We’re hoping that the fishing turns out to be at least this good in Norway, too…
Apr 24
2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Big Mountain, Little Town
After catching up on some much needed sleep last night, we ate a very late breakfast before setting our sights for Tromso’s iconic local mountain – Tromsdaltinden – which is featured in the photo below. Looming large approx. 4000′ above this Arctic island town, Tromsdaltinden was impossible to resist. And at the crack of 2:30pm (gotta love 22+ hour daylight!), after a short bike ride to the edge of town, we were on our skis.
The nearly 4000′ climb landed us on the summit around 6:00pm. On our way up the approaching valley, we we encountered dozens of local Norwegians – most on skinny skis, many ski-joring with dogs, some skiing in family groups, and a few pushing 70-80 years – sliding home after a day on and around the mountain. Higher up, views from the summit ridge toward the slightly higher mountains of the Lyngen Alps held us in a trance. Impossibly steep peaks dotted the horizon. Small glaciers filled their valleys. In other directions, we spotted distant fjords, a few small towns and the highland Swedish-Finnish border region – and far below, we could almost make out our bikes.
The ski was a classic, multi-pitch descent that was highlighted by boot-deep powder! off the summit and some relatively steep turns down a very aesthetic chute below an ice strewn sub-peak set aglow by the evening sun. Back in the valley, we passed a beautiful mountain hut, skied some gentle birch glades, and whizzed along a groomed nordic track before finishing off the day with a 2 mile coast on our bikes back to Tromso. The sun was still shining bright behind the distant, Teton-like peaks on the northwest horizon – our destination for the coming days.
(Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia/Creative Commons – Click to Enlarge)
Apr 23
2 Wheels, 2 Planks: Day One!
After dodging Iceland-born volcanic ash while crossing the Atlantic this morning, Emily, Forrest Twombly and I arrived to the higher latitudes of Arctic Norway. Two hours spent rigging our ski-bikes for the weeks of adventure ahead were followed by a pleasant bike ride to a cozy b&b in the island city of Tromso. Home to the world’s most northerly 4-season port, this community of 30,000+ souls is also surrounded by a great variety of Arctic mountains. Our inaugural ski tour of the trip began at 8pm with an easy bike ride to the base of a friendly mountain on the east side of town. We climbed and skied to the backdrop of the setting sun sliding slowly beneath a cluster of Teton-like peaks on the northwestern horizon. Wow.
The snowpack is deep, there’s still good powder snow on shaded aspects above 300m, and the mountains seem to stretch on forever. Skies were mostly clear today and more of the same is in the forecast for Saturday. By Sunday, we’ll be pedaling away from Tromso to explore a remote peninsula farther out along the coast – with open views to the ocean and near-midnight sun. Tom Hite (who has taken the place of our friend Dylan Crossman, who is recovering from an recent injury), will be landing in Tromso on Monday – and we expect to have a great camp in place upon his arrival.
Internet access may be quite limited for us in the coming weeks, but we’ll do our best to keep the updates flowing. For now, enjoy this nice photo of the region that we picked up from Wikipedia.
– Brian
(Photo: Wikipedia – Tromso in summertime – Click to enlarge.)
Apr 21
2 Wheels, 2 Planks: The Ski Bike
(Click on image to enlarge)
Here’s one of the four bicycles (with some refinements reminaing) that our crew we’ll begin riding this coming Friday, April 23, at the airport in Tromso, Norway. With the support of the Consulate General of Norway, and on assignment for WEND Magazine, Adventure Cyclist, and others, we are embarking on a month-long, bike-supported skiing adventure through northern Norway’s Tromso/Lyngen/Alta region – home to the Arctic Alps, the midnight sun and the beautiful Arctic fox. We will be joined by our good friends, Forrest Twombly of Roxbury, VT and Tom Hite, who also lives and skis in Vermont’s Mad River Valley. (Due to an injury that needs more time to heal, Dylan Crossman will not likely be joining us on this trip.) Let’s hope Iceland’s erupting volcano remains cooperative!
We’d also like to say thanks to a few others helping to make this trip a success, including our friends at Black Diamond, Surly Bikes, Mammut, Pacific Outdoor Equipment, Ibex, BOB Trailer, Skout Natural Foods, Smartwool, Outdoor Research, Garmont, Ortlieb USA, Tubus Racks, Brunton, VisitTromso, Onion River Sports and Patagonia.
Stay tuned for more updates…
Here’s a map of the region through which we’ll be biking and skiing (Click to enlarge):
Apr 20
A Tribute to Jack Hannan
In late March, Vermont-raised Jack Hannan – a inspirational and passionate skier, husband and friend of many – was taken by a Class 3 avalanche in British Columbia’s Coast Range. Local contributor to AdventureSkier.com, Dave Aronson (aka “Baker Dave”), who was a very close friend of Jack’s, shares with us below some personal thoughts about Jack. Thanks Dave. (Look for some links about Jack below, too)
Jack in his early days.
Words by Dave Aronson
The mountains are powerful places. They move us in so many directions spiritually and physically, and they often draw a very fine line between utter bliss and sheer danger. Often, this line is clear, but on March 31, 2010, for a Vermont-raised friend who was skiing in the mountains of British Columbia’s Coast Range, this line was hazy.
It was brilliant day with plenty of fresh snow and blue skies. My dear friend Jack Hannan, along with his wife Laura Ogden and friends Dave and Tessa Treadway were heli-dropped atop Mt Currie in British Columbia’s beautiful Pemberton Valley. After skiing a familiar couloir, a sudden, but massive, Class 3 avalanche – most likely triggered by a cornice failure higher up on the mountain – swept Jack away. He was scouting a route down the mountain, and was momentarily exposed when the avalanche occurred. He did not survive.
Everyone who has ever crossed paths with Jack could attest to his incredible humility and his giant heart. He was loved by many, and losing him has been painful to anyone with which he ever shared time. I had the honor of meeting Jack when we were sixteen at a ski race at Jay Peak. Our friendship grew quickly, and for the next few years we were inseparable. We moved into a house in Troy, Vermont, and began pre-tirement as ski bums.
Jay Peak was a different mountain in those days. Many of the cut glades that are now on the map were a lot wilder back then, and the summit of Jay was one of Jack’s favorite places. He put tracks down lines that I didn’t think were skiable. This was Jack. He was an amazing skier. When he moved west in the mid-1990s, he made skiing his life, even if meant subsisting at times on ketchup packets, crackers and free milk. He excelled both in freeskiing competitions and in his personal adventures – always with the grit of determination and a huge smile on his face.
I have never in my life met another person who even remotely reminded me of Jack. He was his own man – a man who was shaped by his environment and family early in life. His innate love for the mountains and the outdoors runs deep.
Jack is a great example of how to live your life if you only have 35 years. He did it so well. Jack, may the mountains of Valhalla treat you well my old friend. You will live in our hearts forever.
(Some of Jack’s earliest adventures. Click to enlarge.)
(Living with Jack in northern Vermont (left) and our first Tuck’s adventure together (right))
(Jack, Laura and me on Vermont’s Mount Mansfield and Mt. Pisgah)
(Jack close to home in British Columbia)
Links related to Jack:
– Video Tribute to Jack Hannan
– Story in Pique Magazine
– Story in Backcountry Beacon
– Story in Whistler Question
– Jack’s Got My Back – Friends on Facebook
