Bloody tax assessment

Thanks to the internet, I just delivered my annual tax assessment for 2005--in time before the deadline on Sunday. But working my way through all the forms and fields and guides and everything, trying to figure out what to do with the additional form I had to fill out because I rented out my apartment while I was in Strasbourg last year, took a teeny-wheeny bit more time than I imagined... Tired as h..., I now have to pack for the trip to Beitostølen this weekend, and I should also prepare a meeting at work tomorrow. I guess I'll have to prepare for that meeting tomorrow morning. And get some sleep now.

I am sailing...

Or at least I was last evening when I had my initial meeting with the crew I will be sailing with this season. The boat has the somewhat self-ironic name Jalla Jalla (NOR 158), and is an 11:MOD (11:Metre One Design)--the same kind of boat I have been race-sailing with in Accenture four seasons from 2001 to 2004.

Although Strasbourg is a nice city to live in, it has no coast or lake for sailing. Back home in Oslo, it is good to be back on the water!

Impressive by Telenor

Having missed the initial door delivery of a new wireless router (to replace the old one which had stopped working), I stopped by the post office and picked it up yesterday. For some reason it didn't work, and I called customer support at Telenor. The problem wasn't solved and the issue was forwarded to second line support for investigation today--my job was to make sure the new router was connected before going to work. On the tram for work this morning, my phone started vibrating, and I got an SMS saying that my internet connection is now fixed! If the line now works, I'll do something I never thought I would ever do: commend Telenor for excellent service!

On the road again

After a long winter covered by a tarpaulin in the basement, I decided to take my Cannondale R700 performance road bike for a breath of fresh air in the sunshine today. The small excursion opening the bicycling season was 37 kilometres long and lasted an hour and a half (effective bicycling). It took me to Sandvika, Bekkestua and Ullevål where I stopped by the hospital to visit my grandmother--she was sent there yesterday and are to return home tomorrow.

Earlier, on my way home from work, I stopped by a bicycle shop and was briefly introduced to a Gary Fisher Big Sur hardtail mountain bike (2005 version--Gary Fisher don't make Big Sur anymore) at a discount (now selling at NOK 9000). Tempting...

Holiday in the Norwegian alps at Sunnmøre

Climbing Saudehornet

Home from Easter holiday, I look back at a few amazing and eventful days at Sunnmøre, Norway, with steep mountains and excellent off-piste descends on snowboard! I also look back at the longest drive by car I have ever done, but that is a whole other story.

Although I have been snowboarding quite a few times this winter, I just debuted on snowboard in Engelberg before Easter one year ago, and had yet to try off-piste. Yet, in the alpine mountains of Sunnmøre, I was not only to try off-piste snowboarding, but also to climb the mountains by foot--on snowshoes that is. Consequently, I stressed around in Oslo a couple of weeks before Easter to buy some good snowshoes, and ended up with some pretty expensive ones. For safety I also bought me a helmet, but as everyone knows you never fall when secured. But the helmet did a good job as a nice wind-resistant cap.

We started off on Maundy Thursday, heading for Kolåstinden (The Kolås Pinnacle)--one of many spectacular peaks at Sunnmøre. However attractive, the weather forced us to turn at Stretet, a narrow passage just below the summit, and we had to start our descend from there. And what a descend! The snow was soft and nice, yet not too deep and loose--nice for me, as I am used to the firm slopes. By the time we hit softer snow I had learned to handle it and was floating freely down the mountain! What a feeling!

Facing a poor weather forecast for Good Friday, we looked around the corner and up towards Saudehornet. The peak was hidden in the clouds, but as the weather was changing rapidly and the mountain was close, we decided to give it a try and started off in nice sunshine. Bloody hot indeed, yet nice--as long as it lasted. On our ascend we experienced all kinds of weather, yet the clouds kept hanging around the summit. So we had to turn on the ridge. Strap on the snowboard that is, and float down another mountain side. Wonderful! But a bit short, so while the others continued down to the car, I replaced snowboard with snowshoes and walked back up for another ride. This time the weather got worse, and I turned around at the same place. Going down alone was not as fun as in a group with others, but apart from that I don't regret for a second going back up!

On Holy Saturday we decided to take an easy day and visited Ørsta ski resort in Bondalen--maybe the smallest ski resort I've been to this winter, but far from boring. Although it only had two lifts--one bringing you just above the treeline and another streching another leg up the mountain side--it offered a really nice off-piste slope, and the wonderful moments of floating recurred to me yet again!

The weather forecast Saturday evening gave hope of a nice Easter Sunday, and we started making plans for a trip to Skårasalen, optionally Eidskyrkja. However, when Sunday came the weather stayed gray and boring, and we decided to do something completely different: We packed our bags, cleaned the house, got in the car and drove off to Ålesund where we visited the Atlantic Aquarium. Recommended! From there, we drove off towards Oslo through wonderful Romsdalen, before following the long line of cars returning from Easter Holiday and arriving in Oslo just before 1 a.m.

Unless something even more exiting comes up, I'll return to Sunnmøre next year if someone invites me!

It's Easter!

So, the time has come, my bags are packed and I am ready to go. Almost. I just have to stop by a couple of shops tomorrow morning--need to get an avalanche pole, and hope that Jan's avalanche transceiver comes in my mailbox before I leave. Because I am taking Wednesday off (and Thursday before Easter is public holiday in Norway), and fill up my mom's car (she has already gone on holiday to Peru) with people, snowboard and equipment for climbing the alpine mountains of Sunnmøre on the west coast of Norway. Espen, my ex-roommate from Strasbourg, is from a small place called Ørsta and has invited Lars (also one of my Strasbourg roommates), Satu (Finnish girl who also was in Strasbourg), me and a couple of others to this amazing place for skiing/snowboarding the steep mountains!

Now I only need to get some sleep and get ready for the eight hour drive...

Trip to Trysil

Ragnhild sliding by

Yesterday (which was the old name of this blog, btw) I went to Trysil with my sister and Ole Kristian for snowboarding. After looking out the window and evaluating different weather reports for about twenty minutes, we finally got the wheels running at eight in the morning. Three hours later, we were sliding down the soft slopes. The weather never became brilliant, but low contrast did worse than the light snowfall. Going back in the afternoon took another two hours and a half, and both me and Ragnhild dozed off... Luckily for us, Ole Kristian did not.