LostInTheWoods

Skiing is not something I have never really been exposed to before. My parents never took me on skiing holidays, and it always seemed like a rich persons game to me. But a few weeks ago, a Swedish friend (Peter) suggested we go skiing... in a tunnel.

Peter was very patient with me, and he had to be. I have only ever worn skis once before. Being in Blighty, it was not even on real snow, but on a huge array of upside down toothbrushes. It was about ten years ago and all we did was side step up the hill, and slowly drift down again. But this tunnel was very different, it was built for people to practise cross country skiing. Gulp.

Sited in a place called “Torsby”, you can read more about it here.

The course was also undulating, and having never skied before on snow, it scared the hell out of me. After a lot of swearing and cursing, we found ourselves approaching the end of the course which was about 1.3Km. All the way round there are grooves where you can ski on the slippery hard packed snow, and as I pushed myself off the final slope, the image of a runaway train, with no way of stopping, was firmly imprinted in my mind.

The whole experience was truly bizarre, it felt like we were skiing in a multi-story car park, with concrete walls and fluorescent tube lighting, but with 40cm of snow beneath your feet.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is a huge day in the Swedish sporting calendar. It is the “Vasaloppet” which is a world famous long distance cross country skiing event. I think it is the Swedish equivalent of the London or New York marathon.

So I think I might book a place on our sofa tomorrow morning, so I can sit there with a plate of toast and a cup of tea while thousands of people pursue their 90 Km goal in chest bursting agony, knowing just a tiny bit of what they are going through.

That is all.

LostInTheWoods