Sickness, Christmas and a couple of OK ski-trips
Index
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 19.12.22 | Høgkubben | 450m | 62m | Ålesund, Norway | WCP | MAP |
| 21.12.22 | Sogndal | – | – | Sogndal, Norway | – | MAP |
| 23.12.22 | Sjusjøen | – | – | Ringsaker, Norway | – | MAP |
| 24.12.22 | Storåsen | 974m | 17m | Ringsaker, Norway | FP | MAP |
| 24.12.22 | Sjusjøen CC track | – | – | Ringsaker, Norway | – | MAP |
| 25.12.22 | Sjusjøen CC track (Anne) | – | – | Ringsaker, Norway | – | MAP |
| 26.12.22 | Sjusjøen CC track (Anne) | – | – | Ringsaker, Norway | – | MAP |
| 27.12.22 | Sjusjøen CC track (Anne) | – | – | Ringsaker, Norway | – | MAP |
| 27.12.22 | Storåsen | 974m | 17m | Ringsaker, Norway | FP | MAP |
| 28.12.22 | Sjusjøen | – | – | Ringsaker, Norway | – | MAP |
| 30.12.22 | Hov | – | – | Søndre Land, Norway | – | MAP |
| 31.12.22 | Sjåheimen | 610m | 57m | Søndre Land, Norway | FP | MAP |
| 31.12.22 | New Year’s Eve | – | – | Søndre Land, Norway | – | MAP |
| 01.01.23 | Stedjeåsen | 625m | 123m | Sogndal, Norway | WCP | MAP |
There is very little mountain stuff to report from the final two weeks. Sickness followed me all through December, but as I blogged the other 50 weeks this year, I might as well finish consistently…
Week 50
Høgkubben (450m), Dec 19 2023
Monday: The rising curve I thought I was on, plummeted this afternoon. I went to Ålesund and spent the day in the main office and decided to hike Høgkubben on my way home.
Bad weather was supposed to move in, so I wanted one more hike before the snow or rain sat in. One good thing about Høgkubben is that the chance of someone already having broken the trail, is good.
It was a good hike, but I was feeling rotten. Was this too soon after my round of antibiotics last week?
In any case, I didn’t plan on turning around. After all, this is not a major hike.
After visiting the top, we took the same route down and I hoped that I wouldn’t be punished for this.
Trip statistics: 5,1km, 410 vertical meters, 1h:17m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP) from the hike:
Sogndal, Dec 21 2022
Wednesday: I felt quite unwell on Monday evening and had to go to the Doctor the next day. The basic tests were OK, and I was quickly dismissed. I spent the rest of Tuesday resting and hoped that I felt better the next day – when my Christmas “vacation” began – starting with driving to Sogndal.
“Vacation” in quotes – as I was on-call duty at work the rest of the year. Which – meant that there would be stuff to take care of – for sure.
Fortunately, I felt better on Wednesday and the drive to Sogndal was OK.
The plan was to continue to eastern Norway the next day, which I didn’t look forward to at all. The weather in the mountains and in eastern Norway was not good. I *can* drive in bad conditions, but I’d like to avoid it if I can.
Fortunately, Anne was keen on delaying the departure until Friday. The weather prognosis was better then.
Sjusjøen, Dec 23 2022
Friday: We left Sogndal as soon as daylight came along and had a mighty pleasant drive to Sjusjøen – where we had borrowed a cabin from good friends. This is also where we spent our 2021 Christmas break.
I really looked forward to getting to the cabin and just “land”. I had already dismissed the usual 100km skiing I normally do on these short Christmas and Easter holidays. I just hoped that I would get well again – before the new year.
Opposed to last year, Sjusjøen offered plenty of snow. And more was about to come!
We have our Christmas traditions. The first one was to enjoy a meal of rakfisk (Norwegian fish dish made from trout or char, salted and autolyzed for two to three months, or even up to a year) and Aquavit (a distilled spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia)
The second tradition is to decorate the tree, which I had brought all the way from my backyard on Sunnmøre. To be more precise – *close* to my backyard. I’m running out of nice pine trees and had to ask my neighbor if he had a “spare” tree…
And then we could settle in…
Storåsen (974m), Dec 24 2022
Saturday: The weather was stunning and even if I really just wanted to rest, I simply HAD to take a short ski-trip up to the nearest top – Storåsen. Anne and Karma came along.
It was probably a bad idea, but it felt like it was worth it when we reached the top and could enjoy the views.
Afterwards, we took a different route back to the cabin. Any skiing would have to be done in the tracks. The snow was way too deep for Karma.
Back at the cabin, I decided to rest while Anne took Karma on another ski-trip.
Trip statistics: 2,2km, 70 vertical meters, 0h:50m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
Pictures from Anne and Karma’s trip:
Ski-skating, Sjusjøen, Dec 24 2022
Saturday: When Anne and Karma came back from their trip, I made a terrible decision. I wanted to go on a short ski-skating trip. My downfall is that any action of mine is a function of how I feel, and right now – I was feeling better.
To my defense, I planned on a short ski-trip. Perhaps 3-4km. But there were two problems. The first was that my skis (which I had not maintained since last year) didn’t glide well on the cold snow. The second was that there wasn’t a 3-4km loop.
So, I had to go on a longer round…
While I enjoyed being out, I spent a lot of energy, and I had a feeling that there was a price that would have to be paid.
But tonight, I would be fine. Especially with the traditional dinner that Anne served.
