The Quiet Picture

Since we now have so much snow, I thought it was a great idea to extend the skiing season. But as it turned out, it was more like walking with the skis because the trail was unprepped (can’t blame them) and there was about 10cm of loose snow on the tracks. The conditions were such that I had to use the poles to push myself down the hills, I kid you not!It was a strange feeling to be skiing in daylight at 7pm. It was lighter than it sometimes is at high noon in December.

Strange old winter this one. It has been coming and going since November, and now that March is about to end, winter is still not showing any signs of letting go. It’s snowing even more… but it could warm up towards the weekend again.
I was checking my photos to see when the snow season has ended in previous years. In 2002, the last nice frost happened at around the end of March. 2003, snow was all but gone by April (and then the infamous April weather struck back, but the snow disappeared as quickly as it had come). 2004… well, it can’t have been very photogenic because I don’t have any pictures taken in Sweden in March 2004. The March -04 pictures I have from Finland are nice and wintery though. And last year, only some patches of snow was left by the end of March (and then the April weather struck in May).

So that’s one for the books… shovelling the drive-way clear of snow in the last week of March. Cool.

It had been snowing overnight and the light snowfall continued into the morning. This was just fine by me as I had been aware of the possibility already beforehand and had planned a tour accordingly. No point in seeking great sceneries when nothing can be seen anyway!I drove to Ljusnedal, to the starting point of the Anåfjället trail. Although it had been snowing all night, they had already been around to prep the tracks. Well, 50 metres anyway, until the tracks branched and I naturally needed to take the unprepped direction. But that was alright, as some people had already gone before me and that was all the preparation I needed. I like skiing in those conditions, it’s very good for the downward parts because you pick up less speed and it’s easier to break if it feels to fast. Knowing my track record (no pun intended), that’s just all good!

The Anåfjället trail is about 15 km in all. It’s pretty much half up and half down, with a small stretch of level skiing on the top of the loop. The uphill parts of the trail never get very steep so you don’t have to work yourself to exhaustion, which was a nice change after all the sweating two days earlier on Sånfjället. When I got back to the car and checked my trip statistics from the GPS, it showed an average moving speed of 5.9 kph, which is the fastest I’ve managed so far. I was also not nearly as tired as I had been on the previous days, further evidence that skiing on prepared tracks was easier than blazing my own trails.

I didn’t have many photo ops, but that didn’t matter really. It was an absolutely splendid tour and a perfect way to finish a perfect (long) weekend. Awesome!

You may have noticed that I’m often rather negative about snowmobiles. Partly because I don’t like the snowmobile tracks criss-crossing the scenery everywhere but most of all, I resent the idiots who ride their machines in places where it is specifically forbidden, like national parks and nature reserves. Living in Sweden, and in Los in particular, it’s impossible to avoid snowmobiles though so I have become increasingly curious to find out for myself what the fuss is all about. So I was all the more happy to be offered a chance to go for a snowmobile ride in my favourite mountains!The first day of the summer time dawned bright and sunny. I headed to my snowmobile date after breakfast and got strapped into appropiate gear, including a helmet of course. And then we were off, with me squeezing the passenger handles with all my might. Our target was one of the peaks, naturally with marked trails all the way. It was quite a difference to see the trails now as compared to what they had been in February… back then they were quite narrow, just a couple of snowmobiles wide for the most part. But now, it was like a snowy highway, 10-20 metres across! I also noticed that there were a lot more ski tracks around, so following any of the prepared tracks was no longer a necessity. But I digress. When we got to the top of the mountain, the wind was considerably harder than on the plateau below. I would have like to tried to take one picture without the UV filter (in order to reduce flares when shooting into the sun), but the windchill was severe enough to make the metal contract to the point where I couldn’t pry the filter off before my fingers were frozen. The sceneries around me however, there was absolutely nothing to complain about! 360 degress of nothing but mountains, can you imagine it? I don’t have the skills to do justice to such views so I just took a few snapshots of the snowmobile with mountains in the background. Awesome.

That’s me, in borrowed helmet, borrowed gloves, borrowed jacket, borrowed boots, sitting on a borrowed snowmobile. The pants are mine, though.

The mountain in the background is Stor-Skarven. I don’t own that, either.

The sceneries on the way back were naturally just as fabulous as they had been on the way in. Whatever I may think about snowmobiles, I can’t deny the attraction - the sceneries are just as good regardless of the mode of transport, but you just get to see more when you can travel from point A to point B at faster speeds than the modest 5 kph I seem to average on skis. When I noticed that one of the “highways” opened up before us again, I asked my driver if we could go a bit faster (he had been very considerate to go slower than usual to spare me the embarrassment of falling off) and he was happy to comply. The fastest we did was 80 kph and I was laughing inside the helmet - it was that good! All things considered, I can now fully understand why snowmobiling is so popular. I just wish that someone could find those joyriding idiots in national parks and feed them their snowmobiles in big unsavoury chunks.

