Day 2... I'm in love....

Day 2 was a reasonably early start... I woke early enough to try and get my gear in order for the day... all without really having a clue. Harder than it sounds.
I sat at breakfast with a little apprehension and a little excitement. Having spent a reasonable amount to get here and invested a bit of time and effort into the off road rollerskis... it would be a shame if I didn't like it!
After breakfast I went down to the ski hall... in my eagerness I was a little early so sat and stared out of the window.

White mountains rose up in the distance, the outline etched perfectly against a bright blue sky. The snow looked perfect and I could see some tracks stretching into the distance.... not yet... need to learn to ski first!
The first hour was spent learning about and waxing the skis... for classic skiing, a little grip wax is applied to a small area of the ski so that you are able to get purchase with the steps forward. Stride and glide was the watchword. The rest of the ski already had the glide wax on. Turns out, because the temps are pretty low.... -7 degrees C this morning... waxjng is pretty easy. Apparently the closer it gets to zero... the harder it is to pick out a wax! Easy is good... start with simple....

The beginners group... fortunately not just me... headed out to a circular nursery track, once used for biathlon practice. There we did some warm up exercises without skis before graduating to fixing two planks of wood with a mind of their own to the bottom of our feet.
In the classic version of skiing... the skis run down prepared tracks, which helps to keep them on the straight and narrow, though bends were harder to stay in the tracks, and areas where the cut tracks ran out were hard to keep heading in a straight direction.
We went roubd the tracks getting the hang of first the stride, then the glide... then trying to mesh the two of them together. Not great if co ordination is a problem. Despite lacking in this area, balance wasn't too bad (all that mountain biking helps a little).  That's not to say that I didn't occasionally find myself sideways on the deck. I did, but probably everyone suffered a tumble or two.

Drink break and a slight issue. I had been warmed that my water bladder may freeze up. Despite putting in warm water and trying to insulate it somewhat... the water lost the battle to the -7 degrees and froze solid!! Hey ho... you live and you learn.

By now, I was feeling like I was kinda getting the hang of it, which was good, and I was having a whale of a time.
I wasn't even cold and removed by hat and occasionally my gloves to cool down. The trousers I bought (see day 1 blog) were perfect... not too bulky and warm enough when combined with the merino baselayer.

The boots however were a different matter. I had tried on 2 pairs of boots.... the first felt too big and the size was reduced to a pair which seemed to fit.... but in the stride part of stride and glide the heel was moving up and down the back of the boot and sore area started to appear. I knew I could sort them out at lunch so continued regardless... but more of that later.

Just as I was starting to get the hang of it, poles were added, giving me something else to incorporate into the rhythm. At times I felt slightly out of rhythm, like tick tocking rather than diagonal stride.... but gradually that fell into place and bar the odd stumble felt like I wasn't bambi on ice but doing a passable impression of cross country skiing.

The key is to let the glide do the work... the more glide... the less apparent effort. Something to work on!

Our instructor then took us out on a bit the trail and trying to relax a bit into it... I found I wasn't staring at my ski tips the entire time, and actually got my head up to look around. A serene whiteness all around, with the mountains and promises of exploration in the distance... it really was pretty. During this short trip out of the nursery, we encountered a few shallow slopes, which enabled us to try gliding down without losing balance and shortening our steps for the uphills. One steeper section (very very short and sweet) enabled us to try what is known as the herringbone where the skis go a wide v shape and you essentially step up the hill. Well frankly I didnt make this look easy at all. Mh back ski tips kept stepping on each other causing me to pitch forward. The other problem was if the skis arent V shaped enough, you slide backwards.... not good. Fortunately it was a very short section.

By now, my heels were causing some pain and it was imperative I get better fitting boots! Once we got back to the hotel, I explained the issue to the instructor and after trying inserts into the shoes, which didn't feel much better, she came back with a different style of boot, with narrower ankles. My heels didn't slip as much and so I took this pair with the intent of trying them after lunch when we were free to do as we please.

I dashed up to my room to inspect the damage. On both heels, a layer of skin had been removed. No wonder it hurt a bit!

A kind soul had given me some compeed so I covered over the damaged area, and went to lunch, slightly concerned that a bad pair of boots had ruined the week.

On the plus side, my polar watch informed me that 2000 calories had been left on the snow. Not bad at all!

After lunch I was itching to get out there by myself and practice what I had learnt, to explore the trails near to the hotel (lets not push it on the first skiing day) ... to burn a few more calories and to find some solitude!

I grabbed my skis, walked away from the ski hall entrance as per David's advice, walked partly down the initial slope and fixed myself to the skis..... and promptly fell over! Good start.
Getting up is tricky and requires you to walk your hands around in front of you, push yourself to  a kneeling position and then stand up. Tricky.

Back on my feet, some chap whizzed passed me down the slope, looking all skilled, and then crashed at the corner, which made me feel better. After that... off I went. Up to the signpost at the crossroads and then off into unexplored territory... up a slight hill. It wasn't that easy but I managed to stride and glide up a slope! Not a steep one but a slope nonetheless. Up and over the crest and along a section of flat before heading gently up once again. I had to head out off the tracks to avoid a snow blockage at one point but managed to negotiate the obstacle and get back in the tracks.

It was now -15 degrees C and I was still not cold. Brilliant!
As the sun was falling behind the mountains, I stopped several times to appreciate the view before me. So peaceful, so still and with a bluish glow that dusk cast on the snow, so calming. The moon was rising fast opposite the sun setting behind the hotel with a bright orange glow and at that point I fell in love... with Norway... with the skiing... with the peace. It was almost a perfect scene.

I turned around and double poled down the slope, gliding freely in the tracks, knees bent, in balance. Determined to put in a few miles, I went back up the slope and back down again before turning into tracks heading in a different direction. Now running parallel with the mountain, I stopped often to immerse myself in the stillness of the evening. I'm hooked!

As the gloom started to overcome the light, I headed back towards the hotel, the glide improving as I went. It was now slightly chilly and I was glad of the gloves and the hat.

I also made a discovery. The annoying feeling in my nostrils that made me feel like I wanted to continually blow my nose, was actually ice crystals which had formed there, making for a rather uncomfortable state of play. Still... that's what -15 does!

You can see exactly where I went on my SPOT tracker page... the link is on my facebook page One Challenge At A Time.

The tracker app I used, showed me that I had done 3.4 miles... not too bad for a first day. And my legs didn't feel too bad yet!

These boots felt much better so am happy with these and hopefully no more skin will be removed from my feet.

Finally, I had used up another 1100 calories. Happy with that.

Can't wait for tomorrow... a short tour in the morning, followed by 1 hour of instruction on up and down hills in the afternoon and then hopefully another solitary ski.

David (a wealth of info and still skiing in his 80's...FAIR PLAY!!) showed me a hill that I'm going to aim for this week... watch this space!

Roll on tomorrow!