Sailsalsa 2008 was a great success. We were treated to five days of warm, clear weather in the Stockholm archipelago. A group of about 25 salsa dancers and outdoor enthusiasts met last Sunday afternoon on the dock in Stavsnäs, where we boarded a ferry to Vindalsö. We stayed at a scout camp there for the next week. We spent our days sailing, swimming, and making new friends; and we danced each night until almost dawn. It was an idyllic week, and a perfect memory of Stockholm to take with me when I move.
2008-08-04
I’m moving to Zürich
A while ago I took a trip to Zürich for a job interview. Well, ZRL offered me a job, and I’ve made up my mind: I’m moving there in a couple of months. It was not an easy decision to make, but I think I made the right decision. I will start work on 1 October, so I’ll probably move a few days before that date. More to come!
Colbert’s still got it
This episode of The Colbert Report is one of the most entertaining I’ve seen in a long time. Crosby, Stills & Nash are bit past their prime, but you gotta applaud out of respect if not pity. Take a look!
2008-07-04
Happy Independence Day!
I had a nice video chat with my family this afternoon, and for a lark, draped myself in the flag. I liked the look so much that I asked Åsa to snap a photo of me. The cowboy hat was Daniel’s idea. I was going for the Stephen Colbert look. I think I hit pretty close to the mark!
Bouldering in Kolartorp
I’m trying to catch up a bit with my blogging. Here are some photos from an afternoon of bouldering in Kolartorp with Patrik, Isabelle, Hans, and Halvard.
Alpine touring in Stryn
One week ago today, I returned from a weeklong vacation in Stryn. I have now posted all of the photos from the trip, including those from the last day, when the four men went ski touring up the back of the mountain. Above is a photo from that tour, made last Thursday morning. This was my first time to use randonnée bindings, ski bindings that allow the heel to move freely for ascents and traverses. We attached synthetic skins to the bottoms of our skis. The nap of the fur points downhill (toward the back of the skis), providing grip on the snow to prevent slipping backward, but still allowing the ability to slide forward. The rear bindings on my skis could be twisted around to provide three different heights of heel support, for varying angles of inclination when ascending a slope. Patrick hiked in snowshoes, with his snowboard on his back.
It was a lot of fun! We hiked for about an hour or so, almost to the peak of the mountain behind the ski area. Then after a quick breather, we switched to downhill mode. The three skiers removed the skins from the bottoms of their skis and converted their heel bindings to alpine mode, locking the heels in place. Patric stowed his snowshoes and strapped on his board. What followed lasted just a few minutes, but was without a doubt the best run of the week. We had a wide open bowl of fresh, totally untouched snow, all to ourselves. It was glorious.
When we reached the bottom of the bowl, we found ourselves at the edge of a steeper slope crossed by several horizontal crevasses. We could not easily see what lay beyond them (more snow, or glacial moraine?), so we backtracked a bit, hiked over some rocks, and found a higher slope that looked safer. On this slope, we could more or less see the whole way down, so there was less risk of ending up in unskiable terrain.
We skied down and across the slope, down toward the lake at the bottom of the valley. The road through the valley was on the other side of the lake, and there was no bridge across. I saw ski tracks across the ice and snow atop the lake, but I didn't dare follow them. The hike back to the ski center took half an hour.
I’ve been thinking about getting my own skis for the past few years. Now that I've tried randonnée, I think I'll get this kind of equipment. It offers a lot more freedom than ordinary downhill gear.
My Stryn photos and Patric’s are now online.
2008-06-26
A beautiful day in Stryn
Today was lovely. The sun came out in the morning, and we got a great day of skiing in. I found a slope that's a bit off the beaten path, and it offered more of a challenge, and better snow, than the area served by the lift. You gotta walk up over the ridge after you get off the lift, and that takes ten minutes or so. But it's worth it. I did this slope twice today. here's a photo I took on my last run of the day, with a snowmelt lake in the background.
In the evening after dinner, I took a quick dip in Strynsvatn, the lake beside the cabin where we're staying. It was probably the coldest and quickest swim I've ever taken in my life. Geez, that water's cold. Take a look at the new Stryn photoset I created on flickr to see more photos from recent days, including my hike up to the nearby waterfalls yesterday and my quick swim today.
Tomorrow will be our last day here in Stryn. We'll pack up the cars with all our bags early in the morning after breakfast, and then drive up to the ski area. If the weather looks good, we'll ski part of the day. If not, we'll start driving back to Stockholm already in the morning. In any event, we'll be back in Stockholm soon. It has been a relaxing, exciting, and very enjoyable trip.
