It has been a lot of climbing latly, good for the technique and for the strength. Hopefully it will be some Days hanging outdoor on the Cliffs.
Todays story will be about a tour in Harjedalsfjallen. It is a early March morning. I put on my tour-skies at the bridge over Ljusnan. The weather is ok, a bit cold and cloudy. but almost no wind. The plan is to go the whole way to Helags. The distance is almost 30km. After 15km i am passing Faltjagarstugan, I stay for cooking some lunch. The view from the cabin is fantastic. When the body is loaded with new carbonates it is time to move on. The weather is getting better, and I got a bit sun on my way to Helags. After totally five hours of skiing I reach the mountain station, I get my bed. I will eat the dinner they serve at the mountain station, and early next morning get up for a peak tour to the Helags peak. This day the weather is even better, the sun is on its way up. The snow is crispy from the Cold of the night. The first twenty minutes I go without skins, but then the elevation make me lose the grip. After a short stop, the skins is on. I keep up in good speed, and after Another twenty minutes I can see two other skiiers. At this early time I thought I was lonely. Soon I reach then, and it is two ski-alpinists. With my tour Equipment, I pass them with a smile. The two Young dudes with the special light equipment is left behind. After reaching the peak, I turn South and then follows the trail back to Faltjagarcabin. In late evening I reach the cabin, and the view in the dawn is even more fantastic than the day Before…I start to make myself a dinner. I am the only guest at the cabin. I Think to myself that it will be a calm evening. But at nine a Clock a couple open the door and they will be spending the night in the cabin. We have a long nice talk about Svalbard were they have been. After a long talk a fall asleep. Early, early next morning I make a short fast breakfast, and put on my clothes. The morning air is Cold, the body a bit stiff. I put on my skies and heading towards to Ramundberget. I Always get a feeling of sadness while leaving the Mountains. I got the feeling the whole way trought the trail including Slanggungan. A funny but understandable name, fast and with a lot of curves…
This topic can never be too much spoken. Last weekend a Ski-alpinist was founddead close to a snow-bridge at Are, in Jamtland. This days there is another type of environment and different types of activities that will affect us. First, the global warming will influence the quality of ice and snow. This means that the knowledge and rules are out of play. We must rethink about the quality and form of it. For a ice climber this is crucial. But this meaning that even x-country skiers also must bear in mind that routes over ices and mores will not have the same buoyance as before. The ground of safety you need to consider: adapt the activity to the conditions and your skills. You might should think like a guide, and not
like you are a gud (Sv. For God don’t forget the “I”). Question yourself: Would I have done this with others and with responsibility of their safety? Or why not hire a guide, at least the first day or days
of the activity to get the knowledge over the area. You often got the culture and history of the area and if you are lucky even a good chef, that will make you nice dinner:-). When it comes to safety,
statistics can be interesting. But notice it is still just statistics. France is one of the country that have a good following up of accidents. When it comes to mountain related activities and accidents in 2012
it was the hiking and mountaineering that was the two most represented in the area. With 38 trauma related death in
hiking and 35 related to mountaineering. This compered to rock climbing with 5 and 1 of Ice/waterfall climbing. When it comes to hiking and mountaineering the most common cause will be slip on snow or ice, and the second is related to falls. Three climbers fall 800m at aiguille du Midi. In theChamonix area the Valle Blanche/Aiguille du Midi area is one of the most exposed, and most visit in the alp area. In 2018 there was 20 deaths related to the area and falls. And looking into avalange area, it is interresting to see that most of the accidents will appear during risk level two and three. We might feel safety with good Equipment and a reliance over our own knowledge level..
Avalange level 2-3 is over represented related to Avalanche accidents.
There is a debate ongoing about the service level of the Swedish mountain stations. One part means that it is good with a high level of service. The otherside means that is to high level, and soon there will be roads to all stations. From my Point of view, I think the Mountains can be open for all categories. If you dont need the high level of service you can still use the smaller cabins. In the long term I Think it will look diffrent out than today. I will write about later here.
When it comes to books for the mountain libary i will suggest two new ones. One old and one new. So lets start with the new one. Fredrik Neregard has written a book about Kebnekaise, Abisko and Riksgränsen. This is a book in the Calazo serie and a very fine guide book over the area. Here you get real good suggeestion of path and places you never been aware of. Maybe one example:
The other book is from 1935 and still up to date. Torsten Boberg and Gosta Olanders ”Till Fjälls i västra Jämtland, en turbok” decribes the routes in the area. Here you can learn a lot over trails that has been forgotten in the area. Also a history discription, such as you have to row about in Enafors over Enan to be able to reach Sylarna. When Reading this book I Think the long trailers will come back in the near future. With the climate debate, and the strive of being extreme and have mountain knowledge, this type of challanges might be more on peoples minds. A seven day tour in the Jamtland will be a real challenge, and with a Boberg mindset it will be real nice. So I Think this will have the impact on mountain stations service level etc. This adventureers will not have the service, or maybe just in the end of the tour..
