25 km, 4:45, 260 m of ascent. Up the hill to a plateau and then flattish to slightly uphill. Icy conditions, which I found really hard to cope with, especially when going uphill, because I couldn’t get a good enough grip. In the end I just took off my skis and walked a good chunk of the almost-flat-but-still-uphill bit: it was just about as fast as skiing but with less effort and frustration.

We had brilliant sunshine all day. It was so hot that I took off everything I could – jacket, hat, even gloves – and found myself wishing that there were more layers I could shed. We had a luxurious sit-down lunch in the sun.

The sunshine led to some absolutely stunning views today.

The very last bit of the trail to the hotel at Friisvegen went downhill through the forest. Twisty little paths, slightly icy, with barely enough room to brake and turn. Just skimming the edge of losing control, which was an inordinate amount of fun.

(That’s me about to catch up with the rest of the group.)

The hotel at Friisvegen was yet another nice one, with a friendly Dutch couple as our hosts. I had trout for dinner (as the meat-free option) for the third day in a row and I am getting just a little bit tired of it.

33.5 km, 6.5 hours, 790 m of ascent (and about the same of descent). Up onto a plateau, then flat, and down again at the end. Some fields, some undulating forest, some open hillsides. Prepared tracks at the start and end of the day but “natural” trails during the middle section.

It was very windy today. The weather forecast said we’d have the wind in our faces, but that luckily turned out to be completely wrong and we had the wind at our backs or sides nearly all day. The temperatures were around zero and the sun was mostly shining, but the wind made stopping unpleasant. We took our first, very hurried lunch standing up in the wind, in a slight dip in the ground that barely made any difference for our comfort. Later we ran across a small hill that was situated just in the right direction to block the wind, so we could actually sit down in its lee for a second lunch break. Very pleasant.

I managed my clothing and thus body temperature much better today, because I decided to adjust whatever I needed whenever I needed to, without worrying about falling behind. I re-learned how to switch hats without stopping, and how to take off and stow my jacket in thirty seconds.

In the evening I felt quite stiff and sore, and walking up and down stairs was somewhat painful. Skiing uses not just the obvious muscles (thighs, hip flexors, arms and shoulders and back) but also some that I don’t even realize I have except when I’m skiing. Note to self: next time, get on location a few days earlier if possible and use these days to re-find my technique and my skiing muscles.

Høvringen to Rondablick. 28.5 km, 6 hours, 380 m of ascent. Prepared tracks all day. Uphill to begin with, then mostly flat. Open hills, some forest.

Today was a warm day, with temperatures well above zero, even though it was mostly cloudy. It looked colder than it was so I was wearing too much for the first half of the day – a windproof layer seemed like a necessity – and I was too busy focusing on my skiing technique to realize that I was overheating. When we stopped for our lunch break, I was sweaty and steaming and thirsty. After lunch I skipped the windproof jacket and went on in my wool top only and felt much better.

I was the slowest one in the group but not by much. I’m clearly out of shape compared to our last trip, though. That’s what I get for not having skied for three years.

We’re mostly staying at hotels during this trip. Both Høvringen and Rondablikk were nice hotels with good food. Rondablikk had a bizarre and slightly unpleasant collection of stuffed animals, though. I can come up with scenarios where you’d end up with a dead bear and the best thing you could do with it might then be to stuff it and display it. But killing and stuffing a mama duck with six downy ducklings? Eew.

After two missed years due to covid restrictions, I finally have the chance to go on a ski trip! This year my one and only favourite tour guide John Howie is taking us down the Troll Trail in Norway, from Høvringen to Lillehammer. Six days of skiing and about 160 km to go.

I spent the entire day today on trains. Got on the first one in Spånga at 06:05 and got off the last one in Otta, Norway, at 19:38. It wasn’t supposed to take quite this long but the train in the middle (Stockholm to Oslo) was delayed by over an hour so I missed my connection and had to spend almost two hours sitting in Oslo Sentral. But now I’m here, and tomorrow I will start skiing!

I’m still coughing a bit but mostly only when I try to talk or happen to laugh, so I think and hope that it shouldn’t interfere with the skiing. Fingers crossed.

Here’s the beginning of my next knitted cardigan. I browsed a lot of patterns and had an idea of what I wanted, but couldn’t find any pattern that delivered on all my requirements, so it’s going to be a mash-up of Nala but with a different gauge and probably without the cables, and probably some ribbing along the sides like Fade-It Brioche and this faded cardigan. And as for the colour fade, I guess I’ll just wing it.

Ingrid picked snowdrops.

I’ve barely left the house for the last week due to feeling unwell. Went out yesterday for 15 minutes to empty the plastic recycling, and came home with a headache. Today was better. I’m still coughing occasionally (especially talking triggers it all the time) but as long as I keep my mouth shut, I feel better. I even went out walking with Adrian for over an hour.

I’ve been watching the icy streets with curiosity to see when they melt. The icy street had a wide clear streak already, so I’ve missed the breakthrough moment there. In the park, though, the ice fields still covered the entire path a week ago, but now there is a fresh new almost ice-free channel in the middle.

It doesn’t look very appealing, and it is in fact harder to get past than the actual ice was, but it makes everything feels like spring.

Today was sunny and hot. It feels like spring is here. Nysse was off exploring for hours, then came back and went out again. He seemed to really enjoy the warmth. I tried to catch him basking in the sun, but the moment he saw me, he always came over to see what I was doing. So I only got semi-blurry photos of him prowling closer to explore the camera.

It looks like I’ve gone and gotten covid-19. That’s what I get for going to the theatre and sitting cheek to jowl with a bunch of strangers, I guess.

I’m still tired, and I now also have a runny nose and an annoying ticklish, dry cough.

What really annoys me about this is the timing. I’ve managed to avoid it for two years, and now I get it just before I’m about to finally go on my long-awaited ski tour. Which I’ve missed for two seasons in a row, and been looking forward to since November.

I’ve got less than a week to get well.

I’ve gotten better since Monday and I’m back at work (thank goodness for WFH) but I’m still not really well. Tired and sluggish. Standing up feels like an effort. I’m spending a lot of my non-working time curled up in my favourite corner of the sofa with my favourite cushion and my favourite blanket.