyway, once on the correct trail, I set off past the Songsvann lake with my gear now in pulk mode, heading for the dam over the next lake up. This was somewhat steeper than I had been led to expect! And made even hairier by the skiers coming down it the other way, crouched down into racing pose to ensure they got the best possible speed on. I reckon we scared each other equally...

I'd planned that I would make frequent stops for brews to rehydrate myself, and had brought along a couple of wood-stoves for the purpose of melting snow- no meths so couldn't use the Trangia. Thats when I found out that all the wood accessible from the path was totally soaked, and impossible to light up, even using firelighters. So no liquids. Not good, as dehydration is very debilitating, especially when hauling loads as I was. Anyway, staggered on, and eventually reached the blue route - summer - that headed for the dam. Problem here was that it was deep virgin snow. So on with snowshoes, and off I went, for the most difficult - 800 metres? - of the trip. My snowshoes would sink into the snow, tripping me up, and I'd have great difficulty getting back up again. THe top-heavy pulk would go over on its side, meaning another stop and struggle through the drifts to get to it and right it. Every trime I'd have to take the rucksack off and then put it back on again, and by this time the dehydration was setting in noticeably. Anyway, eventually made it through, and spotted a nice place to camp in the woods. Finally stopped, fell over again, and was struggling like a beached whale to get up when Varangian and his daughter turned up, effortlessly gliding over the snow on their skis, to inform me that the other lads were about 10 minutes behind me (making great use of the path I'd cleared for them )

 

[Andy BB]

 

[Andy BB]

 

[Andy BB]

Tink pointing to shiny lights in sky whilst simultaneously giving birth to an alien (sorry Pete, couldn't resist it!)

 

[Andy BB]

Fishing for water...

 

[Andy BB]

The biggest problem during the week was the wood. Cut wood found near the site was wet right through, and even when the lads cut down a dead-standing tree, the sections were also saturated. Seeing as Both the parachute tent and my tipi were banking on our wood-burning stoves to provide a comfy environment, it was all but impossible to do so. The lads managed to keep their stove burning periodically, but this was only by taking turns having someone tending it at all times. I got my stove alight eventually, and it burned ok, but virtually all of the heat was used drying out the next batch of wood (which would then be used to dry out the next batch! - not exactly a productive exercise)

This is where the Vital stove came into its own. Once this was got going, using a bit of kitchen roll soaked in meths, the fan assistance provided useful heat, even with wet wood, and I melted and then boiled a lot of snow with it. But it sure used up the wood fast!

 

[crosslandkelly]

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GordonM]

Thanks for sharing Andy.

Gordy

 

[Tank]

Nice one Andy, what happened to the baby alien that Pete had?

Great write up, very entertaining. Thanks for brightening up my lunch break at 2am.

 

[Twodogs]

Nice one Andy
Have some more photos ,

Melting snow ,

Heroic pose outside the big house ,

Sorting out your new American home from home ,

wood prep ,

Twodogs

 

[Dreadhead]

extremely jealous looks like a great time! hopefully you will have a story or two at the next northwood

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Great read mate. Looks like a cracking time. Keep reading about ribz and seem to be a good bit of kit. Any other items which performed well?

 

[Andy BB]

A few words on some of the kit.

First of all, I'm going to commit bigamy and marry my Wiggys Antarctic parka! This is an absolutely superb bit of kit - as soft, comfy and warm as the best down coats, yet completely washable with a lifetime guarantee against loss of loft. (The coyote (?) hood ruff zips off when washing the rest of the coat).


Secondly - and this is beginning to sound like a paid advert (if only!) - the Wiggys packboots. Despite being too large (their sizes are significantly large - I take a 10 wide, and 11 in boots when wearing several pairs of thick socks, and the US 12 I ordered from Wiggys were at least a size larger than expected) my feet were never cold, never sweaty even on the hikes in and out, and they kept my feet in pristine condition without all that foot-powder pampering the other guys went through routinely. The lining seemed to regulate the ventilation, and despite snow getting in the top occasionally when stepping in deep snow, or falling over, never seemed to get through to the feet, and dried very quickly. The inner liners - wiggys version f felt liners, but again fully washable, meant that they could be used as tent boots, and kept on overnight and worn for those nocturnal relief trips!

 

[sasquatch]

Great pics, thanks for sharing Andy! I guess the best thing about a bad start is the trip getting better as you go along. Certainly looks like it did anyway. What would you change if you were to do it again tomorrow kit wise?

 

[udamiano]

Very good Andy, really enjoyed the write up looks like everyone had a really good time.