2008-06-24
An afternoon at the bath house
The weather was rainy today, so we drove to Loen and spent a few hours at the Alexandra bath house there. It was lovely, with three different saunas. There were also a few showers with that had programmed combinations of different types of water spray, different scents, and even variations of illumination. More of an experience than a shower, but pretty fun. My favorite was a shower that combined heavy drops, a warm mist, and a eucalyptus fragrance. I gotta get one of those at home!
The bath had a water slide, a big indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and several hot tubs. I spent most of my time alternating between the saunas and the hot tubs, and relaxing on a lounge with a view of the fjord. Here are a few other photos from today.
The photo above is a picture of the sauna & shower area, with the cold pool in the foreground. This mage was created by combining three exposures of slightly different shutter speeds.
We're hoping for sunshine tomorrow so we can go skiing on the glacier again. Good night from Stryn!
2008-06-23
Rainy morning
Wispy clouds cling to the verdant mountains, and a cool mist of rain blankets the valley. The lake is calm; no wind blows. The veil of clouds doesn't seem likely to lift any time soon, so the gang will probably skip skiing today. We might take drive in the mountains.
Summer skiing in Norway
Greetings from Stryn!
Yesterday evening the owners of the Strynsvatn camping site where we're staying built a bonfire on the old pier that juts out into the lake. I walked down to the pier, watched the fire, and struck up a conversation with Magne-Hild, whom I believe is one of the owners. She has lived in this part of Norway all her life. She was born in the little village of Flo, located on the hillside just across the lake and a bit to the Northeast from here. In the days of her youth, the road tunnel through the steep mountain ridges abutting the lake's Eastern edge had not yet been dug, so her village was accessible only by boat. She told me that it was exciting and scary around the time of year when the ice on the lake was too thick for boats, but not thick enough for foot traffic. If someone fell ill and needed a doctor, it required a perilous and uncertain journey. I thought this sounded like the basis for a wonderful story!
Today I did my first summer skiing, on a glacier in the mountains East of here. It was sunny and warm in the morning, and aside from the slushy snow, the skiing was quite okay. The clouds moved in this afternoon, and it's been cool and rainy since then. I managed to get a few good photos while the sun was shining, as well as a lot more in the haze and fog. Here are some photos from today and yesterday.
Tomorrow I think I'll take a break from skiing and go hiking in the mountains South of the here. There's a pass there that's supposed to be about an hour's hike from the water's edge. I'll pack a lunch and head out just after breakfast. With any luck the weather will be nice and I'll get some good photos of the lake from up there.
It's after midnight here (or almost midnight if you go by standard time), and yet the sky outside is not dark. The clouds hanging over the mountaintops are still glowing with the light of dusk-dawn (one and the same at this latitude and at this time of year). There is no night here in the summertime, only a darker twilight. In twenty minutes, it will be at its darkest and will begin to get lighter again.
It's time for me to get some sleep. I'll brush my teeth, crawl up into the top bunk of the bunk bed where I'm sleeping, and nod off for a few hours. Over and out.
2008-06-20
Midsummer's eve in Stryn
Yesterday afternoon, Åsa and Patrik picked me up and we drove to Norway. We stayed the night in a friend's cabin in Trysil, and then continued our drive Westward this morning. We crossed over the pass, through a few tunnels, and down into Stryn, where we'll spend the next week. We're staying down in the valley in a cabin by the fjord. In the morning, we'll drive twenty minutes back up to the pass, where we'll ski on the glacier atop the mountain ridge. It should be great!
We just sat down to a lovely midsummer's eve dinner of pickled herring, gravad lax, boiled new potatoes, and broccoli and ham quiche. We washed it down with beer, and of course, Norwegian aqvavit. Damn, alcohol is expensive here. One half-liter can of beer in the grocery store costs about 4 USD.
If the skiing is too slushy on the glacier, there are other options down valley. We can go kayaking on the river or climbing on any of the many cliffs. The latter depends on somewhat dry weather though, and right now it's still raining. Typical midsummer weather!
More to come soon, including photos. Love from Norway.
2008-06-15
An evening in Zürich
I had dinner at the Zeughauskeller restaurant tonight, and had a delicious dish of veal in mushroom sauce with fried potato hash. I'm surprised I was even able to find a place that was open. This city seems to close down completely on Sundays. Tonight is not boring for footbal (soccer) fans though: throughout the city, outdoor TVs are set up to play the Euro Cup matches for the public. Tonight's match is between the Czech Republic and Turkey. I've posted a few photos from today. More later.
Thanks to Sam for pointing out that the tournament being held in Switzerland is the Euro Cup, not the World Cup. As you can probably see, I'm not much of a sports fanatic.
A cloudy afternoon in Zürich
I'm in Zürich for a job interview tomorrow at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory (ZRL). I passed through the airport here on my way to Andermatt a few months ago, but this is my first visit to the city proper. I'm going out now for some dinner and a bit of sightseeing.
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