After the ride, I noticed that my biceps were aching. All that hanging on… Well, what better way to alleviate pending training aches than to train a bit more. So I slapped on the skis and headed for the same plateau I had swooshed across moments earlier on a snowmobile. I was right about the sceneries, they were just as fine on skis as well. The big difference was that now the sky were starting to cloud over and I spent the rest of the tour in overcast conditions. But that was fine as well. I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful it is to be out there, you have to try it yourself to understand!

When I skied back to the hotel, I took the prepared tracks for the last 4 km. Since I had by now learned a bit more about staying on the tracks in downhill, I was brave enough to let the skis run. Which would’ve been just fine, had the tracks not curved about 90 degrees after an unusually steep slope. And quite predictably, one of my skis followed the track left and the other one strayed straight ahead. I did my best to catch up with the straying ski, which meant that I skidded right across the tracks and into the forest and stopped some half a meter short from the nearest birch. Judging by the snow around me, I wasn’t the first one…! And as Murphy would have it, of the about 7 people I met on that 4 km stretch of tracks, 5 of them was right there. While I was busy wondering how an earth I had managed to stay on my feet, one of the people commented that it seemed to go pretty fast. Yeah, you noticed? I very nearly burst out laughing. It’s not amusing to stray in the forest at full speed when it’s happening, but afterwards when you have survived the experience, it’s hard to keep a straight face. Too funny!

It’s time for another mountain break!Late winter’s days don’t get any better than this, so the perfect place to start is Sånfjället which was one of the inspirations behind my decision to buy skis. The snowshoe tour last year was memorable and I had no doubts that a skiing trip on the same mountain would provide another bunch of keepers. I drove to Nysätern, parked the car and climbed the first half a km on foot as the trail was too icy and narrow to manage on skis. After that, the trail became skiable but it was naturally steady uphill for quite a while. The snow was windswept and hard and I found that my skis have a bad tendency to slip sideways, it’s frustrating but tolerable. After all, the boots weren’t chafing!

When I got up to the tree line, the photo ops started to present themselves. I had been on a lookout for a lonely birch, but finding one with sky as background was especially satisfying. I would like to point out that the picture is not leaning, whatever it may look like. It’s a mountain side with a windswept birch - everything else is tilted, but not the camera! And as you can see in the picture, I was not kidding about the weather. I was definitely overdressed in the scorching sun, but I did remember the sun lotion this time.

Those of you familiar with Swedish mountains may recognise the distinct profile of Sånfjället when you see it. But something that is not immediately obvious about the mountain is that it hides a beautiful ravine and valley between its peaks. The slopes might look gentle in this image, but I promise you that when you approach the valley on skis, it’s anything but. I had to carefully zigzag down and it still was almost too fast for me. Yes… still having balance problems… but I made it down in one piece. There’s a small cabin - or a shelter - in the valley so it was a good opportunity to enjoy lunch in the sunshine and build up a bit of energy to tackle the way back up. Skiing was out of the question for me, maybe it would’ve been within my powers otherwise but not when the skis slip sideways. Sideways, in a steep uphill, translates to “down”… and that was not the direction I wanted! So I attached the skis to my backback (which has slots for carrying skis, even if I normally use them for carrying the tripod) and walked up.

After the 1 km up from the valley, it was all downhill back to the parking. Again, I had to stop every once in a while to consider my choices to get down without building up too much speed. A bit of zigzagging and soft snow where I could find it and it was fine.

I was right - it was a fabulous day out. Sånfjället has given me two memorable days and the best sceneries imaginable!

P.S. Bloody snowmobiles. Sånfjället is a national park and snowmobiling is forbidden, but there were snowmobile tracks everywhere.

The morning started with a bit of sunshine, then it started snowing a whole lot. Then the sun peeked out for a moment until the snowfall intensified again. And then the snowing suddenly stopped and now it’s a gorgeous afternoon with the sun shining from a blue sky. Too bad for the wind though. Anyway, I preferred the snowfall. The last time I saw it fall this heavy was in last May (yes, May). If only it could snow like this the whole day!The snowfall gave me another opportunity to test the Storm Jacket camera cover I bought recently. (Yes, I do dress up my camera on occasion.) The Storm Jacket provides snow and rain protection and I thought it would be better than the improvised “plastic-bag-and-tape” systems I’ve been using so far. And sure enough, the Storm Jacket works. Of course it complicates matters a little bit, but so does any rain/snow protection system you would use. The only negative thing I would say about it is that it’s not perfect with a long lens with its own tripod collar attached to a tripod. Need to keep a shower cap handy to protect the back of the camera. But like I said, shooting in difficult conditions will always be a bit more challenging regardless of the gear you use so I’m glad I got the jacket.

