We’re back on track, skiing to the next hut. Well… we’re back on a track, but not the planned one. Having lost a day and a half, we can’t get to where we were supposed to be. So our guide Keith has done a lot of re-planning and re-re-planning to give us as much skiing as possible for the days remaining, while also getting us in range of public transport so that we can all get back to Oslo somehow in time for our trains and flights.

Today we skied from Dyranut via Stigstuv to Rauhelleren. Maps and other information sources claimed the distance to be 19 km. After the first day’s surprise, Keith carefully re-measured the distance on his map to 21 km. We still joked that he’d “find another few kilometres for us in his back pocket during the day” and indeed – when we arrived, we had done 25 km.

The first half of the day we had brilliant sunshine and no wind. And there was plenty of fresh snow after the storm, so the skiing was about as perfect as it can get. This is what we came here for, and we felt pretty lucky to get to experience this day.

Stigstuv hut was about halfway. We saw it in the distance when we were still maybe 15–20 minutes away, and were looking forward to a picnic in the sun on their porch or picnic table or whatever they might have.

Minutes later a cloud descended, or maybe it was a fog that the wind blew up the slope. Either way, we were suddenly enveloped in water vapour. No more warm sunshine, and no more stunning views. The hut just disappeared.

When we finally stumbled upon the hut, the hut porch held a somewhat angry dog (and his owner) who was not inclined to share it with us.

For the first half of the day, the tracks of a fox criss-crossed the ski trail were were following. When we got to the hut, it turned out that the man with the dog had shot the fox and hung it on the wall of the hut. Trails of blood in front of the hut. Once we saw that, we didn’t much want to share the porch with them anyway.

Luckily the hut had a picnic table where we could sit instead. But the fog was still there and none of us wanted to sit around for a long lunch with no sun to warm us.

Later on we got clear skies again and more fresh snow on gently undulating terrain, for a near-perfect ski experience.