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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13750
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We went dog sledding on a day when the temperature in the Tamok Valley was -30C. That's -22F for my US friends. The terrain is steep sided mountains with narrow valleys. See the picture at the head of http://tromsoadventure.no/tours-by-location/camp-tamok/ for a general view.
We have before and after pictures. This is she and me before and after the 15km round trip. The ice is condensed breath!
Dog sledding is exhausting, and terrifying. The dogs might be steerable, but the sleds have no grip on the ice or snow and skid sideways. The sole control you have is body weight, of which I have a reasonable amount, and brake, which has a variable effect. We were overtaken by a sled where the driver was hard on the brakes, and going at full dog gallop.
The sled, broadly, follows the dogs. The dogs, broadly, follow the trail. When it stops following the dogs it goes off the trail and through scrub, which is how we ended up roosting on the top of a small tree  ) The dogs just kept on pulling and the sled failed to run it over. I had to get off, bounce it free and then leap on as it accelerated past me!
We also had another fun experience sliding sideways at high speed for 20 metres across a frozen river, with the runners heading side on towards the bank. Not sure how we kept it upright!
I like Norway!
The map shows where we were. Tromsø is marked in words, and the pin shows precisely where the pictures were taken, mapped by GPS co-ordinates!
Oh, it did get to -40 at the mid point of our snowmobile safari. Oddly that is exactly the same in C or F give or take a decimal point
 
 
[Updated on: Wed, 14 March 2012 17:29]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Great fun, indeed! I love the pictures! As I'm getting older, my joints and myself tend to prefer the heat from the fireplace, rather than -20C or more.
I once had a male alsatian, which loved pulling whatever we attached to it, whether it was me, our kids or a handicapped student, who might never have had the opportunity to enjoy the snowy mountains. The dog easily learnt basic commands like go, stop, right and left.
The one I have now, is a tender lady with a fur more suitable for Mediterranian climates, and which, like me, prefers to be baked in front of the fire.
[Updated on: Sun, 12 February 2012 22:15] |
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13750
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The coldest I'd been in before was about -12 in Swistria, which wasn't too bad when there was no wind. -40 in no wind was fine, 0 in wind is horrible. But boy did we enjoy being tourists.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13750
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Tor, I only have an email address for you that bounces. Please can you email me one that works?
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Good weather for dog sledding 
