Climbing, Ice bathing, Beach volleyball, Sleeping outside & Flekkerøy Island

Back on campus, winter is suddenly gone and spring is here.

On February 17th, the day before we flew to Tromsø, Len spontaneously sent us skiing in the Jegersberg forest behind the university instead of having a lecture.

And now all the snow is gone and the sun is shining. I'm back on campus for only two weeks before our big Ski Touring trip in the week of March 22nd. Until then, we spend the two weeks doing summer activities like climbing. I climb on the rock for the first time when a few climbers from my Outdoor Education group take me to Odderøya, the island in front of Kristiansand. There is a nice, big climbing rock on Odderøya. We climb there in beautiful weather until the sun sets. Climbing is fun, even though it is sometimes challenging for me. But once I reach the top of the rock, I enjoy the beautiful view of the sea and the sunset from a completely different perspective.

I go climbing two more times - once we go climbing with Len from the university and I go again with the climbers from my course. Since they explain and show us everything well and you can borrow climbing equipment from the university for free, I can now go climbing alone with, for example, Maike whenever we feel like it.

In addition to climbing, there is another 'first time' this week: I go ice bathing. It is 8 in the morning and the lake we walk to is right behind the campus in the Jegersberg forest. It is still partially frozen and has about 1 to 2° C. I can't stand it in the cold water for long. As soon as I walk into the lake, my wrists and ankles start to hurt from the cold. Nevertheless, it is a short and refreshing ten seconds that I spend in it, and it's definitely worth an experience!

But since it's a super clear night, I sleep under the open sky - without a shelter - so I can enjoy the starry sky. It is icy cold this night and I am freezing a lot. Nevertheless, there is at least a great experience in this night: The sounds of the ice! The ice makes incredibly loud and strange noises, so I can't believe at first that they really come from the ice. I can't describe these ice sounds with words. But you can listen to YouTube videos where someone recorded these sounds at the following links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXeLTqKs4gA or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-CwJa1SHE. I believe the sounds occur when waves propagate and run along under the ice. It's something totally magical.

In addition to climbing, ice bathing, a few campfires, a night at the lake, and a day trip to Flekkerøy Island, I met up with people from my Outdoor Education group for beach volleyball on a few afternoons. However, the two weeks were mostly relaxed.

The next week is the big Mountain Cross Country Ski Trip and I'm very excited!

You will learn more about it in the next post!

Until then, Sara