Breaking News

Well, what is the news? Its that I am once again updating my blog, and hopefully I do so more frequently than in the last year. But mayby I get my new website up and going, and then I will move all the blogging over to that site. But whit my progression I think this is were the news will come.
So what is happening? We actually have winter. If it continues like this it will be the best November ever. Last year was really shitty as you can read below. So far this year its great. We have been on the sled for more that two weeks all readdy. This week end I had three days of sleding in the mountains and to day I was back up again for a 50 kilometer run. The next days we are going to open the trail system back home, hopefully get som 30-40 kilometers of trail groomed, whit dogteam.
The training is going as planed and we are getting all the miles we have planed for so far.
This year is also a puppy year. we had 10 alltogether, but 3 of them is sold. The rest are going to stay. They have grown a bit since the pctures is taken, but are still cute.
Hopefully I will write some more later.

ice

At last there is a post that is not about dogs. On Saturday I left the dogs at home and went to Tamokdalen to play a bit on some ice. For those who don't know Tamokkdalen its also known under the name Powder valley due to its good skiing, and often exelent skiing conditions. But on Saturday the avalanche risk was to big for skiing. But its other fun things to do. So together whit Tamoks own ski and climbing master Aadne, Mr Letto and the Lyngen squad I brought along my ice-axes to do some playing on ice. As a retired climber it was good that today's action was going to be on a small ice crag. I am no longer up too long and hard climbs. But who know what will happen in the future?

Happy new Year

The new year have started, and what a good start. Woke up to day to a clear sky and -10. And on top of it, we have really good snow conditions and excellent trails to run the dogs straight out of the dog lot.
What a day, snow hanging on the trees, the almost full moon sending its magic light down on me and the 10 dogs running steadily into the early afternoon darkness.
Gunnar and Sting doing a great job up in lead to day, keeping a steady pace. Vosko placed in the second pair, a good learning position for (hopefully) up and coming lead-dogs. He was doing a good job together whit Trangia. The rest of the team is Dønning, Kesam, Sarek, Petra, Pompen and Bjørk (for pictures of the dogs check out http://undervegs.no/norsk/fml.html). I am really looking forward to the rest of the winter together whit this happy bunch of hard working dogs. I am quite sure we will experience a lot of nice trips together.

Dogs again

On the 12 we were up in the mountains again. And again it was wood transportation that was the prime object. But of course, it is good training as well. Since my brother Espen also came along we had to bring all the dogs along, pups and retired dogs as well as the race dogs. The young and old were left at the base camp cabin while we were up in the mountains. For the 7 months pups, Tutta and Smirre, its good training to do some running whit the adults. Staying on the stake out line on new places is also a valuable experience. When it comes to running, the pups are really looking good. They seem to love running, are hard pullers and are really serious when at work.

The weather is a story of its own. No wind and partly clouded. This made for some fantastic colors. The sky was going from pink and orange to deep blue. The snow was kind of pink and deep blue. Moments like this make up for all the hours spend training the dogs on the ATV in pouring rain in September and October, all the hours spend looking for good snow conditions early in the season.

In the evening, Tommy and Ronny came up whit their 21 dogs. All together we had 43 dogs sleeping outside the cabin. One would think that this would ad up to a lot of barking. But the dogs know that they are supposed to be quiet. Except for feeding time, and when taking of in the morning, the forest is silent.


The second day me, Espen and Tommy went up to Dærtahytta whit 12 dogs each while Ronny was taking care of pups on old dogs down by the cabin. This day was all you can ask for. The dogs were really eager. They were working hard and running fast. Going in to Dærta, whit 150-200 kilos in the sleds we used one and a half hour on the 22 kilometer run. Going back again we were going whit an average speed of 15,8 km/h. We were satisfied. The next day the dogs was even more enthusiastic, using just under one and a half hour on the run to Dærtahytta. Going home they averaged 17,6 km/h. This is a speed and enthusiasm that make us satisfied. But, it´s still early in the season.

Whit the bad snow conditions we have had the last weeks, Devvdes and Dærta area is one of the few areas in Troms whit good training conditions. And now this is “safe” to write, because at last is`s snowing. So hopefully I can take some training runs at home this week.

LATEST NEWS: It was snowing all weekend and Monday as well. The last couple of days have been deep snow swimming on the trails back home.

Training dogs in the Polar night.

As I start my first entry in this blog the so-called Polar Night surround us. I say the so-called, because we still have a lot of light. We are not surrounded by a pitch-black night, but by a lot of light. There is more or less 6 hours of light, going from dusk to dawn, 6 hours whit the blue colors that is so significant for dusk and dawn. On a clear day you se the orange glow of the sun in the south (although it is under the horizon),going over to pink and then blue up in the sky.
As long as you get outside there is plenty of light for those who want to go out and play. But of course, if you spend the day inside you get the impression that it is a dark day outside.

The last days I have been up in the mountain in Dividalen National Park whit some friends and our dogs. There we are combining training for the Finnmarksløpet (www.finnmarkslopet.no), and transporting wood to Dærtahytta, one of Troms Turlags cabins (www.turistforeningen.no/tromsturlag). This is a roundtrip of 45 kilometers. Whit good snow conditions the roundtrip takes us 4 hours. Going in to the cabin the sleds are loaded whit about 150 kg of wood, the sled itself is about 45 kilo and the lazy musher standing on the sled is 90 kilo. And in front 12 alaskan huskies that love to work.
Training up in the mountains gives the dogs a lot of good experiences. They learn to travel without a fixed trail, which is a good quality in a lead-dog. And when the weather gets tough, the dogs get tough. On one of the trips the combination of atrong wind and snow gave us almost zero visibility. Make it a headwind, and it is tough for the dogs. This is when you appreciate a good lead-dog, and its also a good opportunity to give new lead-dogs the necessary experience they need to become good leaders. And on top of it all you ad 200 reindeers (looks like Santa is early this year). The adult dogs know that reindeers is something you are not hunting, but the yearlings had to learn. And what is better for them than being pulled by the adults trough all this potential food?

Well, back to the Polar Night (which in my opinion is no night). The next day the wind had died, and the sky was clear. For me there is no better place to be on a clear day than above the tree line. You are traveling through a blue light, a constant dusk that slowly transform into dawn. Its a landscape whit no shadows, the snow is a bluish kind of white. The low horizon is going from orange to pink. You are traveling in solitude, you are alone whit the dogs. Nature is hibernating, or almost hibernating. There are always some grouse taking flight when we are coming and some of Santa´s reindeers (or maybe its the Sami´s reindeers) are feeding in the hills. This is a good place to be this time of the year. And in a couple of days I will be back up in the mountains together whit the dogs.