Trip statistics: 8,1km, 125 vertical meters, 1h:22m
Anne-cam, Sjusjøen, Dec 25 2022
Sunday: I got quite sick during the night and had a terrible morning. It was definitely not a hangover (I didn’t drink that much), but maybe the combination of sickness, 8km of hard ski-skating and alcohol was not the combo I needed. I was sentenced to a day indoors…
The weather turned bad also, but that didn’t stop my girls – who went on a ski-trip, several hours’ worth…
Pictures from Anne and Karma’s trip:
Week 52
Anne-cam, Sjusjøen, Dec 26 2022
Monday: This was more or less a repetition of the day before. I was still sick, the weather was still shitty and my girls went on yet another ski-trip. I was able to shovel some snow, but that was it.
Fortunately, the Rapid Chess World Championship was on TV, and I didn’t miss a single move that Magnus Carlsen made during the day. I don’t play chess, but I enjoy watching…
Pictures from Anne and Karma’s trip:
Anne-cam, Sjusjøen, Dec 27 2022
Tuesday: And then the weather turned great again! I was still not back up to speed and watched with sorrow Anne and Karma leave for yet another ski-trip. But once they had left, I quickly tuned into Magnus Carlsen again…
Pictures from Anne and Karma’s trip:
Storåsen (974m), Dec 27 2022
Tuesday: When Anne and Karma returned, the chess was over, I was feeling a bit better and I was determined to make yet another bad decision. I was going skiing!
But no ski-skating today. I borrowed Anne’s cross-country skis and had a very nice round in the tracks – via Storåsen – again.
If only today could be the turning point! I had now been sick for a month, starting with Covid and then riddled by infections of various sorts.
But even if this trip would turn out to be another bad idea, at least I would think back on this trip as a merry one.
Trip statistics: 6,5km, 165 vertical meters, 1h:00m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
Sjusjøen, Dec 28-29
Wed-Thu: Our friends that own the cabin arrived and we had two nice days with them before it was time to move on.
And Magnus Carlsen became the world champion in Rapid Chess. Again. Now, we could look forward to 2 days of Blitz Chess on the TV.
Hov, Dec 30 2022
Friday: Today, we left Sjusjøen and sat course for Hov in Søndre Land – to spend New Year’s Eve (like last year) with good friends.
Driving conditions were OK and we listened to Magnus doing well on the last day of the Blitz Chess.
We got to Hov just before the last game (#21) and crashed in front of the TV. Not very polite, but our friends also wanted to see the finish. After yet another spectacular game, Magnus drew the last straw and was now the reigning champions in all 3 disciplines. For the 3rd time!
The others then wanted to go for a ski-trip, but I decided to sit this one out.
When they returned, it was time for the traditional Friday taco.
Friday evening was all about chillin’…
Pictures from Anne and Karma’s trip:
Sjåheimen (610m), Dec 31 2022
Saturday: Lo and behold, this morning I actually felt good! I had to double check, and yup – I did feel good. The right move would be to take yet another (at least) day of rest. The bad move would be to go on a ski-skating trip. And since I’m prone to bad choices, that’s exactly what I did.
But I didn’t go alone. We all went. We drove up to Trolldalen and the plan was to ski in the Toten tracks. But these tracks had not been prepared so we would have to follow the Søndre Land tracks instead.
I had hot-waxed my skating skis in the morning and they were really performing. The others (on cross-country skis) looked like they stood still in comparison.
I was able to convince the others to go to “Skihytta” – aka Sjåheimen. Visiting a top feels much better than just skiing around tracks without any greater purpose than to have a good time (most people would disagree, I suppose…)
We all had a good time, and while I did feel quite good I was surprised how hard skating in the uphills, was. Most likely a post-Covid effect. I assumed this would go away, time permitted. If I could just shake the infection, then I would start rebuilding my physical condition.
Trip statistics: 9,2km, 200 vertical meters, 1h:33m
Pictures (Canon EOS RP/Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
New Year’s Eve, Dec 31 2022
Saturday: Our friend’s daughter came visiting and then we could enjoy the traditional Turkey dinner on New Year’s Eve.
Karma was thrilled about the “extra pair of hands”
We then had a mighty fun time playing cards. It’s been years since I played cards and we really enjoyed ourselves.
Approaching midnight, the usual scoundrels started up the fireworks too soon and Karma was really uneasy. Just before midnight, we turned up the TV and the radio and went outside. There wasn’t a lot of fireworks to be seen and I didn’t bother bringing my proper camera.
Back inside, it was time to open the (real) Champagne and hope for a better world (and health) in the new year.
Thanks for good friends! It makes all the difference…
Stedjeåsen (624m), Jan 1 2023
Sunday: It was time to return to Sogndal. The weather was good and albeit the roads were icy, driving conditions were OK.
I was tired when we got to Sogndal and had to rest for a little while. I wanted to take Karma on a hike to the local top Stedjeåsen, just to begin the year on a “good note”. I was tired, clearly not in the same shape and form as the day before but decided to pull myself together and do this hike.
While the hike was nice, it was soon clear to me that this was probably a bad idea. But as I’ve said on numerous occasions – bad ideas could still be worth the while.
Monday: I returned to Sunnmøre on Monday evening, after having gotten a slot at the Doctor’s office on Tuesday. The tests revealed that I was pretty much back to scratch, regarding the infection. Another round of antobiotics. Which means that I have to do everything right this time. I hope there is something to blog about, come February..
Trip statistics: 5,7km, 570 vertical meters, 1h:41m
Pictures (Iphone 13 Pro Max) from the trip:
Hei Arnt, ønsker deg god bedring! Best wishes for deg og Anne og Karma!
Helsing Ellen
Mange takk, Ellen!!