Archive For May 29, 2026

Four May’s ago in Reinfjord we skied powder to the beach whereas this time the trees were green and the snow was a twenty-minute or more walk up the mountain.  The snow was good though and the welcome from our hosts Heidi and Jan-Tøre as warm as ever.  It was nice to be back.

Once again Heidi produced the most delicious meals with impressive efficiency.  She spent many years cooking for 90 hungry school pupils so the thirteen of us did not phase her.  On our first evening we were treated to oven-baked cod on a bed of onions and carrots served with home-grown Golden Eye potatoes.  Delicious.  Heidi’s brother had caught seventeen cod in the fjord that day so the fish could not have been fresher.

Our Japanese friends were happy to ski but even more excited by the prospect of fishing.  So on our final day, which was wet, that’s what we did.  Initially we were to go out in groups of three with Jan-Tøre in his small open boat but Øysten was happy to take us in his and he could take 26!  (That’s not a boat…..this is a boat).  So we had plenty of space along with warmth and shelter from the rain.  Øysten navigated us to the right spot where the lines were dropped to a depth of 150m and the fishing began.  In no time we had landed seven cod up to 8kg in weight along with a number of Norwegian Saithe – also nice fish to eat.  We left them with Øysten’s father who would gut and filet them to be shared amongst everyone in the village.

So the final day of the 2026 ski season was spent cod fishing in the rain which is definitely better than ski touring in the rain!

We didn’t know what was in store as we boarded the Snelandia Hurtigbåt to remote Bergsfjord for mid-May spring skiing.  It had been a very strange winter in Norway with low snowfall and warm temperatures so expectations were low.  Our base was to be Bergsfjord Lodge.

The views create new dreams

It turns out this was one of the best weeks of the 2026 season.  We were most fortunate with the weather and you can see how good the skiing was from the photos.  Good company, snow, sea and silence.  Bergsjord has so many fantastic objectives just a short boat ride away – though maybe I shouldn’t be writing this as part of the charm is the almost total absence of other skiers!?

But this week wasn’t just about the skiing.  No, it was our hosts Morten and Matilda that made our visit so special.  They could not have done more to welcome us and make us feel at home in their cosy house.

Wild flavours of the North

We ate delicious meals of locally caught fish and reindeer from the island of Silda, with sauces, chutneys and flavours made from local plants and berries.  Oven-baked and salted seaweed accompanied our beer, angelica archangelica chutney our meat and pannacotta was flavoured with the new growth leaves of the Rowan tree outside the Lodge.

Particular mention has to be made of the willowherb ice cream!  Matilda picks the flowers in July, boiling them with sugar and lemon juice to make a syrup which she then uses to flavour her home-made ice cream.  This is something very special amongst all the other things that are special about skiing from Bergsfjord Lodge.

We hope to return.

Tateyama since ancient times has been a sacred place.  The three thousand metre mountain, and those surrounding it are believed to be the dwelling place of the gods  – the Kami.  The mountain tops are on the path to heaven and worshipping there allowed pilgrims to avoid falling into Hell – symbolised by the steaming, sulphorous Lake Mikurigaike at their base.

On the wall of our Murodo hut hung copies of four beautifully painted ancient scrolls.  These had been carried around the country by monks, who owned the lodgings at Murodo, and who preached about the images and of Tateyama Worship – Zenjo-tohai.  The scrolls depict in vivid and gory detail what awaited those condemned to Hell.  The fate of the Lake could be avoided by praying on the mountain tops (whilst paying to stay with the monks) or simply by paying!

Ski pilgrims on sacred peaks

We came to Murodo not as pilgrims seaking access to Buddha Amida’s paradise, but for the exceptional ski mountaineering.  It is the the start point of the Japanese Haute Route, a multi-day trek over the the highest mountains in the Alps.  Following the backbone of the ridge in spring it makes a challenging six-day ski crossing, finishing in the resort of Kamikochi.

Our cheerful Australian, English, Italian and Scottish team, guided as ever by Hiro and accompanied by the indefatigable Ken and Kei made it through.  It was a tough, but immensely enjoyable challenge!

This was probably the last JHR for Hiro and me but not the end of Japanese spring ski touring plans.  There are many great ski objectives still to be enjoyed!

A forty minute drive from the hustle and bustle of Chamonix brings you to the ski resort of Les Contamines Montjoie.  This quieter corner of the Mont Blanc Massif offers accessible off-piste terrain, easy day tours, steep skiing and access to the high mountains surrounding the Tré la Tête Glacier – the fourth largest in France.

Two hundred years ago, the Tré la Tête Glacier flowed all the way down into the Val de Montjoie as depicted in watercolours from the period.  Today it is invisible from the valley and the Conscrits Hut, the base for ski mountaineering, now sits some 200m above it.

Listening to the mountain – caution over commitment

Christine, the hut warden for the past twenty years, gave us a warm welcome.  I explained that we intended to traverse the Dômes de Miage, descending to the valley by the magnificent Armancette Glacier.

“The conditions are bad” she said, “the snow is not transforming and remains brick hard all day.  The reports I’ve had are not good”.

We considered going anyway, dealing with what we found, but ultimately changed our minds.  We were here to enjoy ourselves, not scratch our way down steep, bullet proof bubble wrap.  Besides, I was the only professional in the hut.  If I were to ignore the information I had been given, press on, and someone be injured, the decision would be hard to justify.

Instead, we enjoyed our ascent, skiing back the way we came on smooth, spring snow.  Interestingly everyone else, some fifteen skiers, went over and down the Armancette anyway!  I read a report online the following day and conditions were indeed bad.