Ski premiere 2024/25 Nov 3 2024

After the snowfall in the first half of the week …

… snowfall continued in the weekend.

Saturday, 2 November – walking

When I woke up yesterday morning another 10–15 cm of snow have fallen over night and it is still snowing. I get myself dressed, grab my camera backpack and go out. At the kindergarten I follow the way to the ski jumps. The light is still dim and I am quite alone. A strong wind gust blows snow from all trees and for some seconds snow is everywhere in the air.

I turn left and head to the small pond. The pair of Red-throated loons has left long ago and now the pond is frozen and covered in snow.

From there I cross the small grassy bog and follow some of the many forest paths.

I walked here quite a lot last summer but now that everything is covered in 25–30 cm of snow I miss some of the paths. That circumstance gave me wet feet quite soon. While trudging through the snow I suddenly felt my rubber boots sinking in something else. Seconds later I stood knee deep in a patch of mud. Brownish water eagerly filled my boots and the mud was so sticky, that it took me a minute to get free again. The rest of my walk I had wet and pretty cold feet. Back home I praised the inventor of the hot shower. (And that of the shoe dryer.)

Saturday, 2 November – jogging

Two hours later I go out again, this time to jog. I just have started again three weeks ago and I want to continue in wintertime as long it is possible. This time I stick to the “official” ways – some of them are already packed and groomed for cross-country skiers. Luckily you are allowed to bike or walk on the side of these tracks. It is fun to jog while it is snowing again. And my feet remained almost dry (just a bit of snow came into the Icebug winter running shoes).

Sunday, 3 November – skiing

This morning even more snow has fallen and I decide to take a ski tour. Not elsewhere but directly from home. I fetch my “fjellski” and poles from the shack and start my ski tour right from the entrance of my apartment. As the day before I pass the kindergarten and the small pond. The snow depth has grown to 45–50 cm and the skis sink in 20 cm with each step. Mostly I take those forest paths that are not too steep, but sometimes I follow the ski tracks where even I am as twice as fast.

Some more snow showers pass while I’m skiing cross-country. But then the sun comes out and colourises both sea and clouds deep orange. While I try to find a good spot to take a photo (I have my DSLR with me) the sun has begun to hide again. Photographer’s bad luck!

I pass the lake Rundvannet, while another snow shower approaches. No bathers today.

While I am heading back the sun comes out again, this time for longer. It is pretty low and soon disappears behind the mountains. In 3½ weeks polar night will start in Tromsø.

The huge ski jump of the Grønnåsen Ski Jump Center is a good landmark. Since it is on top of a hill it is visible from many places. Today I will climb up and finally ski down the ski jump to see how far I … well, just kidding.

From the ski jump it is only 800 metres back home. I ski the whole distance although I always feel uncomfortable skiing on the roads. The snow is so slippery there. After 7.5 kilometres – sometimes on tracks but mostly cross-country I am back home again.

Some hours later – 16:12. It is dark and another snow shower has approached. More snow! Anyhow it is only a temporary pleasure. Next week it will get much warmer and from Tuesday 78 mm of rain are expected for the next seen days. I guess the road conditions can be pretty ugly then. I am glad that I was outside in the “preview” of winter 2024/25. Let’s see when the next snow will arrive.

Norddeich/Norden Sep 12 2024

Annika and I were in Norddeich, the coastal district of Norden (“north”) in East Friesland, Germany the last days. The word “Norden” definitely qualifies that place for getting an article in my blog way-up-north.

Many streets of Norddeich have the theme “north” in their names. Am Nordkap (At the North Cape), Nordlandstraße (Northland street), Nordlichtstraße (Northern Light Street). Guess what, I like the names! Partly from my Scandinavian point of view, partly because I am from Northern Germany and therefore a “Nordlicht” (a nickname for people from Northern Germany) by myself.

