Coming back to ski and tour Northern Norway every spring for 10 seasons in a row.

Grew up right by the Lyngen Alps, in Tromsø, Northern Norway, back country skiing with my family every weekend, and hitting peaks in powder with my dad from around age seven.

There was this picture of a guy on the fattest skis we’d ever seen, something like 70 mm under foot maybe? It was an add on the back of a magazine or catalog that we’d gotten a hold of, and he was our hero. We spent hours looking at that picture, to find out how he could ski like that, with his weight moved back and tips floating on top of the snow.

Avalanches. How to read and move in the terrain most importantly, as well as the snow. I got to hit the mountains together with some experienced climbers and back country skiers when I was a kid, and learned to respect a snow covered mountain.

Besides the skis, poles and skins, it’s the backpack with the avalanche equipment. Well everything you bother carrying in the BC should be quite essential. Like the tool, the piece of rope for repairs and rescue, the duct tape, the water, food, shades, goggles. Sometimes a map, compass and headlamp. Now also the phone. Quite essential for me is also very functional clothing, I hate getting wet, being too warm or too cold and can’t stand crap skiwear.

The best thing that ever happened since skis got fat.

Local Norwegian La Nina symptoms in Myrkdalen, “The Dark Valley”, close to Voss on the Norwegian west coast. It totally snowed down. And then it just kept on going. They were hosting the Freestyle World Cup, and the whole thing was really close to get snowed down. They were digging out the moguls, lifts and jumps every day. One morning they closed the lift before noon, because it had snowed so much since they groomed in the morning, that tourists were loosing their kids in the piste. Some mogul dudes let down the showels for a while and went to ski some powder on our side of the lift, but went back when we told them the sidecountry was closed due to training for the world championships of pow.

Pow. Rediculous amounts of deep pow.