In The Mountains

 In a departure from my usual domestic activities in Östersund (i.e. studying, which would make a fascinating post) I've been out to visit the vast wilderness of Jamtland County a few times these last weeks. I don't keep a precise list but, by feeling, it falls into the "Top five coolest things I've done in Sweden" grouping. This is the story of these adventures. 

Laurens' car, driven all the way from Bremen in Germany to an ice road on Storsjön. See Bydalsfjällen in the background. He'll use this picture when he sells it some day, he says. 

I heard somewhere that Östersund is one of two cities in Sweden that you can see mountains from, the other being Kiruna way up north. (though disappointingly it was too dark to see any when I was there back in December) Bydalen, the closest mountain village, is around 50km (31miles) distant to the west. It's about a 90-minute drive in the summer, but now that the ice roads across the big lake are open, that's cut down to less than an hour. Last Sunday we did a spontaneous trip out there to see what's good. 

We had no snowshoes to speak of, but we did have plenty of determination. We walked up the ski slopes there and back down a snow-covered trail with warm sun and quite spectacular sun. And it finally feels warm on your face again! 

They're not very tall mountains (1300 meters maximum, about 4200 feet) but that's plenty for me when you have to climb up most of that. Lagom if you will, the Swedish term for "the perfect amount". 

I've also been busy with quite a lot of cross-country skiing. There's not much snow here, but it never melts, so the ski trails are in good shape. It's filled the niche that running has in the warm months for me, and it's the perfect way to get outside after a long day at uni. Skis I of course get from Fritidsbanken, that amazing store which I've so often mentioned in these posts. 

My skiing gear and a very typical scene for 5PM outside my building at the university. 10 or 20km through a snowy forest is seriously the best thing ever after sitting at a desk all day. 

And recently in the food world: the local scout troop serves waffles on Sundays at the Spikbodarna ski-trailhead in what has to be one of the coziest houses in Jamtland. On the right, Fat Tuesday in Sweden is called Fettisdag, and it's traditional to eat a semla on this day. These ones are again from Freja's, but vanilla flavored. (there's also chocolate and the mysterious tiramisu flavors...)

But the biggest adventure of all was last Friday, where I played hookey from work at the uni and joined my friend Raja and her family for a ski tour up in Edsåsdalen, near Åre. They're from Germany and coincidentally lived in Duluth for six months back in 2015. Minnesota gang! When you're offered a free ride up to world-class ski trails, only a fool would decline. A decision that proved well worthwhile!

 

An 18 kilometer loop well above the tree line, and thankfully not so windy. I forgot my gloves of all things and felt quite silly, but luckily they had brought four extra pairs along just in case. 

Inspecting the trail ahead, and baking a focaccia back home in Östersund. 

Also in recent days: Adam has got me watching rugby, the Six Nations Cup right now. Ireland vs. England was on Saturday and the Irish won- I've never seen him so delighted. And the northern lights, but they've been quite common the last few week. 

A few times now (and not just in this post, I fear...) I've mentioned my work at the university, and you're probably wondering what exactly that would be. I'm spending a lot of time trying to figure that out myself. In short, I'm doing a huge literature review and then GIS work on ecological connectivity in Norbotten County. Last week I finally got an office, which is incredibly small and hard to get a picture of. (next post, I promise!) The routine is nice to have and it makes the days go quickly, plus we get free fruit, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Could be worse! Now I eagerly await spring, slow as it may be up here. 

The Busiest Month

 I'm good at quite a lot of things, but regularly updating this blog isn't one of them. I have excuses! When your semester ends in January, when you move house, when you go skiing, things tend to snowball. And before you know it there's hardly time to sleep. So this edition will be about my chaotic past month...

Curiously I was just moving into a new house this time last year too... how the world works in circular ways! Though this new crib is much fancier. 

The biggest news is that I have a new roommate: Adam, a friend from Ireland! We met at the beginning of the year and have been mates since. (if I come back with a Belfast accent, you'll know why now) It's cheaper to live together, we get more space, a microwave, couch, TV, giant fridge and freezer, not to mention the company. I've had some real crummy experiences with past roommates and these will not be repeated this time. We're similar people in a lot of ways, from our study to our love of the outdoors and excessive consumption of tea. 

Adam and I in a snow cave, and also at the climbing gym here in Östersund. He's a professional guide and instructor back in Ireland and I suspect I'm being indoctrinated into the climbing world...

We moved in hardly 30 minutes after the previous tenants, our friends Max and Frida, had moved out. Still it feels sort of like their house, but we're making it our own. Such a seamless transition would probably be impossible in The Netherlands- there's no housing crisis here in Sweden for starters, and much less bureaucracy within Östersunds Camping. It was as simple as writing an email and signing a new lease! 

This captures the feeling of the new place quite well. The new social hub of camping, which we call the homeless shelter. The reclining chairs are really what make the place home. 

One downside of all this is that the house becomes a dumping ground for all the things that people leaving for their home universities (most stay only one semester) can't bring back. We joke that we have enough supplies now to last until mid-2028. Kilos of flour, sugar, salt, butter, pasta, rice, lentils, frozen fruit and veg., potatoes, onions, carrots, you name it. Not to mention all the spices, condiments, or the circa 2,000 teabags in our pantry. It really is out of hand, but a good problem to have at the end of the day. 

We celebrated the move with semlor, which are a springtime pastry here. Cardamom buns with almond paste and lots of whipped cream. Freja's is the premier bakery in town, as you can see on the right. 

Just before the move I was in Åre for the school ski week. This is Scandinavia's premier ski destination, and it rivals anything you could find in the Rockies. The feeling is a hybrid between Vail in Colorado and Lutsen Mtns. in Minnesota: tall, steep, icy, and quite busy. I skied three days and saw just about everything- I'd say it's the nicest mountain I've ever skied at! And quite affordable: €65 will get you a day pass, another 20 bucks for the train there and back, plus food costs made for a lovely few days. 

The view from the very top! We managed to see both sunset and sunrise on a couple of occasions. It was typically cloudy in the valley and sunny up high. 800-something meters (2600 feet) of vertical!

A typical slope below the clouds and sunrise from the top.

Meanwhile, in the academic world, I've done all my exams for the first semester and started on my internship for the spring. I'm working in the department of Environmental Science on a study to verify ecological connectivity in Norbotten County. (where I was back in December, in Kiruna) To do this we're using environmental DNA, strands of genetic material that organisms shed into their surroundings. By sampling soil, water, and air, we can determine what animals were at a particular location, and then assume their ability to move through the landscape. 

Apologies for the lecture! My role in this is mostly in research and summarizing for now, moving on to a lot of GIS and mapping in March and April. So it will be an interesting few months, territory that's entirely new to me. A challenge for my academic abilities, but it'll look good on the CV. 

I'm still biking to uni every day, even in the cold. I'd say it's been no worse than a typical Minnesota winter, perhaps more consistently cold than the Midwest. No January thaws here. 

As for the near future, I'll be settling into a nice work routine, which unfortunately means tapping away at a keyboard for a third of the day. It'll be a quieter semester with most of the old friends gone, which is a melancholy feeling in the end. Plans are in the works for some crazy winter hiking and skiing- prepare yourself for the next issue!