Skiing Norway from South to North - The Norge på langs - 2022
The Plan
To ski from the southern most point of Norway to the Northern most point. We started in January 2022…
The Reality
Things rarely go to plan and this journey was no different. By the time we arrived at Nordkapp, more than 3 months after starting, we had lost one team member, had dealt with injuries, failures and multiple challenges of dealing with a particularly ugly winter. We may not have completed the whiole journey, but we did ski more than 1,600km over 70 plus days. It is certainly the hardest thing I have ever done.
If you want to find out more about the trip well, you’ll have to wait for the book, which I am currently writing. If you can’t wait that long the do take a look the blog I maintained throughout the trip. It is still available via the link at the top of this page. The book incidentally, will not just be about the ski trip but also about my prior battles with Covid and long Covid that ultimately led me to take on this challenge.
GALLERY
The following images are best displayed on your mobile device in landscape (sideways), or even better, on your laptop or computer.
The Route
The “Norge på langs” is a classic European long distance trail which runs from Lindesnes in the South to Nordkapp in the North, a distance in excess of 3,000km (1,900 miles). Usually completed during the summer, less than 150 people have ‘started’ the complete winter traverse. Note the word ‘started’. Considerably less have completed it. We have split the journey into 90 stages and, with halts for weather etc. we hope to complete the journey in around 110 days.
The route we followed is available as a GPX file on request.
The Team
Neil Pitts
You can read all about me on the “About” page. Suffice to say I was by far the least qualified of the team. Unable to Nordic ski when we started I aimed to make up for my lack of ability with my enthusiasm and charm.
David Hamilton
David was the driving force behind this trip. He has skied all of the European long distance routes including the 2,113km traverse of the Alps from the Mediterranean coast to Vienna and the 724km traverse of the Pyrenees. David is also a mountain guide for Jagged Globe and has climbed Everest a staggering 10 times and all of the Seven Summits twice!
Unfortunately David had to return to the UK after 20 days for family reasons.
You can read more about him on his website
https://highadventure.org.uk/
Trond Eilersten
Trond was our ‘man in country.’ A Norwegian national based in Oslo, Trond is a lawyer and an accomplished skier.
Trond has climbed all of the Seven Summits with the last one being Everest in 2013. He has also crossed Greenland from East to West.
He put both David and I to shame with skis on his feet. He has after all been skiing since he was 3 years old.
Because Trond has already hiked the Southern part of Norway (circa 1,100km) he only joined us for the second half of the trip only. Just 59 days and 1,400km.
Training
I had never been on Nordic skis. So thought it is rather important to address that significant gap in my skill set.
My training was not very efective. Appart from continued long covid symptoms I tore a muscle in my calf, broke a rib and, just before flying out to Norway, picked up a really rotten cold. I was about as unfit as it is possible top be when we started.
If you want ot see how I got on learning to ski on roller skis there is a short video below.
Planning
David has done the hard part of the planning. The route, which is all carefully mapped out and programmed into his Garmin.
Before leaving the UK David and I addresses the following:
Kit
Food
Accommodation
Travel logistics
Visa applications.
Pretty much every item on the above list was problematic. Either before we arived or during the trip. It certainly didn’t go smoothly. The blog I maintained during the trip is still available via the link at the top of the page.
Videos
Scroll down for videos of the planning process and my training so far…
Overview of the plan and my first forays into the art of classic roller skiing - May 2021
This short, 3 minute video outlining the grand plan shows me learning the art of classic roller skiing. This is also one of my first ever video edits. So, it’s a learning curve on many levels.
Music - SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR - by Jason Shaw courtesy of the free music archive
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_solo-acoustic-guitar Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/4M9Puanhdac
Kit list
The following is a list of all the kit I finished the Norway trip with.
Overview
The list is only slightly different from the kit I started with, but not as much as I had feared it would be. I expected that I would send some items home because they were not being used. Luckily however, only a few minor items were jettisoned en route, but nothing worthy of mention.
Changes made
The main change to my kit was made at the eleventh hour, before we actually started. The rucksack I planned to use was clearly not going to be big enough. Some frantic last minute shopping provided me with a new one. I was lucky, it was everything I needed it to be; large enough, very comfortable and practical.
Mistakes
I definitely made mistakes. Most I just had to live with. For example, my sleeping bag was inadequate for the low temperatures we encountered and my down jacket was not large enough to go over my clothes and still loft effectively. I would certainly change both of those items.
WEARING & USING DAILY:
From Top. L to R - Item, Brand and name.
Wearing & using daily: (From top. L to R - Item & Brand)
1. Thin thermal hat - Buff, Beanie
2. Thin tubular neck warmer - Buff
3. Waterproof warm hat - Lowe Alpine mountian cap
4. Sunglasses - Bloc Titan - These have interchangeable lenses and also include a presription lens
5. Category 4 sunglasses - Julbo, with prescription lens
6. Thermal baselayer - Ron Hill
7. Lightweight fleece layer - Mountian Equipment, Lumiko
8. Thermal jacket - Mountain Equipmet, Kenesis
9. Ski poles - Two part, Adjustable
10. Liner clove
11. Lightweight glove - Rab Power Stretch (I got through 2 pairs of these)
12. Briefs - Kalenji (By Decathlon)
13. Mittens - Lill Sport - 3 ‘finger’ lobster gloves
14. Long johns - Montane, Dart Thermo Long
15. Trousers - Mountain Equipment, Mission Pants
16. Neoprene overshoes - Decathlon (These were okay, but eventually broke)
17. Gaiters - Outdoor Research, Crocodile (I would have been happier with a full gaiter)
18. Socks - Thorlo, Extremem cold
19. Thermal insoles with arch support - Made of felt
20. Thermal insoles with no arch support - made of felt
21. Nordic ski boots - Alpina Alaska (These needed waterproofing)
22. Lightweight nordic mountain ski - Asnes, Borge Ousland