Reflections on winter and ice climbing

I am so glad this week is over. Firstly, it is a relief because last week occured one swedish test and three job interviews which felt something akin to exam week at university. But mostly I am super excited because next week I am going to be ICE CLIMBING in Norway. Yippee, yah!

So it's one last blast of winter, one last winter sport to add to the list, before (hopefully) the kayaking season starts again.

In Stockholm there's still a lot of snow around, but it's starting to warm up so a lot of it has turned to ice which made walking to my job interviews (in horrid high heals) particually percarious. Of course many Swedish women are slaves to fashion and wear their high heals no matter if there's snow or ice around but then I'm not Swedish.

Looking through my photos tonight I realised there are few a stories about the winter here that I never got around to telling.

Firstly, winter, snow and ice happen here every year, so people have learnt over the years to adapt. When it snows here, daily life keeps happening. The cars have winter tyres with studs, and when it snows the footpaths and roads get regularly ploughed. There are people who clear the snow off the roofs of buildings preventing collapses like the one that happened earlier in the winter in Germany.

But not everything functions perfectly. When it snows our road becomes one way and the trains get delayed. And the people moan about the trains, because "it snowed last year and the same thing happened so why didn't they fix it for this year?"

It's how the families adapt that really makes me smile. Like when you see a child going to dagis (pre-school) by sled after it has snowed. Or skating along and next to you is a parent skating pushing a pushchair. I once watched a father taking his small son skating. He triped on the uneven ice, pushed the child off balance and then by some miracle he managed to lift his son up while he regained his footing and they continued skating.

Skating has been fun. Winter in Sweden to me, is going on a skating tour and having lunch on a "swiming and diving" platform in the middle of the ice. Of course you must have godis (sweets) and something hot to drink from the thermos.


Skating on "real ice" keeps you awake. It can be smooth or rough. It can look white, blue or black and makes me wonder what the different colours "mean". The first day I went out on the ice, a large group went through the ice near Uppsala and a couple of people even died so it's good to be careful. Generally it's pretty safe as long as you're carry spare clothes and isdubber which are handles with a spike which you can use to pull yourself out of the ice.

There's even down hill skiing here in Stockholm. The slopes are not long, but it's a good place to brush up the skills for the bigger fields. You always know you're not in NZ anymore because there's no scarey access road and no chains. There's also the cute red buildings and pine trees which marking out the runs.

Sometimes it's the little things can make you realise you've started to understand a place. Like two days after it has snowed, you know that someone will have walked even the smallest trails in the forest. Or wandering home late at night you notice that a street is empty and then you guess that tomorrow is "plough" day for that street, and you check and you're right.

Then with Spring (well March atleast) came the declarations of love next to the subway. These are trampled in the snow over the frozen lake and are very Swedish. Every one is neatly written and no-one has over-written someone else's message.

Yes winter here has certainly had its fun times. Of course it's definitely been about taking the good with the bad. I definitely ready for Summer! Bring on the ice climbing, bring on Spring for real, and bring on the kayaking!