Posts Tagged ‘norway’
Ok, let’s pretend…
Thursday, October 23rd, 20081st May 2008
Thursday, May 1st, 2008Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Haugastøl 1000 moh accommodation
Today it’s raining. Really raining. No one is complaining after being beaten up by 30mph+ winds yesterday. Since there is little point in going outside just yet, I have used the time to photograph the family run [accommodation] here at Haugastøl. It’s brightening up now though, time to get the kites out…
28th April 2008
Monday, April 28th, 2008
The Hardangervidda plateau, the largest plateau in Scandinavia, with an area of some 2,900 square miles, lies at an average altitude of between 1,200 and 1,600m, with numerous frozen lakes and a meager covering of pasture grazed by large herds of wild reindeer. It is a barren landscape, above the tree-line, but immensely impressive. This is our playground.
27th April 2008
Sunday, April 27th, 200826th April 2008
Saturday, April 26th, 2008The roads here are quite an adventure in themselves. When the wind blows snow onto the roads, you have to wait for a passing snowplow and get in line behind it for the journey to base.
Today it snowed all day, and the wind got up to about 25mph at times. It was a rollercoaster ride snowkiting in whiteout conditions, where moving the kite slightly too quickly was sure to produce involuntary airtime for the rider. We all learned a lot today, and came home exhausted and happy.
You might have noticed that there is a lack of snowkiting action shots here. So far we have had only a few days where the wind has been good enough, and only for some of the day, to snowkite at all. The idea running for a camera instead of a kite in these situations seems way beyond the call duty for at present! You can either take my word that there are people spinning around in the air, flying down snowy hillsides and generally looking like masters of this fledgling sport, or see the daily uploads the trip organisers are adding to their website [here].
25th April 2008
Friday, April 25th, 2008
The wind meter sit on a pole by the vans today. When it gets above 10mph, the wind is strong enough get out and ride the white desert. It was above 10mph for only 30 minutes today, but what a 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I had snowkited a mile from the vans when the wind dropped back down to 4.8mph. I now have good experience walking with a kite.
24th April 2008
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
I am quite intimidated by the kite I am using to snowkite on these shots. Its a 12m2 inflatable water (kitesurfing) kite, which I am sure is great fun on water but feels like flying a small house around in a white field at the moment. I am sure I will get used it it’s size and power with a bit more practice. I must confront the fear and fly it again tomorrow.