We survived our first mass cross country skiing race – the Skarverennet – taking part alongside 12 500 Norwegians who make cross-country skiing on long skinny plastic skis look very simple………The only thing I was first for……was breakfast!!!
It would have been hard to rush through 38 km of breath-taking Hardangervidda scenery anyway, and I HAD to take a few pictures.
The winners arrived six hours before we did and got a lot a lot more beers in!!! Robin and I were there with a group from BG Norway, mostly British expats with a Dane in charge, which made me wonder what all the Norwegian oilmen knew that we didn’t!!
The scariest part was skiing downhill – wondering whether you would fall over, or be run down by the overtaking hordes – not all of whom were entirely in control of their skis. Sensible folk took their skis off, to avoid bloodied arms and noses which were plentiful by the end of the day.
At one point a helicopter was hovering above a steep slushy hill with a cameraman hanging out to film the carnage. I thought of lemmings going over cliffs. The Norwegian red cross posts were all situated ominously like vultures at the bottom of each slope which wasn’t a good sign………..
There was some serious partying at the end to look forward to – 12 500 Norwegians get through a lot of beer. Luckily the hotel ran out of water, but not alcohol……….
And then 12 500 people had to find their way onto a train to carry on the party elsewhere…….