Carola. I must admit that the song has grown a little bit on me, but it’s still a purebred Swedish schlager song and I still can’t see it win over many points in Europe and I can’t see myself ever really like it, even if it’s better than last year’s entry. My favourites, Rednex, finished at 6th place. Fairly predictable, also.So all that remains now is to wish Carola good luck in the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens. However it goes, there are two things for sure: Sweden will beat Finland, again. And for 3 minutes, I will not be a Finn, again. Apparently, Finland is sending a monster rock band to Athens. Nuff said - I’m already scared!

Back in the 80’s and 90’s I loved the Eurovision Song Contest. Those days are over, but I still make sure to catch it every year. Here in Sweden, it’s almost impossible to miss it anyway. The Swedes sure love their Melodifestivalen (the Swedish qualification for the ESC) and every year the contest sparks a bunch of hits, revitalises dead careers and creates new stars. The ESC is also just about the only competition where I don’t mind in the least that Sweden beats Finland, which they do every year. In fact, the Finnish entries are so embarrassing that for three minutes every year, I deny that I’m a Finn at all.After four rounds of pre-selection and a “second chance” (the best losers - songs that didn’t qualify directly from the pre-selection but had to go another voting round) we finally have the 10 finalists who will compete for the ticket to Athens in May. The final will be on Saturday, but already now I can reveal the winner. Carola. The song isn’t spectacular but it is pure Eurovision - 15 years ago. “Evighet” is the same kind as her “Fångad av en stormvind” winner, all down to the wind machine in fact. And since this is Sweden where schlager reigns supreme and Carola is the biggest star in the country, the other contestants don’t really stand a chance. The problem is… she won’t stand a chance in Athens. In a contest with its own genre, the songs representing the genre now have the odds against them.

My candidate for the ESC is Rednex with “Mama take me home”. It only got to the final via the Second Chance which means that it will be DOA on Saturday, it’s a shame. Although I can’t say that I’m immediately in love with the song, it’s still not a bad song by any means and I think that Rednex possess the qualities that are needed in the ESC these days: they put on an entertaining show, they look good, the singing is on-key, they are known outside the ESC arena, and they just simply stick out from the crowd, in a positive sense. Or maybe it’s just because I like country music, nevermind.

(Speaking of country, I just read in the paper that the Germans have selected a country comedy act for the ESC. I wonder when they will finally realise that the rest of Europe doesn’t get their humour. The joke, however, is definitely on them.)

Last year the Swedes voted for a relatively unknown performer and a song that I thought was horrible but that they were sure had a good chance - until the voting in Kiev had finished. Just desserts. This year, they will vote for a song because they love Carola and the chance of success in the ESC is not a factor now (they quite simply believe that she is invincible). But of course, the competition is still wide open. Not that I will be all that bothered anymore whichever way it goes. I just enjoy observing the Swedish Melodifestivalen frenzy!

Clear blue skies, sparkling new snow, a few minus degrees but very warm in the sun. It’s a classic late winter’s day! I decided to do the same skiing trip as yesterday, thought it would be a different experience now that the tracks are new and the sun is shining. And so it was, I kept stopping at frequent intervals just to admire the scenery around me. The weather had brought out a lot of other skiers as well. Two, to be exact, but this is Los so two qualifies as “a lot”!Photographing on a bright day like this brings me back to the days of film. I couldn’t see anything in the LCD display with what the sunlight and snow so it was just a matter of making sure that the exposure and composition were correct. But it’s not that hard - if there’s snow in the picture (and let’s face it, it will be mostly snow!), make sure that all your key elements in the picture are sunlit (otherwise they will be underexposed) and then meter the brightest snowdrift and just overexpose it by 1 2/3 stops (or full 2, it’s a matter of taste), and you’re home safe! It works, I promise.

Note to self: Time for sunscreen.

I finally got my GPS unit, Garmin eTrex Venture to be specific. So now it’s just a matter of skiing and hiking and mapping out my favourite trails! Speaking of skiing, I did a tour today. We only have two prepared tracks here - the short 2.5km illuminated tracks and a longer trail (about 10km) starting from the lake. I’ve wanted to do the longer trail since I saw it existed, but haven’t gotten around to until now. I am also trying to come up with a solution to the blister problem so the long track was a perfect opportunity to test the heel padding I was hoping would help out. Well, my makeshift padding does make a difference, and it’s all good! It takes the skiing experience to a whole new level so I had a wonderful trek in the snowfall, even if I had to work hard with the oversnown tracks half of the way. The other half, I was passed by the track maker and got to enjoy the fresh tracks for the rest of the trip.

Thanks to my spiffy new eTrex, I can tell you that the above pine is located at N61°43.768′ E015°08.352′. Now I just have to figure out where I can use this information nugget…