Some photos from Tuesday, 10 September, the day of our arrival:

Yesterday on Wednesday, 11 September Annika and I rented e-bikes and took a cycle tour to Greetsiel. The weather was quite nasty for early September: strong gusty winds, hailstorms, cloudbursts and even a thunderstorm. And all that at temperatures around 10–11 °C. Kudos for the e-bikes! Without electrical motor support we wouldn’t have managed it against the wind.

It’s a long way to travel to Norden from our places. Round about 2800 km from Tromsø, my “work home” and still 1900 km from Obbola, my “home home”. But I think, I’ll visit Norddeich again some other time.

Winterly Kvaløya Apr 23 2023

What a misjudgement! Since it was warm the last weeks I didn’t expect so much winter in Tromsø and around. It was a mistake not to take skis or/and snowshoes with me, when I visited the neighboring island Kvaløya today. And here everything was still snowy. Very snowy. So for example the tombstones on the graveyard in Henrikvik. Or a fence nearby, where only the edge looked out of the snow.

Snowed in tombstones in Henrikvik, Kvaløya

How many tombstone there are around? Hard to say. Some of the larger ones were quite visible while other parts of the graveyard were just a white sheet of snow. I’ll have to check in summer.

Although the temperatures were sub-zero the road by the coast was wet and free of snow. This changed when I turned into the road to Sommerøya, the summer island. Although the road is just 150 meters above sea level it was snow covered. During the snow showers it was hard to see the roadside and I slowed down a lot for every car that came my way.

Some other cars parked at the different parking places. Two skiers just started a tour. But I could hardly spot any fresh ski tracks and even some of the avalanche transceiver test station were quite snowed in. No wonder because parts of the lake Kattfjordvatnet are already open and the ice is not safe anymore.

On the other side of the water: a group of trees in the fresh, white snow. Not a single ski track could be seen. At least here ski season seems to be over.

On the other side walking through the snow is not the best idea neither, especially when there are deep, snow-covered ditches …

A first day in Longyearbyen Mar 4 2023

This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.

Today Annika and I have the first full day in Longyearbyen. There’s a lot to see, even for us, for whom Northern Norway in general is nothing new.

House on mountain slope

We have seen houses, we have seen mountains, we have seen houses by and in mountains. But the mountains in Svalbard are really special and quite recognisable.

Arctic town

It is not only the mountains, that give Longyearbyen a very special character. It is amongst others the traces of the coal mining that is still present although there is no active mining in town any longer.

Avalanche fences

In December 2015 an avalanche buried ten houses in Longyearbyen. Two people died. Today some houses in Longyearbyen are abandoned because they lie in critical areas and the mountain Sukkertoppen (the sugar peak) is covered with avalanche fences.

Snowmobiles

In Northern Sweden snow mobiles are very popular, for work, transportation and for leisure. In Northern Norway there are much more restrictions and you do not see them as often. In Svalbard there are more snow mobiles than people. No wonder in a place with very long winters and hardly any road network.

Chilly temperatures

In Northern Sweden temperatures of -19.7 °C are not seldom in winter, but then it is mostly calm weather. Today in Longyearbyen it was pretty gusty and windy which made the temperature appear significantly lower.

Fjords

Yes, there are fjords in Tromsø. But there are roads and settlements, too. On Svalbard there are not many settlements at all and the fjords do not only look much more icy and arctic, but also untouched. The small dots on the right of the first image however tell another story: There is a lot of snowmobile traffic.

Northernmost church?

There is a church in Longyearbyen lying on a small hill. It looks cosy and if you go in you realise, it is. It is the northernmost Lutheran church in the world, only topped by an Eastern Orthodox church in the Russian Franz Josef Land. (Source: wikipedia)

Mukluks

Of course people in Longyearbyen have warm clothes. When it comes to boots Mukluks are quite popular. The origin of these shoes lies in the Inuit culture of the North American Arctic and there are great for dry and cold weather. You hardly see them in mainland Scandinavia.