 

[Andy BB]

First thing I'd do would be to make sure I took some proper snow-pegs for the tent! 18-24" hollow ally tubes would do the trick. Because I was pitching on deep snow - even if the surface was trampled down a fair bit - the pegs (including 4 ex-army 9" ones) were not initially providing much grip, necessitating a much "sloppier" pitch and plenty of snow on the bottom of the tent. Once they froze in, the tent itself was pretty solid, but the interior space was probably reduced by about 30-40%. On reflection I could have cut some longish branches and used those as pegs, but at the time the priority was to get the tent up!

I'd also make sure I packed in plenty of time, but circumstances dictated otherwise in this instance. One piece of kit I really missed was forgetting my little Etowah 11 meths stove (which was still on the sofa when I returned home!) With a little meths (and it had a full 4 oz bottle in its bag), this would have provided plenty of brews on the trek in, yet takes up very little space. It doesn't rely on wood, which was a problem for the two camping wood stoves I carried (the Vital and Emberlit Ti.)

Boots - make sure they are the right size! Having said that, I'm still happy with the packboots performance overall as described above (fairly lucky really, as it was the only pair of boots I took!) I will buy another pair a bit smaller though, for my next trip! (So anyone with size 11+ feet looking for a pair of super boots, let me know

I'd also make sure I put up my new tent - and more importantly burnt in the portable stove and pipe - before embarking on any trip. The tent wasn't a problem bar the pegs as it was similar to my previous Kifaru and Seekoutside ones, but the 10ft titanium stovepipe is an absolute bitch to roll the first time, particularly on thick uneven snow! And the edges are like razors, so plenty of rude words used before eventually getting it rolled.

I over-packed, basically. I took way too much gear (did I really need 3 knives, an axe, 24inch collapsible bowsaw (with spare blade) and Bahco laplander folding saw, for example!) ditto 4 sets of thermal baselayers, 6 pairs of thick sox, three sets of stoves (Trangia 25 set plus 4.5 litre trangia pot, Emberlit Ti, Vital stove) plus the tent woodburner. Foodwise, I also went way over the top, and had enough for a month, let alone a week! This included a kilo of flour, baking powder, yeast etc with which II intended to make bread, but the soaking wood tended to put paid to that. I also left behind a kg of rice, half kg of spaghetti, various packet meals, dehydrated peas, onions etc. I should have packed some cuppasoup type stuff. Stuff I took on a whim but found very welcome was some full-fat powdered milk (can't stand the skim-milk stuff), two tins of condensed milk and a squeezy bottle of golden syrup. Nothing like a big cup of tea or coffee first thing in the morning, with lashings of condensed milk or golden syrup! (Yes, I know this sounds vile, but even though I normally don't sweeten tea or coffee, your body craves easy calories/carbs in low temps, and this was a very good way of getting them in!) Also both go well with porridge too. Together, an ideal breakfast when the thermometer drops.

The Ribz I found to be very useful, both on the trips to and from Oslo, and whilst there. They hold a remarkable amount of kit (for example, mine held 2 phones, an Android tablet, a Palm, one of two battery packs I took along, passport, wallet, gloves, spare spectacles, car keys, loose change, trip itinerary, satellite photos of the area, two packets of cigs, cig lighter, and still has space for a lot more.) On the trek in they seemed to counter-balance the smallish rucksack I wore (circa 35-40 litres at a guess) and didn't get in the way of anything. Got a few stange looks at the airport as they are camo-pattern, but were never queried or regarded as carry-on luggage.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Really useful thoughts there mate and food for thought for me too. Out of interest, did you take the homebrew charger and did it make it through the scanners?

 

[Andy BB]

Oh - and a big plus for the Trangia 4 litre pot and lid. Fits the trangia 25 set perfectly (which stows inside it) and was my most used pot overall. Great for melting snow, cooking large batches of rice/stews etc and I know Cliff used his all the time for the communal pasta stews! Was also going to be my oven, but didn't get around to that.

I also took a sheet of Carbon felt, and this was great for stopping the trangia set from sinking into the snow! Was also going to use it as insulation between the outer pot and inner pots when baking bread, but never got around to trying that out. One for the future, methinks!

Other good bits - I bought a pair of Blackspur (?) carbon-fibre walking poles in Aldi or Lidl - can't remember which. Around £14? These were brilliant - absolutely essential in my opinion, particularly when hauling a pulk. They had both snow-baskets and pointly metal tips when the covers were removed. THese provided brilliant grip and balance, particularly on steep uphill, snow-covered sections of the trip, and the extension mechanism didn't move at all once set, even under my weight!.

I bought a buch of disposable handwarmers in the US, and again these worked perfectly. Tear open packet, shake, and warmth for 10-12 hours. Strangely enough, those bought by the other guys in the UK didn't work at all.

And another plug for the British Army wool wristlets - best £1 I ever spent! Most of the time I didn't even wear gloves with these on, and when it got chilly enough, I just put on thin woolen gloves over the top. My Russian Army fur-lined beasties were rarely used on my hands, although often used for kneeling on!