The Endless Winter

Oslo residents awoke this morning to the Endless Winter.

Friday flashback memory to the Winter of 2010 to 2011.

I was living in Chamonix as most ski bums try and do at least once in a lifetime.

The 7-year heavy-snow winter cycle was in full force. This 7-year cycle has since been disrupted by the shifting of the jet stream, but we were loving it.

We had pretty much been skiing powder since mid-October in the valley. And now it was mid March and a massive storm had just hit town.

It was Friday night and in the bars the talk was only of how much snow would be ready for us the next morning. There was talk of 1 m, 1.5 m, even nearly 2 m of fresh powder to be explored when the lifts opened next morning.

We sank a few customary Friday beers and then it was on to the planning stage for the next morning.

It was not to be a lie-in on this Saturday. This is Chamonix and it will get tracked out in under 1 hour. We arrived at the Flegère ski lift 1-hour before it would open.

In front of us there were maybe 100 people. Yet we knew that the second bin lift up would provide us with ample opportunity to get fresh tracks in some hidden Valleys.

It certainly did not disappoint. The snow up on the mountain seemed bottomless.

We were dropping 3 m cliffs, then 5 m cliffs and progressively going larger and larger.

After 1 huge drop I found myself in a snow hole smiling from ear to ear absolutely covered in snow.

It was then that I heard the whoop of a snowboarder as he flew over me and landed face down in the soft snow less than 3 m from me.

The Frenchman lifted his head and whiped his goggles clean to see me beaming back at him.

“eet iz ze endless winter” he screamed at me with delight.

Then in a flash he was gone off in a powdery haze hollering as he progressed down the mountain.

All this to say that if you woke up this morning and thought “oh no, not more snow”, there are quite amazing Adventures to be had up in the woods today and this weekend. Enjoy!

Doggies: Lucy, Twist, Marmite, Tiki and Haraka