Purple Haze - Lofoten November powder ski

After success the previous weekend in the fjord district of Norway (Sogndal). Fredrik, Håkon and I decided to go radical and fly up north for early November powder in Lofoten.

Seth in his new kingdom

Our good friends Seth and Maren settled in this paradise last winter. Seth working as fulltime guide have already been out shredding powder this season, making sure we all paid notice. 

Now, enough is enough! We must do something about it!

The weather forecast were looking great for the weekend and the night before leaving home it was dumping:-) We were once again lucky. Or is it luck? Well I'm told once that powder skiing is more about transport than skiing...

To be able to ski in Lofoten in November is a bit rare. You must remember that even though Lofoten is placed above the Arctic Circle is not a very cold place.  Due to the warm waters from the Gulfstream the coast of Norway is mild, and usually not colder than -10 Celsius mid winter. And in November the snow pack isn’t normally all that great. This year has been different and we took advantage of it.

The Whiteblue season is March – May and during this period the days are long and the unique beautiful light turns towards a golden scale. Now in November the sun is just sitting on the horizon some few hours a day, giving an indescribable purple light. It’s just magnificent! Hurtigruten our Whiteblue partner is making great business with their concept “Hunting the light”, and I can see why!

During our stay we made time for Småtindane, Trolltsadlen and Pillan area. And my purple Black Diamond Drift was once again proving the right tool for the job.This was also test trip for my new camera a Panasonic GF1. Hope you like the pics.

Now the season really is on. If want to join us, you need to make you booking soon!

Thanks to Seth for his hospitality and Maren letting the boys rule the house for “Man Camp Lofoten”

Jens-Petter

Purple haze BD Drift!

Småtindane ahead.

Peace!

Noon!

"Man Camp" eating elevation..

Views towards main land

Next time...

Down time!

Håkon dropping in.

Ready, Seth, Go!

Seth, Håkon and Fredrik

Northern light and moon rise. (Aurora Borealis)

Bedroom view!

Porch view!

Morning at N68

Scouting for lines in rock powder terrain.

Paradise..

Powder ahead...

Powder we got!

Enyone who wants to join in?

Seth testing gear for Norrona

Wild west in Sogndal Norway

A week of powder pic bombarment from Whiteblue guides based by the Sognefjord on the west coast of Norway made me recruite two of my best ski buddies to make the long drive for retaliation. Without any knowledge besides the pictures seen, we scouted out tracks from the road side. The only hint we had was parts of a story from Andreas last year. He did mention Fjærland and a tunnel, so of towards Fjærland we went. We made most of the drive yesterday, so today only about 2 hours was remaining before we passed Sogndal.

What a start of the season. Great snow, weather and alone! 

Going in 80 km/h the ski tracks appared a bit sooner than expected. Standing on the breaks Håkon driving behind almost gave me a tailer... Could it be here? We took the chance and skinned up the valley to find a lot allready skied...

#%%#%$""%$&$###&$#&##$#!!!!!

But what did we expect 2 weeks after last snowfall?

Under the circumstances there was only one thing to do, continue the hike further, further and further...

And it paid of!!

Thanks guys for a great way to start the season:-)

Quick fix of frozen Duke's

First trip - new skis and boots for the converted telemarker Fredrik

Rim breaking trail

Håkon as always making a mans job in front. Preparing for Nanga Parbat.

Rim (Frost in Eng) goes doggy style!

Fredrik ex telemarker finding his technique

Rocks ahead, go faster Fredrik...... !

Finally powder once again!

Skiing is on - Whiteblue is ready!

It’s always a great feeling loading up your car Friday morning. Being ready to take off after work.

Last year we were blessed with a meter powder from the start. This year we don't have snow beside the produced artificial snow. Nevertheless people and I seem even keener on kicking off the season. Why do others and I have this feeling?

Could it be marketing or the power of social media such as Facebook? Or could it be me getting older and more aware of the importance of skiing in my life?

Or could it be the fact that people in general appreciate physical activity, being outdoors and hanging out with friends a lot more than making their way in business? To me it seems that work gradually is less important to people, and leisure and freedom gradually more.

If that’s right I must say I like the trend towards existential values.

Last week I went to the premier of snowboarder Jeremy Jones’s last movie. He was able to assemble four fellow snowboarders to an expedition like venture deep into the Alaskan mountain range. After many years in the business he realized that each year he was coming back to the same mountains, boarding the same aspects. This was driven by the limitations of heli-operations that are not allowed to fly everywhere. In some way this sounds contradictious, as many see the helicopter as the best way to have access to everything. For Jeremy Jones this no longer is right. The only way to have full access is by hiking up by your self. I’m very glad that Jeremy Jones as an important spokesman for off-piste riding has come to this conclusion. Because he is 100% right!

The growing interest for off-piste skiing and the explosion of backcountry ski touring is of course a reason for Whiteblue Adventure coming to life.

Even though the number of people hiking into the mountains is increasing; we don’t fear crowds here in Norway. Specially not if you are open to explore new areas. 

And this is into the core of Whiteblue Adventure.

We want you to “have the cake and eat it too”! Because you deserve it!

See you there

Whiteblue