It has got to be demoralizing as a Norwegian when an 6-foot 2-inch African walks onto your mountain, straps into a snowboard standing up!, throws you a peace sign and proceeds to toe-side a 4K run down the mountain before you even get your first latch done. You can close your mouth son, it’s cold outside.
We arrived in Hemsedal Friday afternoon, and after checking into our river-side cabin, we headed for the ski center. Here’s what was really cool though. We got there around 3:45pm. The lifts were closing at 4:30 BUT re-opening at 6 PM for the night runs. Needless to say, I was more than happy to wait.
Dusk here starts around 4:15 PM, and the sun is hardly ever overhead so it always seems like morning drifts right into evening. The floodlights turned the runs into glowing rivers of snow in the night. It was as magical as it looked. I got the first customary, practice run in with my usual prudence. I gauged the powder depth, speed and any instances of ice patches, which can be a nightmare is you happen to catch an edge and do a face plant on an ice patch.
Hemsedal is blessed with probably the best views I’ve seen so far since I started snowboarding 4 years ago. And at night, standing on top of the mountain looking down, you almost don’t want to strap in, opting instead to sit and let the view sink in. The twinkling lights of the ski center miles below are spectacular enough to induce a heavy sigh of appreciation. I got in two more runs that night to get my legs under me for the next day. Each one of them even more spectacular as the last.
After some food and a coffee to warm up we headed back to the cabin for a much needed warm shower but was met instead with manhood reducing ice-freakin’ cold shower. We are talking -4ºC here! Turns out, the hot showers were extra! But what turned insult to injury was that the showers were about 100 yards from the cabin! Which meant I would have to get dressed, walk out in the cold to get coins, trudge all the way back, undress, and hope that three minutes was enough time to get all the soap off my body.
It wasn’t. Brrrrr!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful scenery! Amazing!
I bet those Norwegians don’t need no stinking hot water to bathe! LOL
You have zipped now the mountain faster, smoother but in the end you had a Ice Cold Shower to remind you of your environment!
Have fun and always be safe!
Heh, yeah, indeed. I am back home safe now. One more day and I’ll have this jet lag thing licked.
Glad you made it back safe! Sounds you had a fantastic trip!!
We should meet up for coffee soon!