Training from Sandvika to Storljen

Monday morning and early afternoon was spent preparing all food, clothes (which have to be packed in dry bags) and equipment that we needed for the 4 days and which were to go in the pulkas. This goes a long way to build team spirit as we really have to work together for the same goal but with 2 different minds. We put a big waterproof bag in each pulka in which to put all the gear, and we secured those bags. Then we also had to check the tent, the fuel stoves and the skiing equipment and we were ready to leave. Preparing an expedition takes a lot of time and one has to be very thorough and make sure that all the material that is being taken is complete and in good working order as it would be very hard to survive without a tent or a stove.

As soon as we were finished, Petter, Pia (the lovely dog) and myself were driven by Gaid who is Petter's business partner, to Sandvika which is a little swedish village just on the other side of the Norwegian border. There we loaded the pulkas, trying to be as logical and organised as possible, put on our skis and harnesses, attached the 2 pulkas of about 30 kilos each to the harnesses and took off. We skied for 2 hours (we skied twice 50 minutes with a 10 minutes break for eating and drinking) and as it was getting dark, we set up camp. 

We put up the tent, got the primus stove going so that we could start to melt snow, put the Thermarest mattresses on the floor to insulate against the cold so that we could sit down, and got our bags in the tent. Of course, having no previous experience, my clothes were scattered in all of my 4 waterproof bags, so that I had to take them all in the tent. This is not what you want. One bag should be enough so that we have more space to sit and lie down. From the time we arrived at camp until the tent was safely up, the sleds were secured, enough water was melted and our gear was installed in the tent, 2 hours had passed!! There is so much to do in the evening 
Dinner was freeze dried food and it was absolutely horrible!! I had the impression to eat pulp. No taste at all! Thank God I had exercised and was hungry. The night in the tent was much better than I had expected. Apart from having to completely sink in the bag to cover my head up completely so that no freezing air can infiltrate the bag, I slept really well.

The next day we started by taking reheating all the water, having breakfast, packing everything, folding the tent and getting the pulkas ready, a bit over 2 hours had passed. Time flew by! And then we skied for 9 hours sometimes uphill but mostly on pretty flat terrain. Going uphill is backbreaking and really tough. The key is go a bit slower, keep the same stride and a steady rythm until the top of the hill. You feel every kilo (I had about 60 kilos on my sled), but the good thing is that afterwards, the sled feels lighter on flat terrain. The bad thing was that I was getting blisters, but there is no other option than going on, and it was fine. I just thought about other things than my aches. But thanks to my sponsors, every step I was taking was actually benefiting a child in the world, so it was worth the pain! And that evening we set up camp again and were a little bit quicker with the whole routine, and the next day we skied again for 9 hours, but it felt much harder because of the tiredness, the blisters and a very cold and strong wind which started to blow. But our morale was excellent and we ploughed on gamely, doing our regular pit stops for food, drink and a laugh, and reached camp, and started the evening routine all over again. And the next day we were a bit faster taking down the tent and organising the pulkas and we skied 4 hours to reach the little swedish ski resort of Storlien where we finished our trip and had a very good meal and a glass of wine!!