Vermont Semester Update #5 : Leg One of the Winter Ski Trail

Dear Friends and Families,

So much has happened in the mere seventeen days since we left Kroka basecamp!  We have skied 121 kilometers on snowmobile trails, across reservoirs, up and down steep slopes, in fresh powder, along roads, and through countless types of forests until we reached Farm and Wilderness in Plymouth VT, the location of our first layover. 

On Thursday February 13th we drove for two hours until we reached the southern end of Somerset Reservoir. From there we skied straight on into the noreaster snowstorm. It was an intense yet beautiful way to start our expedition, and even though there was almost a complete whiteout on the reservoir, we managed not to lose anybody that first day. 

Snow continued to fall on and off for the next day or so, and we found ourselves breaking trail through three feet of powder.  Then the sky cleared: “

There was no wind. The skies were clear. So clear you could see practically to the end of the universe. The blue of the sky was piercing and more beautiful than I have ever seen”-Maja (daily journal).

In the night between day eight and day nine it started to rain. Not a nice gentle shower but a huge downpour. The temperatures then dropped and the trees were all coated in a thick layer of ice. As the sun came out they sparkled and the whole forest looked like a magical kingdom.

 “Yesterday morning, I went on a bough collecting adventure, breaking a trail farther up into the woods, and I came upon a beautiful spot. It was a clearing of birches, illuminated from behind by the sun. The snow glittered as it fell from the branches of the fir trees around me. When the sun hit my face for the first time in days, I felt warmth and happiness flood over me” -Rosa (daily journal).

We thought we had had enough rain especially for February but then the next day, day nine, it rained again. We had pitched the tent on a marshy pond in an area where there was firewwod and boughs just like any other day. Once the tent was set up we started punching through the snowpack. This is normal except for then those holes started to fill with water. With the added heat from the stove and the potential of an increase in rainfall, our tent would have been under water, and so we moved several yards to higher ground. Moving and re-pitching the tent in the dark was not a problem because we have done it many times before, but the wetness was very unpleasant. With every step I could hear the water squelching around in my ski boots. It was challenging work, but after everything was relocated I went back to the old tent spot and there found a stream running right through the tent platform that was overflowing the trench that Finn and Kevin had dug earlier to protect the tent. 

The days blur together as often times they are all the same, marked only by the changes in scenery and elevation, or the funny things we say and do. It is nice to have a rhythm, something you can rely upon, something to guide you. We make up each morning and pack away our sleeping bags as breakfast warms up. Then we snap on our skies and glide across the snow whether it is in the form of powder, slush, or covered with an ice crust. As the sun sets and the light fades fast behind the ancient mountains, we set up our home and then fall asleep, exhausted and happy. I almost forgot one of the most important parts of the day! I will let one of my semester mate’s words describe it for they are far better:

While I can’t speak for the rest of the group

Our days are split into two

The urgency is misleading

But the switch is relieving 

From before to after my evening poop

-Per (a limerick)

On this leg we had five liveovers (days on trail where we did not move camp). These days were the times to wash, do academic work, practice navigation skills, make spoons, and rest as much as we could, though that rarely happened. We spent hours reading and then writing an essay, from the book Endurance. It is a really intense story about Earnest Shackelton and his crew that made an attempt at crossing Antarctica. It was really neat to be able to relate his crew’s experiences to ours; on a much smaller scale of course. 

For this leg our main academic block was Wilderness First Aid with Misha. We learned as much as we could about the body and the corresponding problems related to the systems. We also learned about hypothermia and cold related injuries. Something that is super relevant to us. We will continue this block through the winter, and then in the spring, at Sky Meadow, we will be able to get certified in WFA (Wilderness First Aid)! (If we pass that is)

A lot of learning has happened in the last few weeks. For some it was how to set up the tent and for others it was how to process firewood. Something that we have all improved upon is our skiing skills:

"Begin in early beginning, the earth turns. Lack of light leads, in winter, too snowfall and slip. How do they travel? Up, down, rise, fall, knee deep in powder on unpractical land. Answer an old question asked many times before by the hardened form of man with fish scales, pine tar, straight-grained giants shaped to elegance and begin to flow over the frozen mire. Kick, glide, pull back and swing again. Flight with no wings. Problem arise! Balance, remain as man; upright and proud. How? Arms, short, trees outspread. Search the land, learn to carry the tree’s balance with you in hand, shrink the hemlock pole. Result; ski."

-Kevin (exerpt from expedition prep presentation)

Our past two days here at Farm and Wilderness have been crazy and jam-packed with things to do; big job work, resupply, laundry, main lesson pages, letters, and food. Each and every one of us had an almost endless list of tasks to do for personal, big job, and academic. We have been eating delicious foods such as fresh greens and fruits that we cannot have on trail and it has been wonderful. A big thank you to whoever provided the salmon! It was greatly appreciated.

My favorite thing from this leg: acting out the olympics. While the olympic games were taking place in Sochi, other olympic events took place in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The first event was backcountry, downhill skiing. The representatives from each country had to book it down the mountain as fast as they could, choosing to either follow the trail or take a straight path down, the whole time trying to avoid hitting trees. Something that was not achieved 100%! The second event was five person chain racing. We lined up in three lines of five and held onto the ski poles of the person in front of us. While the people in the front provided the pulling power, the ones in the back were like the spiked end of a dragon’s tail, lashing back and forth, pushing other teams out of the way. It was a blast!

I have to be going now but you will hear about our travels again in two weeks once we arrive at Archie Bunker!

-Maja