Blown away, literally
In my previous post I was speculating wildly about skinning up a quiet mountain in the moonlight. This sounds really good, and is up to some almost insignificant details exactly what happened.
One of the insignificant details was that the mountain was not quiet. It was not whispering either, in fact it was roaring and howling. The wind was so strong that for some parts of the approach we had to stop once every hundred meters or so to check for and heat white spots on our faces, and when we did, we had to lean on the poles holding up the trail signs just to not fall over. Our first objective was to reach Klöverstugan, situated on a plateau about 1000masl on Klöverfjället. Klöverstugan is a small hut, more or less a little box of wood with a fireplace inside, and white peaks all around it, making it ideal for a couple of nights sleep and pow-hunting far from the reaches of civilization but still close enough to reach with a couple of hours on skins.
Mattias and Klöverstugan, in all its glory
On saturday morning we set off after spending the night in the car parked by the trail head. Visibility was to start with all right, and we even had a little bit of sun. Things deteriorated quickly with elevation though, and by the time we reached the hut there was not much left.
As much sun as we ever saw, picture taken in the wind shelter created in front of the hut
Not that it mattered, the wind alone was more than enough to put us off any idea of reaching a summit that day. We did what any sensible person would do, hid inside the hut, melted snow, ate, relaxed and just enjoyed being away from everything else. I still had a bit of a cold as well, so my energy levels were fairly low. After a good nights sleep and a healthy serving of breakfast we happily noted that the wind had mellowed to a condition that could be described as very windy, a big improvement from Saturday. Strengthened by this, we happily ignored the fact that there was no visibility to speak of and went out in search for some nice wind blown pow.
This is usually fond in the ravine on Jenjen, and so it was this time as well. If we could only find the ravine that was. Visibility conditions were so poor that we wandered around from right to left for a bit before we at last found it, just by noting that we were in the bottom of something. Due to the sheer difficulty to see what was up or down, let alone gauge snow conditions, the first lap will not go to the books as one of the most stylish I have ever done, but by the second one we got the hang of it. Knowing the snow certainly helped as well. We got a nice serving of poder of the windblown variety. Nice and fast with good response and hold, really not bad. After returning to the hut we packed up our stuff and said goodbye to Klöverstugan for this time, with the promise to return soon, on a more sunny weekend.
This way is home, I think
Lots of approaching and hanging out in the hut for not so much riding and in questionable conditions, but I guess that's what December in Sweden and pre-season in general is all about. I am still happy (whoops, almost used the s-word) for the nice turns we got and for having friend that come with me no matter how daft the project may seem, thank you Mattias!