Page 14 - Wish Stream Year of 2017

here, we caught the bus to the train station and waited for our transfer to Geilo. Using our navi- gational skills, we found a local McDonalds to replenish our much-depleted vitamin and min- eral levels.
Arriving in Geilo, we soon found out how expen- sive Norway can be when we racked up £110 worth of taxi fares for a total of 20 minutes. Arriv- ing at Øen Turistsenter, we dumped our bags in our apartment and headed out for a big shop. This enabled the self-proclaimed ‘chefs’ OCdts Moore and Mugford to produce an array of ‘gourmet’ meals throughout the trip.
A bright and early start on Sunday saw OCdt Shine maintain a firm grasp on his Junior Term admin as he realised that he would be skiing all week without salopettes. Bdr Wren got the ball rolling with an introductory safety and weather brief before leading us out onto the slopes. We soon got to grips with the basics of classic Nor- dic skiing, a task that left us all struggling to stay on our feet (even OCdt Moore, who if you didn’t know, has done 2 ski seasons). After an hour or so, we set off on our planned 12km route around Geilo, which involved a mere 27 falls from OCdt Dalrymple.
We started day two with
a much-needed layer of two with a much- snow under our skis fol-
On Wednesday we were welcomed by more blue skies, which was excellent for the morning, but left slushy conditions in the afternoon. We intended to spend a bit more time in our beloved café; however, we were met with locked doors, dampening our spirits slightly. All was not lost, however, as OCdts Moore and Mugford revital- ised the group’s morale with lunchtime culinary delights they had concocted earlier. We still managed to cover 22km of beautiful mountain scenery on what was otherwise a fine day, with the now-seasoned OCdt Dalrymple doing well until the final 200 metres, when he added 3 spectacular high-speed nosedives to his tally of 5 for the day – so much for beating the previous day’s record.
The limited routes caused by the weather meant that the final day involved staying around Geilo, consolidating what we had learnt and rac- ing around the stadium where the competitive nature of all OCdts were displayed, the highlight being the cut-throat final race between OCdts Moore and Shine.
OCdt Pearce cemented his position as the most successful skier of the week, having gathered the lowest tally of falls down to his prior Nordic experience.
All in all, the whole group thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and are hoping to complete fur- ther Nordic skiing qualifications throughout their careers.
We started day
needed layer of
snow under our
lowing a solid 15 hour snowfall. Realising the track towards Ruper-
skis... anden had been pisted, we made the 11km trek to the recommended mountaintop café. Once refreshed and thawed out, we made our way back to the apartment with the entertainment provided by OCdt Dal-
rymple and his 10 tumbles.
More snow overnight resulted in the best day’s skiing of the week, visiting Ruperanden on a 26km round trip. The perfect sunny conditions offered us phenomenal views and glimpses of local wildlife. To top it off, OCdt Dalrymple only fell an impressive 8 times – his confidence obvi- ously boosted knowing that our instructor (hav- ing recorded his first of two falls) was not as infal- lible as first thought!
12 SANDHURST