Rotary World Service - District 5950 Group Study Exchange 2003

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Mike Morris
John Hobday
Margit Karkela
Lynn Keillor
Alanna Simone Tyler

THE TRIP
April 22-23 - Days 1-2
April 24 - Day 3
April 25 - Day 4
April 26 - Day 5
April 27 - Day 6
April 28 - Day 7
April 29 - Day 8
April 30 - Day 9
May 1 - Day 10
May 2 - Day 11
May 3 - Day 12
May 4 - Day 13
May 5 - Day 14
May 6 - Day 15
May 7 - Day 16
May 8 - Day 17
May 9 - Day 18
May 10 - Day 19
May 11 - Day 20
May 12 - Day 21
May 13 - Day 22
May 14 - Day 23
May 15 - Day 24
May 16 - Day 25
May 17 - Day 26
May 18 - Day 27
May 19 - Day 28
May 20 - Day 29

May 11, 2003
Hønefoss, Norway
By: John Hobday

Except for the snow-capped mountains in the horizon in a number of directions, Hønefoss (pronounced HER-na-fuss) could be northern Minnesota. From the top of the valley (elev. 2500 ft.), it is really a stunning view with many large lakes (fjords stretching to the sea thousands of years ago), islands, and of course the mountains in the distance. The city of Hønefoss where we are staying has about 25,000 and is in Ringerike, a region somewhat comparable to a large Minnesota county (‘‘ring’’ meaning ring and ‘‘rike’’ roughly meaning kingdom). As I’m writing this, it’s 8 p.m. and it is about as light as it would be at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. in Minnesota. Hønefoss is roughly the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, so the days are getting very long as we approach June 21^st.

Today is Sunday, and our only planned event for the day was a hike and picnic in the mountains overlooking the city of Hønefoss with an introduction to the Norwegian Skiing Association.

The hike took place at Ringkollen (‘‘ring’’ referring to the Ringerike region, and ‘‘kollen’’ meaning small hill), a part of a national park the stretches from Hønefoss all the way to Oslo. Note that this ‘‘small hill’’ is roughly the same height as Minnesota’s highest point along Lake Superior. Ringkollen is one of the most popular cross country ski areas in Norway because of its relative closeness to Oslo (approximately one hour) and its consistent snow. Our hike was cut short, unfortunately, because there were still too many patches of snow (plus the fire was ready for the barbecue). We enjoyed hot dogs, sausage, salad, tosca (coffee cake), and Norwegian candy. Our Norwegian hosts still fail to see the humor of wrapping a hot dog in lefsa, so I’ve given up trying to explain. (Photo above right: Ringkollen is a large region of the Nordmarka wilderness that lies at an altitude of 600 meters above Hønefoss. Photo left: Lynn feels completely "at home" in the Norwegian woods.)

In addition to our hike and picnic, we had a very interesting introduction to the Norwegian Skiing Association (a primarily volunteer organization promoting cross country skiing in Norway). A woman named Turid Guttormsen explained that their particular area was responsible for keeping over 300 km (186 miles) of trails groomed for cross country skiers. This is done in one of three manners. The first method is for a large snow grater (kind of like a large tractor) to groom the snow and simultaneously scrape two ski trails in the snow. This method would be good if you had a lot of ice to crunch up. After the tractor has come through, the snow is relatively smooth and you have two trails all ready to go. The second method is to use a snow mobile to pack down snow for smaller trails. The third method is to actually use skis to make trails. There are units like this throughout the country keeping cross country ski trails smooth and ready for skiers. Interestingly, they have mar! kers to use with your kids. A two-year-old marker, a three-year-old marker, etc., meaning that if you have a two year old, you should be able to ski with them to the first market and turn around and go back. By the time you get to the five-year-old marker, you are skiing about 10 km (6.2 miles)! To facilitate skiing in the winter when the sun is going down close to 3 p.m., lighted trails are visible all over the country. (Photo above left: Hosts Knut, Margit, and Dagfinn at the local ski jump at Ringkollen. Photo above right: To get the best view of Hønefoss we needed to climb the ski jump.)

For the World War II enthusiasts in the reading audience, you’ll be interested to know that Hønefoss was quite the major WWII battleground in Germany’s attempt to take strategic portions of Norway during their five-year occupation. Sixty years ago in the picturesque areas where a number of us are staying there were camps of German soldiers, Norwegian resistance fighters in the mountains, tanks, ammunition storage areas, a concentration camp, barbed wire areas of the forest (with barbed wire still visible nailed to the trees), etc. It's a strange experience to walk in the forests and imagine all of that going on, because you are literally walking through history.