So here I sit after 30k of movement. 15k speed hike with the husky and 15k X-country running. I Think I am a really mountain man. And how do I define one? well, if the two most important thoughts going on in your mind is the last mountain tour and your next upcoming. Then you are a real mountain man:-)
It is late June, and the sun is already high in the sky even if it’s still morning. The air is crispy, and stilla bit cold. With just a small degree over zero. I’ve park the car in Vallbo a Sami village, known by its chapel. I can see were the trail starts and I am getting ready for the days challenge. Today I am heading for the
isjodalen towards Halladalen to Anaris mountain cabin. The first part of the trail is big and easy to
follow. After a couple of kilometer, I pass a couple of hikers in their tent. It is early season, so I am a
bit surprise that is more people here. The weather is fine, and I have good speed. I am not aware of
the trouble that is awaiting ahead. The surface under my feet starting to get wet, and when I am
close to Gronvallen its not a trail anymore. It has now become a creek and the closer I got to
Gronvallen the more it looks like a flood. I jump over the tuft and try to avoid the cold water until I
give up and run in the flood. I pass the sign that direct me toward the Issjodalen. Suddenly, the water
under my feet disappear. And I got into the valley. The sun his heating the air, and it’s a fantastic day.
It’s like being in a movie like the lords of the rings. In front of me ridges with snow, and on the right
mounds. Soon I reach the kings hunting cabin and passed uphill’s toward Halladalen. Haven’t meet a
person since the hikers the first kilometer. When passing the passage between Stor-anahogen and
Tjearmehketjoele I got the first snow under my trail shoes. From here the trail will be less used, and I
must look to the ground to not lose it. When I pass Tjielkenjuenie on my right hand, I can see the
target of the day for the first time. Far away there it is, a small cabin the Anaris cabin. The trail down
(yes it goes down, but now my feet and legs are tired) to the cabin is nice, but heavy. When reaching
the cabin, I can find it empty. The cabin host is probably out for an adventure. I take a refreshing bath
in the small mountain lake near the cabin. Later in the evening the cabin host is back, and I got the
opportunity to be able to by some things. So, meatballs with mashed potatoes will be the dinner of
the day. After a long day on the run, it’s time to sleep. The view from the cabin is fantastic, and that
is the last scenery before I passed out in the land of dreams. Next morning its early morning. Just
after 0500 I am on track again. Now following the north side of Kruptjie and Staalavielie down toward
to the transition of Tvaran and further towards Tomroven (such a funny name) and to Vallbo. The last
part of the trail goes by ski track, and easy to run. A fast shower at Per-Ols courtyard, and then
heading toward home…
And what was the experience of this tour? Well first, understand the Sami’seight seasons. (Spring Winter, spring, pre summer, summer, pre autumn, autumn, pre Winter and last Winter) That will help you to choose when you should go to the mountains. Contact the locals
to check the water levels and status. But here I must say, use your instinct. Yoy and the locals might not have the same experince about what high water level is:-) Third, it is very important to stop and check map and terrain. Idid a big mistake here, I thought a ridge was another and thought it was less left to go than it really
was. (This will be more important when you run). So plan the day tour in detail. Identify some Catch up signs among the route, that will help you to navigate and plan the time left to go.
Leadership from a view…Working with groups can be challenging. Here come some thoughts aboutit. First people love to form groups. It is nailed in our DNS for survival. With requirement for being in
the group makes it more interesting. We value more to be in a group with requirement. To follow the valuable norms and rules is also important, this for being a part of the group. Being a leader of a
group includes high status. Normally it is better to point out a leader from the own organization. If he or she have follows the rules and norms and had add new good ideas it will benefit the Groups development. Rumors and gossip, when it comes to this area the research has conclude that 80% of this got some true within it. You must decide how much you should listen to it…Today we have a lot
of thing that we use to value us with. Social media, series on the television youtuber etc. I think we as leader have a very important job to missionary the positivism. If it takes four time to get positive
after one negative thought, so here we all got a mission…
Reading the book Swedish mountain sport by Torsten Boberg and Gosta Olander will teach us a lot about mountain knoeledge. Even if the book is from 1935. Today I will give you an example of their view of wading. A princip of wading is to do it were the river is broad. The water will here be spread over a bigger area. But there is Always a furrow were it is deeper. It Always looks less Deep, then it really is. The speed of the stream is Always something you have to count on. A wade will take a lot of effert from you, so ypu have to be prepared. So if you are going to wade, rest and eventually eat so you are ready for it.
