Greate skiing

Getting more used to my new skies and enjoying good skiing in Tamokfjellet and Mårtind...

Spring

May means changes towards summer activities, but still trying to get the last out of the remaining snow. Most of the time is spent at home fixing the barn and preparing next years firewood, but I have got the chance to test my new rando skies and had a day with diving on Senja. There might still bee some sledding possibilities in the mountains, but our team is back in front of the ATV getting ready for shorter trips the next two months.
Lena started working again 50 % in the end of April and this also means a bit more time at home to make shore everything is fine with Tuva.

New camera

After some months without camera I finaly got my new Olympus camera which is supposed to be waterproof and shock proof. Hopefully this one lasts longer than the normal one week after the warranty cameras I have had before. Now I hope to be able to publish more posts and pix again.

The last weeks I have been mostly out in the mountains. First on dog sledding trips from Dividalen in Norway over to the ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi. We were lucky and had two grate trips with good weather.
After the last dog trip I went to the Lyngen alps ski guiding. We had two god days. Friday the plan was to cross the Lyngen peninsula from Gamvika to Nord-Lenangen over the top of Stor Galten. We started in grate weather, but after a few hours snow and wind forced us to take another route than planned. But after all a long challenging and interesting day that was ended with good skiing the last 800 m.
Saturday we had the most fantastic skiing at Kjostind.

More from Finnmarksløpet

Skare and Kaos are happy to reach the Finnish line in the lead after 2 days 19 hours and 18 min as NR 21. The race was a grate experience for me and I believe also for the dogs. The only drawback was that I wanted to continue...
The first two legs from Alta to Jotka and further to Skoganvarri is normally good trails, but this year a lot of the stretch was soft sugary snow and slow conditions. As the next leg to Levajok is normally softer and heavier I decided to change plans. Instead of resting 5 hours in Skoganvarri and 7 in Levajok I left Skoganvarri after 4 hours and made a 3 hour rest in the mountains. This way I had two 4 hour legs instead of one 9 hour leg. With my young dogs this was the only smart thing to do to save enough energy for the rest of the race. I knew this would be a good thing to do, but I did not dream about the difference it made to my team. I started out after my rest as NR 51 in the race and from here I passed 30 teams for the rest of the race and was not passed by anyone. For the continuing legs to Karasjok, Jergul and Alta I managed to keep the spirit and speed in the team. But the race is also many other important factors. Like meeting other mushers on trail and checkpoint, having a grate handler team (Thanks to Bård and Erik) and enjoying the nature around Finnmark. The most motivating an inspiring for me is the time with the dogs working together, learning to know them better, and building confidence. They all did very well.
Skare, steady as always, never being tired and just looking brefly over his shoulder when passing Mollisjok and the road at Stilla.
Kaos, always ready to go, getting a bit stiff, but recovering quickly. Elvira, which I though was my weakest dog, but kept on working like a hero and did two legs in lead. Momba and Elton, that got tired, but still did their best all the way. Allways pulling also in lead. Jota, the mad worker that allways goes like a machine except when he got sick at the second leg and neaded a ride for 20 minutes up the hills. Brutus that worked the whole way and never made any problems. And Sunda that had to leave the team in Levajok, but did a god job as long as she was there.
No it is time for new plans and ideas to grow for future callenges and teams...

Finnmarksløpet

As you can imagine the race was a grate experience. The team, specially the youngsters, did a fantastic job and seven of the team finished. Sunda had to be left behind at Levajok due to a sore shoulder but she is back at work now. I will have a more detailed summary of the race when I have the photos and a bit more time. Now it is time for trips to the mountains, we leave for a Dividalen - Kiruna trip on Friday...

Last polish is done, one more trip on Wednesday and then leaving for Alta and the race start on Saturday. Looking forward to get some new answers about the dogs. I have no big expectations with this very young team, but hope we will have a good experience together.
With 3500 km of training it is the best trained team I have started with in the race, so time will show if it makes a difference...
The final team is
Skare: 8 years, leader, two times Finnmarksløpet and one time Femundsløpet finisher.
Momba: 1 1/2 year, rookie, leader.
Kaos: 1 1/2 year, rookie, leader/team dog.
Elton: 1 1/2 year, rookie, leader/team dog.
Elvira: 1 1/2 year, rookie, leader/wheel dog.
Sunda: 2 years, rookie, point dog.
Jota: 5 years, has raced pasvik trail, point dog.
Brutus: 5 years, some distance experience but no finishes, wheel dog.

Strengthening up my team

To make sure my team is strong enough I have got a new member in the dog community...