Wait for Meeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Saturday, 7 February 2015

Today was the day Zali had been looking forward to since we first talked about going to Norway.  

 

We booked a half hour dog sledding trip with Geilo-Husky who did all sorts of trips (half & multi day) but they suggested something short if you had kids.  That suited us  too really and we turned up today with beautiful blue skies and almost no wind. Perfect conditions.

After about two minutes of instructions incorporating the following ground rules…1)  'NEVER let go of the sled', '2) Don't tail-gate', 3) Don't drive the dogs shoulder to shoulder (as the dogs get tangled). Then we had a quick introduction to the steering (there was none), and braking  (there were two footbrakes - one of which was like an anchor in the snow whist the other was more like a speed reducer than a complete-stopper).


And then we were off.    The expert leader was first, an english couple had the 2nd team (with the lady driving and her husband sitting), then was me with Zali, followed by Jon and Jett.  

 


And when I say 'off', I mean OFF, it was like going from 0 to 100 in 1 second while trying to balance on skis without bindings.   The moment the sled in front of you went, your own dogs could not be stopped unless you put all your weight full force on the equivalent of the anchor and leant backwards.     Cornering was fun, you had to lean against the corner to stop the sled tipping over and when you added soft or slushy snow and lumps and bumps into the equation, it was crazy.   Completely crazy.  The dogs just wanted to run. In fact they wanted to race. I was constantly on the brake to stop them speeding past the sled in front.

 


After about 10 minutes the dogs settled down a bit and we all relaxed a little.  In fact so much that  the lady driving the sled in front of me took a corner a bit fast and ploughed into the bumpy soft snow, unceremoniously tipping her sled (and her husband) onto it's side. For a few moments the dogs sped on with the lady running pathetically behind it,  but then either the dogs  felt the tipped sled, or the expert driver of the first sled may have called them to stop I'm not sure which.  In any case I dug into my brakes so my team didn't run over the sled of fools in front of me.   The leader gave the lady a bit of a serve for not controlling her team and then helped her right the sled and her disgruntled husband. The leader was more of a dog person than a tourist guide !

 


Anyway while we were stopped I took the camera from Zali and turned to take a photo of Jon and Jett from the front.  So  I had one hand on the sled, one on the camera, and all my weight on the brake.  Just as I held up the camera the lady in front got her sled going again which in turn caused my team to surge forward.  Suddenly I was falling backwards off the sled (and the brake), while the camera was heading into orbit.  Prioritising the sled ahead of my camera I lunged for the sled handrail -by some miracle I just managed to grab it and drag myself on board as it took of and as I heard the soft 'plonk' of the camera returning to earth behind me.  What a chump's mistake - not seeing that the dogs were about to go I was totally caught out.  Luckily Jon witnessed all of this just as his team started to move after mine and amazingly my camera wasn't trampled by his six dogs and then the remaining parts crushed under his sled. Instead, in a manoeuvre which would have made grandfather proud, he directed Jett to lean over the side of his sled as they went past and pluck it up out of the snow while he counterbalanced the sled on the other side.  It was like a boaty plucking his favourite hat up out of the water with a boat hook.  I was just able to glance back and see them do it as my sled skidded away (thankfully with me on it).  Phew.  Not only was I saved the humiliation of my team of dogs overtaking the leader without me on board (thus breaking ground-rule number one), but I also didn't have to admit that I only had one hand on the handlebars and we didn't have to go back for my camera. 

And also if I hadn't managed to just grab the sled as it scootered away, I wonder how long it would have taken Zali to realise she was driverless… "mum, we're going a bit fast props we should slow down"… "mum?"..  "MUM???" ..


So compared to that, the rest of the trip was uneventful and really really fun.  An absolutely unique experience! Zali and Jett were snug and warm sitting on and under reindeer pelts. Whilst we had thought Zali might be able to drive a team it was pretty obvious after a few seconds that you needed to be heavy enough to stop the dogs if you had to - in the end she was pretty happy with sitting in the sled and chatting to me as we went.   

Harald and Linda came along to watch which was great as it meant Harald could get a phew cracker photos of us as well. Look how professional we look here!!

After we finished we were treated to a fireplace, a warm drink and a debrief with the other team.  It was lovely. So much fun.

 

 


norwaysummary
Random Photos Friday, 13 February 2015
Goodbye Drammen & Norway Friday, 13 February 2015
Putin the Norwegian Forest Cat Thursday, 12 February 2015
Goodbye Geilo Thursday, 12 February 2015
Ice Fishing - what's not to love.. Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Remains of the day Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Mountain Views Monday, 9 February 2015
uvær Monday, 9 February 2015
Melting.. Monday, 9 February 2015
Lessons Saturday, 7 February 2015
Ice Music Festival Day 2 Saturday, 7 February 2015
Wait for Meeeeeeeeee!!!!!! Saturday, 7 February 2015
Drammen to Geilo Friday, 6 February 2015
I can't believe it's come to this.. Thursday, 5 February 2015
We've come a long way.. Thursday, 5 February 2015
Mesnaelva Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Postcard Perfect Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Free days Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Point to Point Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Norwegian Forest Cat - Update 2 Monday, 2 February 2015
Ski-Every-Day team Monday, 2 February 2015
Kjelke Kjøring and Butt Racers Monday, 2 February 2015
Norwegian Forest Cat - update Sunday, 1 February 2015
Getting through the list.. Sunday, 1 February 2015
Forest Cats and Snow Dogs Sunday, 1 February 2015
Yes. We should all move to Lillehammer. Sunday, 1 February 2015
Lillehammer Day 2 Saturday, 31 January 2015
Hmmph Friday, 30 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 7 & goodbye Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Hearts and minds Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Shiplife Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 6 Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 5 Monday, 26 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 4 - part 2 Sunday, 25 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 4 - part 1 Sunday, 25 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 3 Friday, 23 January 2015
in our hearts and minds Friday, 23 January 2015
Hurtigruten: Day 1 & 2 Friday, 23 January 2015
Goodbye Bergen, hello Hurtigruten Thursday, 22 January 2015
Going Undercover.. Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Beautiful Bergen Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Norwegian Breakfasts Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Over the hills and far away Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Quick Update Monday, 19 January 2015
Ice Hockey! Monday, 19 January 2015
Ski trip #2 Monday, 19 January 2015
Handsome Norwegian Boys Monday, 19 January 2015
This is why.. Sunday, 18 January 2015
Ski Audit Saturday, 17 January 2015
Tourist Day Saturday, 17 January 2015
Snow Day Saturday, 17 January 2015
Thank you Oslo. Saturday, 17 January 2015
Plugged Wednesday, 14 January 2015