A Lesson Learned

A bit windy this morning as we set out. I was last away apart from Mick who was doing his usual duty of ensuring the hut was immaculate before catching us up. Not sure where we were going to end up tonight Kuonjarjoki (10k), Saarijarvi (20k) or even the town of Kilpisjarvi (31k), but as I passed James I joked that with this wind I doubted we'd be going all the way to Kilpis.

As we gained height the wind increased and once we'd rounded the "shelter" of Gahperusvarri it seemed to strengthen even more. I was travelling with John, Kathy was a wee bit in front and Robert a wee bit in front of that. Philip and Rancidand had been out in front with the two pulks from the start and were just visible now and again when the blowing snow subsided, James and Mick were somewhere behind. Myself, John, Kathy & Robert eventually all closed up together and Kathy noticed that a gap had developed between my balaclava and goggles and the skin was looking worryingly white. There could have been an element of sun cream about this, but Kathy warmed my cheek up with her hand and I ensured my balaclava was well tucked in under my goggles. A wee "lecture" from Kathy on the importance of us keeping an eye on each other ensued. She also raised the question of whether we should wait for James and Mick.

We were on a kvistet route well packed down by snow scooter tracks. James could be a bit slow at times, but with Mick behind, or with him, there surely couldn't be a problem. There was also the exceedingly selfish thought on my behalf that hanging around in this weather wasn't going to be a lot of fun. So we carried on for a bit. Maybe quarter of an hour later Kathy stopped again and said this wasn't right - she was going to wait for James. John, Robert and I were to carry on to Kuonjarjoki, perhaps a further 2.5k, keeping together. Kathy dug herself in and waited.

The three of us then caught up with Rancidand who was only too glad to pass on the red pulk. In fact as he took it off he collapsed in the snow! He couldn't believe we hadn't caught him up before as he'd felt he'd been going so badly. I moved round the back of him to give a bit protection from the wind while he had a drink from his flask. Meanwhile John took over the pulk, or at least attempted to. His karrimat was getting in the way so he decided to place it in the pulk. Then he dropped a glove which the wind then caught and we had the sight of John without ski poles attempting and failing to catch the glove. Robert then joined in the chase, with ski poles and eventually caught the errant glove.

Meanwhile Rancidand was back on his feet and I buckled on the pulk and the four of us were soon at Kuonjarjoki where Philip was already ensconced with the blue pulk. There were a few Finns already in the hut and we chatted while awaiting James, Mick and Kathy.

Mick arrived first and he wasn't very pleased with us. It transpired that James had arrived at the spot where Kathy had dug in with Mick only just behind as he'd got more embroiled than normal in tidying up. James was confused, scared and cold. Even though he was on a Kvistet route he thought he may have gone wrong, he'd also had trouble with his bindings and removed his gloves to sort them out. He'd put his gloves back on, but hadn't felt his hands since then. He wasn't travelling fast enough for his body to generate the energy to re-heat them. Mick and Kathy had done their best to warm him up. They'd dumped his rucksack which meant Mick and Kathy had been double packing all the way to the hut (dropping their sac, skiing back to get the other sac, etc. etc.). No wonder he wasn't pleased with us. All the emergency gear was in the pulks and even though at the time we thought we'd all been doing the right thing, we'd actually screwed up big time. We should have reformed as a group as soon as the weather had deteriorated. The strength of a group like ours is in the group.

As this is being done as a back-blip I can immediately put your minds at rest. James went home to prevent further exposure which is the best treatment and re-arranged his flights and returned to London on Monday 21st March. He subsequently emailed me and in his own words "I seem to have spent half the week with the Medical profession, but the upshot is it is only my right thumb that anyone is concerned about, and that should fully recover over time. Makes typing, and buttoning up shirts, rather awkward in the meantime though."

Back to Kuonjarjoki, we got James warmed up, filled with liquid, inspected his hands and concluded the main source of worry to be his middle finger and thumb of his right hand. His rucksack was spread between the two pulks and I think we all knew that weather permitting we were now definitely heading all the way to the town Kilpisjarvi. We had a short stop at Saarijarvi, but everyone was in total agreement that we head on to Kilpis, warm beds, beer and of course medical advice for James. We were treated to an excellent sunset during the last few kilometres and a scary descent in the dark down a twisty rutted snow scooter road into Kilpis. James enjoyed his beer that night and didn't even need to use a straw.

Today's photo is of the climb up from Meekonjarvi where it was "quite windy" but before hitting the full force of the wind.

Rancidand's Version