Blue Monday!

The weather forecast made me stay an extra day in Hemsedal. Waking up to blue skies I didn't regret my decision. Today’s planned trip was Svarthetta, about 700-800m climb from the parking.

During the night the temperature had dropped to -4 C giving perfect conditions. Heading up from the lower part in the shadow to the sun higher up it turned gradually warmer. Ski touring in November isn't like mid winter. The sun is still warm and without wind I could enjoy the winter landscape. Since I probably was the first doing Svarthetta this year, I had to break trail all the way.

Approaching the high mountain through the trees I followed the tracks form a fox who probably walked just minutes before me. The day turned out to give me close accouter to both grouse and a reindeer. The reindeer I first detected heading up. From a distance I couldn’t tell if it was a stone or animal. It was standing still without making the smallest movement. When skiing down I had to checkout the place. To my surprise I almost skied over the animal lying half buried in the snow. I think it was as surprised as me...

The skiing down were partly great, despite the latest snow had just briefly covered the rock base. Into the woods I could relax and cruise between the trees.

To conclude the day had all what you can expect from a day out, great snow, wildlife and blue skies. I must say I love my new office:-)

An afternoon stroll in a meter of pow!

I got reports of heavy snow last week, but not in my wildest dreams did I expect this much snow on my first trip this season!

My friend Jan Andre and I headed out for a short trip to check out the snow. Actually Jan who lives in Hemsedal already had his first turns 4 weeks ago. No one could miss that as he was bombing us with MMS and Facebook pics. That was extraordinary early and long forgotten as mild weather had turned most of the first snow back to water.

Today we had decided to go to one of the safe spots in Hemsedal, Nibbi. Arriving we quickly concluded that Nibbi wasn’t ready for us yet. A bit disappointed we headed up to the road pass towards the West of Norway (Lærdal). On the way we discussed were we could expect snow. Since Jan had spent the last week in bed with the o so famous “honk honk flu” he had not paid much attention to the direction of the weather. But with some local knowledge after skiing this mountains for the last 28 years we quickly started analyzing the North-West flanks. And right so, YES! Look there it is!

In between the open Burch woods the snow seemed to be good enough for a test run. After some fumbling with the skins we were again heading upwards.

Last year Håkon and I had our debut Nov 8^th, and today it’s just Nov 6^th. The difference was that last year opening where on frozen summer snow in Norway’s high mountain area Jotunheimen. Today we are in fresh powder far from the “summer”. One meter above actually!!

We made the trip short as the day where turning into night, but what a debut! Going down we made girly sounds, a lot of yeeeeeeeiiiiiiihhhhhhhhaaaaas and our smiles probably will stay on until morning!

Let the games begin!

Jan Andre and JP

Witeblue goes live!

My partner Per Chritian Tyldum (Pekka) and I (Jens-Petter Ring) decided during a great trip last year to establish Whiteblue Adventure. We are both passionate skiers. Pekka a telemarker, and I am an alpine skier.

At the age of 42 it’s about time to decide what you want from your life. As we already spend a lot of time in the mountains summer and winter the idea of making it a living was very tempting.

Pekka who is an architect and running his own company have always told me that you need at least 8 weeks of holiday a year. He has a way of living and a life philosophy that I have admired and envied for a long time. But now I’m getting there hopefully!

Together we have been skiing in the Alps plenty of times. Over the years getting older our ski trips have developed to more than skiing. Now we are seeking an adventure. We want to meet people, learn about cultures, and eat things we didn’t know where living or growing and see landscapes that are different to us.

Long before people I knew were talking about skiing in Iran, Pekka and some friends went there for an adventure that never will be forgotten. I have learned to live with the tales from a trip that have made the history books.

Later we have together been skiing in Morocco, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia and Bulgaria the latest years. What we always end up talking about is the friendly people we meet, and strangely not as much about the skiing. Although the skiing has been great as we experienced in Macedonia last year.

Now building our own ski and adventure concept all this will be put into action. We want people to go home and remember their stay for the rest of their lives.

We all have experiences that we repeatedly end up telling others about. It could be something you only spend a day doing. That has marked you for life. And you keep on reflecting on this experience for years.

In Whiteblue Adventure that’s our mission. To create moments that will last for a lifetime.

Whiteblue Adventure is about the white and blue – the cut between snow and water, between the high mountain and the open blue sea. But most importantly it’s about contrasts. To climb a mountain above the Arctic Circle, to feel the silence, to sea the eagle next to you, to experience the friendship within the group as you make your turns down until you feel the smell of saltwater. Arriving at the beach you harvest some mussels and stop by the fisherman to get some king crab before we all make dinner together and share our experiences. That’s what makes a moment!

Whiteblue Adventure is the only company that offers skiing in the Romsdal alps, Glomfjord, Lofoten and Lyngen in a 10 or 15 days trip. The reason that we can do this is Hurtigruten. Hurtigruten is repeatedly voted as the world’s most beautiful cruise and it’s by itself a great experience. The ships will bring us to our destinations, and we will venture on and off the ships to go hunting for powder.

PS! Just recently National Geographic voted the Norwegian fjords as best tourist destination in the world.

I hope you find this somewhat tempting. If you want to learn more about us visit www.whiteblue.no

Sincerely Jens-Petter Ring
Whiteblue Adventure