The Mountain and the Wave

Bessheim-Besshø-Surtningssue-Glitterheim                                                                         “Make friends with pain, and you will never be alone” Ken Chlouber, creator of the Leadville Trail 100   - I think this was the hardest day of my life… - says Achim from pure exhaustion.  I think all of us share the same feeling. It is 3AM in the Glitterheim DNT cabin. We are having dinner next to the fireplace trying to get warm and dry, still digesting what we just did; 41km distance, 3000m positive elevation gain, and 17 hours out. All with not the lightest skiing gear and our backpacks could also be lighter (12-15kg). Legs are burning, backs hurt and the feet… better to not look at them. A nice collection of blisters that are gonna be our inseparable companions during the rest of the trip. Achim suggested that we could have a rest day in Glitterheim after the long first stage but I refused to spend one day chilling in the cabin not doing anything. Maybe it wasn’t such a

Message from Aleksi on Thursday:   - Dude, this is starting to be a bit desperate, but how about some July powder on Saturday? I can't hold a burst of laughter. Is this guy joking? It was 30ºC just last Saturday! I opened the weather forecast and indeed, 30-50cm of new snow above 1000m expected for Thursday night. Jeeeezzz!! PUDDERALAAAARM in July! I have not skied for two months even if there was a shitload of snow in Hordaland.  The reasons:       i) Not a fan of spring shitty slush.        ii) Not a fan of crowds in the mountains.        iii) I hate warm skiing days. I relate skiing with cold days and not with ridiculously warm days when you have to walk around in swimming trunks and sweat like a pig.  I am not motivated at all for skiing but I start reflecting on it. Maybe it is not shitty old spring snow this time. There is probably no one on the mountain on the 4th of July. It is not gonna be warm and it is actually freezing overnight. 

After a rather cold May with a number of snowy days even in town at only 200masl spring weather is finally here. Warm weather in Hordaland at this time of the year is synonym of snow melting and water discharging into the rivers. Nothing special about it right? Or yes? For most skiers, the snow melting marks the end of the skiing season and is kinda sad. For me, it means increased chances of surfing close to Bergen. There is no regular ocean surfing in Bergen and it is usually a minimum of 5h drive from here. But we do have river surfing when the conditions are right so I actually get excited about the snow melting in the mountains. View of the line-up from the bridge I am a dedicated surfer (not good at all but dedicated) from Basque Country where we are very lucky to be able to surf almost every day of the year within 20-30min drive. That is perhaps what I miss most about living in Norway. Not the warm days, not the sunny days... but the ocean. An ocean with surfable wa

Lander enjoying the pow in the forest. 02/02/2020 kinda curious date but nothing special in principle. As any other regular Sunday during Norwegian winter, we head off from Bergen on the hunt for a bit of powder. It is a shame that this is gonna be the first day of good snow for me this season. The forecast is looking very good and I am quite excited to finally make some turns in decent snow. But not everything is looking pink... The avalanche forecast is not so good and after quite some discussion in the car, we decide to go to one of the safest option around here: Bjørndalskamben. I have never been there myself so even if I heard it is a donkey field it is always exciting to hike a new mountain. Nad skinning up in the forest in the lower part of the valley. Bjørndalskamben (1402moh) is the highest mountain in Myrkdalen and lies on the east side of the valley right in front of the ski resort and the popular Finnbunuten (1358moh). We park right at the ski resort and s

------------------ SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH VERSION ----------------- Toca madrugar un poquito para conducir de Famara a Órzola y coger el ferry a la isla La Graciosa, ya oficialmente reconocida como octava isla Canaria. Estuve en la isla hace ya unos cuantos añitos con los aitas y nos pateamos el sur de la isla desde Caleta del Sebo hasta la playa de los Franceses pero tenía ganas de recorrerme la isla en bici e investigar las diferentes rompientes.  Normalmente trato de recopilar toda la información posible sobre las olas que voy a surfear: puntos de marea, marejada que necesitan, dirección del viento, tipo de fondo, como entrar y salir del agua etc. Desde que tenemos internet y estamos googlelizados todos los surfers seguimos este ritual de recopilar nueva información y pocas veces nos arriesgamos al temido columpio (para los no-surfers; conducir durante horas mirando diferentes rompientes pero sin surfear ninguna). En esta ocasión no hice el estudio previo por falta