A friend ask me one time, -if you have to choose a motor bike, what type would it be? Well, i asked a costoum like HD or a real killer a Kawasaki was my answer. So its Cleardance Clearwater revival or Brittney Spear he said. -well something like that i asked. So here is the Music of the day related to that:-)
This week will include a new series. From now on there will be a history from the real life every week. This will includes a good history, different types of experience, pictures and photos.
In two thousand two I went to Ljungdalen/Klappen for a journey with 13 persons. Their manager ask me to be there guide. I asked him about the physical status of the Group. He replied it was good, and I did not asked more. I started to plan the whole activity. I fixed to borrow all Equipment the Group needed. So far so good. I had a meeting and explained the set up of all things. The day of the adventure has come and we Went ahead to Harjedalen. One car have to come later due to some work issues. Here starts the trouble. The crew of the car have not listen to the instruction and vent the wrong way, with the result that they arrived at 03.00. Because of that the whole Group have to take a late wake up. When we arrived at Klappen the next morning, we discover that we lacked a pair of skies. 14 persons but just 13 skies. Whatever I got the Group to fit in skies and boots, and I solved the issue with the lost skies during that time. Now we started the route to Helags. After an hour we realized that the trail was bad marked. It was not a big problem because I did now the area good. The most well trained and competition oriented started to go fast to the target. Three members of the team got tired and was lacking behind, a lot…We also got a big sledge with all the groups commons stuff. After seven hours I reach the mountain station with 12km behind me, and the whole Group was gathered.
So what was my reflexion and experience of the adventure? First of all, you must be sure that the participants really understand what they have for adventure ahead. In this case the manager have told them that it was simple and no problem. Secure that you start in good time. The weather is normally better in the morning, and you will have spare time for upcoming difficulties. In this case I got an old map, the winter trail was removed so it was just the summer trail that was marked. So be sure you got the latest map of the area. With a Group over 6 persons you might should consider to be two guides. Over eight persons definitely be two guides. Double and triple check the Equipment when loading. Dont take it for granted that someone else do it in any way…With a Group of different physical status, you must take care of that challenge. Use the Group for that mission. Let the best trained together with one of the one that its not so good trained to take care of the navigation in the front of the Group. So get the Group to work in pair with different types of tasks. Most important of all – never-ever let no one go before you without permission. So that was one history from the reality, hope you enjoyed and might get any impuls out of it:-)
When it comes to gear, I will Review Climbing Technologys Alpine up. A belay gear for climbing. This can be used in different kind of ways. But got a ”auto lock” solution.
Photo Ulf Bergman
I have just started to use it, and I am not convinced about its exellence yet. The weight is a bit lighter then the Grigri.
I also test the Mountain Equipments Frontier hooded jacket. A soft Shell jacket produced for the alpine adventures. It got all you need for a jacket of that type and price class. I like to have zippers in the armpits, but that is also the only thing I have complains about. High quality and alpine fit, I like…
The sky running and trail running season is coming up, and if you need a new shoe I will recomend the VJ IRock. A perfect trail shoe for the mountains. Normally this kind of shoes is hard, and stiff. This ones will suprice you. And really nice to run in. This Product got highest rating from my side.(I got narrow feet)
At last there is a new coffee for us wilderness freaks. So why dont try ”Vildmarkskaffe” from Karlbergs roasting..
When it comes to the workout the week has been quite interesting. Fighting, running, gymming and climbing so the variation will not be a issue. I will not be bored for sure…
lunch. The view from the cabin is fantastic. When the body is loaded with new carbonates it is time to move on. The weather is getting better, and I got a bit sun on my way to Helags. After totally five hours of skiing I reach the mountain station, I get my bed. I will eat the dinner they serve at the mountain station, and early next morning get up for a peak tour to the Helags peak. This day the weather is even better, the sun is on its way up. The snow is crispy from the Cold of the night. The first twenty minutes I go without skins, but then the elevation make me lose the grip. After a short stop, the skins is on. I keep up in good speed, and after Another twenty minutes I can see two other skiiers. At this early time I thought I was lonely. Soon I reach then, and it is two ski-alpinists. With my tour Equipment, I pass them with a smile. The two Young dudes with the special light equipment is left behind. After reaching the peak, I turn South and then follows the trail back to Faltjagarcabin. In late evening I reach the cabin, and the view in the dawn is even more fantastic than the day Before…I start to make myself a dinner. I am the only guest at the cabin. I Think to myself that it will be a calm evening. But at nine a Clock a couple open the door and they will be spending the night in the cabin. We have a long nice talk about Svalbard were they have been. After a long talk a fall asleep. Early, early next morning I make a short fast breakfast, and put on my clothes. The morning air is Cold, the body a bit stiff. I put on my skies and heading towards to Ramundberget. I Always get a feeling of sadness while leaving the Mountains. I got the feeling the whole way trought the trail including Slanggungan. A funny but understandable name, fast and with a lot of curves…
