Back from 3 tough days up in Rondane and Dovre in Norway. When we was up in September of 2011 I wrote that my dream was to capture these animals in winter conditions and preferably in strong winds. Last week we went up to Rondane to see if my dreams could come to life. We where, Erland Leide (PN), Ivar Edvinsen (BF) and myself. We arrived mid Thursday and hired our mountain skies in Hövringen and settled in att Putten Seter. The first afternoon a small tour on the skies towards Per Gynt Hytta just to see how we managed skiing. I am quite used to it but Erland and Ivar needed some training. The big challenge was set for Saturday when we should try to reach the Muskox in Dovre, guided by Håkon Bolstad.
A view towards the peaks of Rondane NP
Strong winds building up over the peaks
The second day we spent the morning doing some photography indoors and outdoors of Putten Seter. This for helping them with marketing and especially for their website. After that we went skiing arround Karihaugen and the weather was so nice as it can get up in the mountains. After a a good dinner and some well deserved beers, it was an early night. Will we see any Muskox in Dovre tomorrow and how shall we manage to get up in the mountains?
At 08 am we met our guide Håkon Bolstad and the wind in the valley was blowing at 13 m/s and the temperature was -2 celcius. Håkon told us his plans and we began to climb upwards. We took our time as it was quite steep, but after a couple of hours we reached a ridge and saw a heard of Muskox in the distance. Unfortunately the wind increased and some snow started to fall. Guided by Håkon we stopped a couple of hundred meter from heard, unvisible for the Muskox. Its hard to stand with a naken upper body in 16 m/s and snowfall but it was necessary to put on a dry first layer.
Håkon to the right and me to the left ready for a new photo experience. ( Photo: Ivar Edvinsen)
Visibility in the snowstorm at 1250 meter was on occasions not more than 10 meters and the AF was impossible to use. Is this what we really wanted? Yes it was. We followed the heard a short way up the mountain but as the weather just got worse, Håkon decided that we should try to find our skies. Good decision, and he was spot on the skies despite more or less zero visbility. The wind was blowing hard as we slowly went down the mountain side. Skiing downhill with a backpack with a weight of 15 kg is not a walk in the park I tell You. Thanks to Håkon we got down safely but the crashes we made was plenty. Many thanks to Håkon Bolstad for a perfect day up in Dovre. That evening we went to bed at 8 pm, totally exhausted with worn out muscles but with a lucky smile on our faces.
How can they stand the beating cold wind?
We are an experience richer in life and we now know, that up in the mountains its really tough if the weather turns worse. It changes rapidly and unexpected and proper equipment and local knowledge is unvaluable. We will surely return. So far its the best photography days of my life.
Christer