Impressive mountains

Did I mention the impressive mountains? I did? Well, anyhow – they are impressive!

Surprises

This solitary house goes by the name Huset – the house. The name is as pragmatic as the architecture. But it contains a surprise. The restaurant Huset does not only have quite high-priced dinner, but also a “Saturday beef” on Saturdays 15-18. By chance we passed the house at 14:45 and it is Saturday today. So we decided to eat there. A good choice because the food was very delicious and costed only 190 crowns – a bargain in Norway!

Polar bears

One of the very special things about Svalbard: there are more polar bears than human beings on this Archipelago. While the town Longyearbyen is protected the surroundings aren’t. If you leave town you have to carry a rifle and a flare gun and must know how to handle incidents with polar bears. Signs warn you when you leave the safe space.

Neither Annika nor I can and may handle a rifle so we stay within town beside of guided tours.

Treacherous weather

When we left the restaurant Huset, weather had changed. It was as windy as before but now it was snowing and the wind gusts blew snow everywhere. Into the face and into the pockets of my parka. It was however less than a kilometre walk until we reached our accommodation Coal Miner’s Cabin.

Scotland: Stac Pollaidh Oct 25 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-10: Autumn in Scotland”.

It’s 12 October, day 6 of Annika’s and my Scotland holiday this autumn. Today we want to hike round the Stac Pollaidh – or “Stac Polly” – a mountain in the Assynt region of the Northwest highlands. Its twin summit is quite prominent. We start our tour after lunch, where weather was supposed to get better. (And it was.)

Slowly we start hiking up following the excellent cobblestone path.

Technically our tour follows a circular path round the summits, but it climbs up almost on level of the east summit. The west summit is round 80 metres higher and needs a certain amount of scrambling and mountaineering experience that we lack.

It is still cloudy, but the sun starts to peek more and more through breaks in the clouds. Quite soon the views are impressive, from hazy tones of dark grey against the light to circular views that seem to cover the whole Assynt region. Harsh mountain tops – nunataks in the ice age – hilly landscapes – countless lakes, and to the west: the sea.

The ascent gets a bit steeper, the cobblestone path zigzags up the mountain. The passing clouds constantly change the landscape’s appearance. Again and again I have to look back for the views.

The cobblestone path zigzags up the Stac Pollaidh

Finally we arrive at the junction to the east summit. It is not far to climb it and it rewards with a scenic 360° view, only interrupted by the higher west summit. Stunning! Me meet a local that shows and names all mountain massifs and tops around. Wind increases and we are pretty glad about our windproof clothes.

It’s hard to leave this beautiful place but finally we leave the summit and walk back to our circular route. The first part is near perfection, then it gets quite muddy and slippery. But the views are still awesome.

The more we loose elevation the more we approach our starting point. We can see the harsh rocks of the west summit and partially hidden behind the east summit that we just had visited. The sky is bluer than and Stac Pollaidh looks friendly. Other mountains in directing sun however look sombre and almost hostile.

We reach a last sheep gate and shortly after arrive at the parking place.

Two photos in portrait format – they never blend in with my other landscape format photos. The first is from the ascent, the second from the descent.

Shortly after we have arrived at the car it is starting to rain. Wow, that’s perfect timing! And beyond that it rewards us with one of the most durable double rainbows I ever saw. Intensely it is shining for more than 40 minutes while we are driving to our hostel in Inchnadamph. Even when it gets dark the sun still is illuminating a cloud blanketing a mountain.

A bright double rainbow in the afternoon I

A bright double rainbow in the afternoon II

Along with our day on Isle of Lewis’ west coast this day is definitely one of my personal highlights of our holiday. Thank you Annika for planning the tour and sharing the experience!

Jämtland tour 22 – the trail Sep 7 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-08: Jämtland and Trøndelag”.

