Weekend in the Mountains Part III: Ski Touring

Summer Touring



Winter Touring

I should mention that in this post, and the last two posts, the introductory "contrast" photos depict the same area.  The summer photos were taken in the summer of  2005 when Tove and I visited Ann Kristin and Thor Gunnar and their children, Amanda and Sander, at their cabin. 

After we had set up our temporaray "camp" on the shore of the frozen lake, Ann Kristin, Tove and I struck out on a little ski trip across the frozen lake and into the hills on the other side.  The weather was lovely - in the 40s, no wind, and mostly sunny.  I kept up with the ladies, for the most part, but I had trouble with the downhill portions.  I feel so unstable on cross-country skis -- they are much thinner than downhill skis, and unlike downhill ski bindings, x-c ski bindings bind the toe, but leave the heel free to articulate.  This is necessary, of course, in order to propel oneself over the snow.  But, turning while going down hill on x-c skis is more difficult for me with the less-pronounced edges and heels not anchored down.

Coming down a little hill into "camp" my instability (which causes fear) resulted in me falling.  No big deal, except that when I got back up on my skis, I inadvertently twisted my left knee.  Not badly, but enough that I couldn't snow-plow down the hills to slow down.  That, combined with my poor turning skills, put me behind the ladies once we were in the hills.  But, they were patient with me.  I should also point out that I stopped often to take photos.

After about 1/2 hour of skiing, we came to a small knoll that was snow-free.  So we took a break to drink water, enjoy the view and relax a bit.

The snow was quite deep!

Next Post:  Lunch back at the "Camp".