Kroka Vermont Semester 2014: Vermont Semester Update #2 - Skiing, Knife Making, and More Skiing!!

Sunrise at Kroka base camp

We have been very busy this past week, focusing on skiing and working diligently on big job projects.

Oliver, John, Adrain, and Helen at Grafton Ponds

On Monday, we started off our week with skiing at Grafton Pond Outdoor Center in Vermont! When training at Grafton Pond with Misha, Becky and Oliver, we split into two groups to work on two different styles of cross-country skiing: classical and skate. Classical is pretty standard; it is a gliding step motion with your skis running parallel. When skate skiing, you point your toes outwards and the motion is like ice skating, hence the name. These two styles are both good ways to work on technique and to build up our endurance for the upcoming expedition.

Cassandra

On the home stretch!

At the start of the week, skiing was quite a challenge for me. On our first day at Grafton the wind was blowing the snow up in huge gusts. It was so strong that you could just stick out your arms to get pushed along, but then had to work twice as hard going back against the wind. As new muscles that we don’t usually use got accustomed to their new tasks, skiiing became more smooth and we were able to take on the bigger hills (my favorite part!).

Maja finding the bigger hills!

Knives with the handles roughed out

On Wednesday and Thursday we started making knife handles with Laurel and Linda. We are crafting the handles out of cherry burl. A burl is like a wart on a tree. The wood grain in a burl goes every which way with many knots creating beautiful and unique patterns in the grain of your handle. It is incredible to have the experience of crafting a tool that is so useful, that we will always carry it with us. We put extra care into crafting it and shaping the handle in such a way that we can cradle it perfectly in our hands.

Forest preparing the knife blade

While one half of the group was working with Laurel and Linda on knives, the other half worked on their big job projects. For me this meant working on this blog post, for others it meant planning menus, gathering together gear, repairing the expedition stove, making resupply kits, doing repairs and completing tasks which need to be done before we can head out onto the Catamount Trail.

Students out on half day ski through nearby Grassy Brook

Becky enjoying a beautiful winter day

Adrain and Becky navigating

Maja starting up a fire for lunch

Our weekend task was helping Hans with pig slaughtering and butchering at Two Girls’ Farm. It was very intense to watch even though I know that Mr. Barrow, the pig, was well cared for and loved. We talked about the circle of life and how after we as humans care for an animal, it then cares for us in the form of nourishment. Once the pig had been scalded and all of the bristles removed, it was time to gut it. Removing all of the intestines and organs was a really cool learning experience. You get to see right there in front of you, how everything connects and how an amazing being is able to live and breath. It also connected well to our nutrition lesson with Hanah!

Adrain making a fire in his dwelling

Between the skiing sessions and countless projects we have made sure to squeeze in time for journaling, showers, letter writing and personal reflection. This time is very important for personal health and wellbeing so we can be rested for the full week ahead of us.

On Sunday morning we had our first math session with Katie Crowe, a math teacher at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School. It was a different experience from any math class that I have ever taken. Most noteworthy of all, it was in a yurt. Katie started the class off with telling us about her background in math and art, and how she became interested in teaching. She taught us in two groups based on our level of math understanding.

In the afternoon we were scheduled to help out at Orchard Hill, a school, bakery and community center just a couple minutes up the road from Kroka. There was some miscommunication and so when we went there wasn’t much to do though we did help move a pile of firewood. Anton was gracious enough to let us use their beautiful sauna that smells like cedar. It was so nice and relaxing. The snow and pond water wasn’t too cold allowing us to rinse off after getting all sweaty. I felt really refreshed and it was a perfect way to end a long week of hard work.