Blåhammaren: summer and winter trail (15 August)

On the photo above you can see the trail from Blåhammaren to Storulvån. It is in fact two trails together: the winter trail that is marked with red crosses and the summer trail that mostly is marked with stones with a large dot of red paint on it. We didn’t follow this trail I only took the photo because of the beautiful evening colours.

Many parts of the trail are just like this. They lead through heather, grass, crowberries, and dwarf birches. Other parts of the trail lead over hills, across rock fields, through forests and sometimes over a reindeer fence.

Trail to Nydalshytta in Norway (17 August)

Ladder over a reindeer fence (24 August)

This is when the trail is dry. But often it isn’t. The trail can just be very wet of last nights rain as we had it on our third day.

The trail can be boardwalks that lead over swampy area or bogs. Some of them may be under the water which makes them rather slippery.

Boardwalks leading over swamp (25 August)

And then there are rivers, streams and brooks. Some of them are crossed by a bridge. Some bridges are big, some are – well – small, simple, and pragmatic.

And then there are rivers that you have to ford. I ’m used to hiking in rubber boots and so I could splash through while my fellow hikers had to switch to sandals and wade through the ice cold water. Already Douglas Adams said: You have to know where your towel is.

And then there is mud. It can be slippery and sometimes quite deep, especially right before or after a plank. When you have a plank.

Especially the first day trail section Storvallen—Blåhammaren was in an extremely poor shape. The others went around all these muddy patches while I – hey, I have rubber boots! – just continued straight ahead. But then at one point it happened. I made a step ahead and my right leg sank thigh deep into the mud. On the trail! Luckily Blåhammaren had a dry room.

Mud hole (15 August) – photo: Annika Kramer

But don’t be afraid, that’s not typical. Many sections of the trail look more like this:

How long the trail was? I don’t have the exact numbers but I think we hiked round about 135 km on 8 days, so round 17 km a day.

Hiking up the Nordtinden Jul 24 2022

After I failed reaching the summit of the Nordtinden (640 m) last November I gave it a second try today. It’s so much easier to navigate when there is no snow covering the path and the sparse way marks.

I start to follow the gravel road, which I leave after 2.7 km.

The small trail leads up steadily. It’s not so steep, that I have to climb but steep enough to raise my pulse to hummingbird level. I could blame it on my Covid infection two weeks ago but I guess it’s just a lack of fitness.

A movement to the left wakes me up. It’s a flock of ptarmigan fledglings with an adult. Some flutter away, some stay. I use the confusion to take some photos with my telephoto lens. The photos are heavily cropped, I want to keep distance.

I am above the tree line now and the views are impressive.

Most impressive is a chasm at the side of the trail. The gradient down? Perhaps 400%. Enough to keep safety distance while photographing.

The last part is rocky and pathless but the huge cairns marking the tops of Nordtinden (there seem to be two) are in view so I can navigate just by eye. I take it easy on the boulder fields. I reach summit number one and add myself to the summit register that lies sheltered in an aluminium box.

I continue a bit more west to get a better view to the sea. And there it is – the island Vengsøya with the smaller island Vågøya in the front.

I walk around to take some more pictures. I watch the ferry leaving Vengsøya and climb a bit down the slope to have a closer look to the nameless lake below the mountain Laukviktinden.

Then I walk back in a small circle, pass the other summit cairn and start to descend.

It’s always interesting how not only the view changes but the terrain as well. Round the summits it’s mostly rocks and boulder fields, then more and more grass is present and the path consists also of gravel and then earth, too. On the way back the lake Skulsfjordvatnet lies in the sun.

As most day trips the way back is the same as the way there. So I pass the sign to Nordtinden a second time and am on the gravel road again.

The change from forest to farmland shows that my car is not far away. After four hours and about 12 km I’m back from a lovely mountain hike.

Two more photos showing small things. The first one a beetle from the genus Carabus. The first one a berry from the genus Rubus. I was glad about both discoveries. The difference: The beetle stayed unharmed, the berry was eaten right after taking the picture.

