The Workermonkey

Friday, May 19, 2006

68 degrees, 25 minutes North 

# posted by Damon @ 5/19/2006 05:30:00 AM

Some pictures will follow when my friend sends them, but I need to say something about my ski trip. We left Sthlm where it was sunny and temps were around 21C (70F). The leaves were out, girls were in skirts, etc. Just an hour and a half flight North and the ground was covered in snow. More snow was falling in heavy winds. We took a bus another hour and a half to the northernmost ski area in the world. Riksgränsen is on the Norwegian border and boasts 2 chairlifts and 19 trails. Wow huh? How about several cliffs and avalanch tracks inbounds?

On our first day of skiing, you couldn't tell the ski from ground or ice from powder, which varied in depth from zero to waist deep. We ended up going down one of the avalanch prone chutes and although it was open, we didn't know to check. With a pitch at least 35 degrees, highly variable snow conditions, and visibility about 60 yards, it was interesting. There were no tracks in the snow, so we couldn't tell where drops began, which side of a fence was the cornice and which side was safe, etc, etc. Pretty intense.

Three days later, it was totally clear with blue skies in every direction as the helicopter left six of us on a nearby peak. You could see the fjords in Norway, and seemingly forever South into Sweden. The guide remarked it was one of the best days of the season as we started our way down into a bowl where the snow of the past week has been piling up and was untouched since there had not been flying conditions before that morning when we took off.

Having just taken an exam for "Advanced Refrigeration and Heat Pump Technology," I think the guide was right in saying once you do it, you have to make it a career. Of course it's unrealistic, but it's certainly tempting to ignore my thesis and start looking for places that need heliskiing guides.

3 comments

I can't even imagine how awesome that must be

By  Brancibeer, at Friday, May 19, 2006 10:18:00 AM  

you lucky bastard. You could probably be a heliski guide for part of the year and your career for the rest.

By  murphy, at Friday, May 19, 2006 12:12:00 PM  

Yeah I was thinking of that, doing the guide thing part time. Especially in Sweden since the resort doesn't open until March because it's too dark, and people get so much time off from regular jobs anyway.

By  Damon, at Friday, May 19, 2006 3:25:00 PM  

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