Saltfjellstua

It was Philips turn to do the group log entry today - these are his ramblings:

TRAINING DAY AT SALTFJELLSTUA

Wwhen Boswell was taken to see an elephant dance he commented that it did not dance well but what was surprising was that it danced at all! The same could be said of our skiing. As Andy kept remarking, with a certain surprise, 'our skiing has improved over the years'. It's an imperceptible process, but it's certainly true.

Morning at Saltfjellstua brought new snow and with it a most welcome lie in. This further heavy fall was to hamper us the rest of the trip but on this day was an excuse for a bit of a play. We started with a training session. Basically the art is to travel as far as possible on the minimum amount of effort, that means glide. Glide, lots of glide, involving proper footwork and aided by effective pushing with the poles. We glided and poled and even did a bit of downhill before ending in deteriorating conditions on the hillside to the west of the hut. Then it was a quick team race round the circuit we had just followed. 20kms and 2 hours according to some estimates, 200m and 2 mins according to others, giving an average from which a three-minute handicap ensured an effortless victory for the girls team.