Some summer days in Sweden Jul 20 2022

I was home in Sweden for only three weeks but the time feels long and rich. Annika and I had guests most of the time but some days in between just the two of us.

A short kayak trip in the sun

On 1 July I used my lunch break to paddle to the beach. I took a bath and lunch there and then paddled back to work. Ah, I love this type of lunch breaks!

A day trip to Norrbyskär

On 3 July Annika and I took the car to Norrbyn and from there the ferry to the island Norrbyskär. Always worth visiting, especially when the warm weather invites to a bath.

3 July – remnants of the timber industry

A wavy kayak trip

On 4 July Annika and I made a kayak trip to and round the island Tarv. Normally this would be a quite relaxing tour of 10–11 km. But due to the windy weather the sea was pretty choppy and we had to focus a lot on the waves and the rocks.

No one of us took any photos there, but in the more sheltered waters beside and behind the island it was possible to take some photos again. And another bath.

4 July – Annika and I left the open sea and are in calmer waters

Finally rain

On 7 July it finally rained in Obbola. The rain came too late for the dried up lawn but probably saved a lot of flowers and bushes in our garden.

Hiking twice

On 8 July Annika and hiked twice. First round Grössjön together with guests from Germany, then just we two at the Kronören naturreservat. Grössjön is mostly forest and bogs (and a lot of mosquitoes) while Kronören is also open landscape by the sea.

Back to Tromsø

Ten days ago an 10 July I travelled back to Tromsø. Train Departure in Umeå 2:15 in the night, bus arrival in Tromsø was 17:30.

I felt cold and made a Covid test the next day. Bang – positive! Therefore I couldn’t take advantage of the beautiful summer weather in Tromsø but stayed home in bed the week.

I made some short hikes on the weekend but the weather was dull, foggy and rainy.

Tønsvik: forest path up the Tønsnesvarden

Farewell winter 2022? Apr 8 2022

This evening Annika and I will take the night train to Göteborg. We will meet close friends and spend the Easter week in Southern Sweden where we probably will meet spring. So it’s probably time for me to say farewell to winter.

I was honoured. Winter dropped by personally to say farewell today. The gifts: Strong winds and at least twenty centimetres of snow. First I worked a bit but then Annika and I took a winter promenade to our Vitskärsudden, our favourite beach.

Today’s view from my home office in Sweden

Promenade II – there is usually a road here

Some hours later I dug out the car. We’ll need it later. It had already become warmer and the snow was wet and heavy. So winter didn’t come to stay but I was glad about its farewell.

Polar expedition AeN JC3 – day 6: sailing through the ice Mar 16 2022

This article is part of the series “2022-02: Winter cruise KPH”.

Day 6 · 24 February 2022

We are on our way to P4, our first ice station. P4 lies at 79.75 °N 34.00 °N, round 50 km southeast of the island Kvitøya (white island) that belongs to the Svalbard archipelago. This station is more north than Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard. The estimated time of arrival is tomorrow round lunch time.

However it is not granted that the ice will be safe enough to work on. In addition to that it will become stormy tonight and maybe the whole next day according to windy.com . So even when the ice is safe the weather conditions could be too harsh. So there are several uncertainties. We plan for the station but more we cannot do yet.

Today is a cold day with temperatures maximum of -25.0 °C and minimum of -30.5 °C. I’ve experienced colder temperatures many times in my live in different parts of Lapland, but then the wind was always calm. With the ongoing wind the resulting windchill lies between -36 °C and -49 °C. And windy is right: it starts getting windier in the evening.

temperate in °C | wind speed relative to the ship in m/s | resulting windchill in °C.

I take photos of marine animals, I learn the basics of ice observation but I stand outside quite often today. Watching the icebreaking polar research vessel Kronprins Haakon breaking through the ice. It is a great experience and I’m happy that I may participate.

But now, let the photos speak. The first I made at 3:50 in the night, the last ones at 19:10.

$Diffraction$

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