Four days later, when the skiing was done and we had cleaned and checked out of our stuga and had tracked down a few souvenirs and some Norwegian beer to sample for K's list (which was VERY expensive - yes we knew it would be which is why we brought all our supplies from Sweden in the first place).....we finally headed back to Lillehammar. We decided to drive up and check out the skijumping facility. Luckily for us, we arrived just as a training session was about to begin.
You can see K and D standing beside a 
row of jumping skis that were waiting to be claimed as the athletes - mostly young men, but a few older men and at least one woman - headed down to the bottom to catch the lift on the other side of the hill. What followed was beyond description in a lot of ways. We spent what must have been 3 hours entranced by the whole spectacle. The magnitude of the whole thing is really not adequately transferred to you when you see it on TV, nor is the sound they make as they fly thru the air. D and H spent most of the afternoon right at the end of the ramp where they took off, watching skier after skier fly by and hearing them - the sound is really incredible. We took lots of pictures of course, but again, they don't do the real thing justice.
The skier in the pink suit is at the very top and has just push off from the pole he was sitting on. Once he goes, it springs back upright (you can see two other poles to the right of him). Please note that he cannot see the slope he will land on (it is that steep). Even when he takes off at the bottom of the ramp he is on, he can't see where he will land. D and H are the little black things on the left just past the end of the ramp. D took the picture of the skier in red and blue flying thru the air. He is very proud of this shot - it was not an easy picture to get with a digital camera and his subject going 100km/hr.
Eventually, cold and hunger not to mention the sight of some skiers heading in drove us to the bottom. One of the pictures here shows the view back up toward the top and the stadium around the ski jumping area. This was where the opening and closing ceremonies were held for the Olympics 13 years ago. The other picture shows M standing where the torch bearer would have lit the olympic flame.
You can see K and D standing beside a 
row of jumping skis that were waiting to be claimed as the athletes - mostly young men, but a few older men and at least one woman - headed down to the bottom to catch the lift on the other side of the hill. What followed was beyond description in a lot of ways. We spent what must have been 3 hours entranced by the whole spectacle. The magnitude of the whole thing is really not adequately transferred to you when you see it on TV, nor is the sound they make as they fly thru the air. D and H spent most of the afternoon right at the end of the ramp where they took off, watching skier after skier fly by and hearing them - the sound is really incredible. We took lots of pictures of course, but again, they don't do the real thing justice.
The skier in the pink suit is at the very top and has just push off from the pole he was sitting on. Once he goes, it springs back upright (you can see two other poles to the right of him). Please note that he cannot see the slope he will land on (it is that steep). Even when he takes off at the bottom of the ramp he is on, he can't see where he will land. D and H are the little black things on the left just past the end of the ramp. D took the picture of the skier in red and blue flying thru the air. He is very proud of this shot - it was not an easy picture to get with a digital camera and his subject going 100km/hr.
Eventually, cold and hunger not to mention the sight of some skiers heading in drove us to the bottom. One of the pictures here shows the view back up toward the top and the stadium around the ski jumping area. This was where the opening and closing ceremonies were held for the Olympics 13 years ago. The other picture shows M standing where the torch bearer would have lit the olympic flame.After dragging ourselves away and having a quick snack in the car, we went down into Lillehammar and wandered the main street for a bit. We were looking for a souvenir t-shirt or something like that, but didn't find anything we wanted. Lots of beautiful things, but nothing just right, so we h
eaded home as we began to lose the light.
The pictures of the town show M mailing a postcard in front of the bus/train station. The buses pull up out front, while the trains and the main road into town go underneath. The Norwegians seem to be more willing to tunnel under than blast their way thru obstacles.
eaded home as we began to lose the light.
The pictures of the town show M mailing a postcard in front of the bus/train station. The buses pull up out front, while the trains and the main road into town go underneath. The Norwegians seem to be more willing to tunnel under than blast their way thru obstacles.
1 comment:
Kirk and Heather. what an unbelievably amazing blog. I genuinely hope you print it out so the kids can read it many years down the road. Eli & April here, got your recent post card too. Please please if there's a chance, stay as long as you want with us in Boston. We've got a great space. It's Apr4th, we're off to Sask for 10days, back on Apr16th. Home#978-969-3210, email: rawlyk@comcast.net
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