Topic - Dave Leaning: Lindesnes
to Nordkapp
Date first posted on eCommunity - 23
April 2008
For most of us in the UK the ski season is over,
but for one British
skier it will last another couple of weeks. He is Dave Leaning and
he is nearing the end of an epic solo journey from Lindesnes to
Nordkapp, from the most southerly point in Norway to the most
northerly - a total distance of about 2600km.
Dave has been posting frequent reports on the web, and you can find
them at http://skinorway.org.uk.
That website includes a map that
plots his coordinates, allowing you to chart his progress
graphically.
Aiming to follow a route that is fairly standard - that is, among
the very small group of skiers that have attempted the end-to-end
journey - he started on foot from Lindesnes just after midnight on 1
January 2008.
He walked the first 120km to Ljosland quickly, on roads, taking just four
days. Then, as soon as he hit the snow, the troubles began. And the
troubles have never really ended.
He started on skis from Ljosland, hauling a pulk on which he carried
camping gear and several days' food. But he had to turn back after
two days as the pulk proved too heavy in the deep, unconsolidated
snow. To add to his problems he also had blisters from boots that
were too tight, and he had major difficulties navigating, with his
compass pointing erratically and almost at random, a problem he
eventually traced to "some clever mittens with a finger pocket which
folded back to allow more dexterity with the fingers, this had a
magnet to hold it back - no wonder the needle was all over the
place."
Jettisoning the pulk, and the magnetic gloves, he restarted, now
carrying a rucksack with only two days food, and headed north
through the Setesdal mountains. He was delayed by a big storm that
kept him hut-bound at Sloaros hut for three days, but pushed on to
Haukeliseter where unexpectedly, and very touchingly, his father had
turned up to meet him. (His father is John (Spud) Leaning, who is
himself very well-known in the cross-country skiing community,
having been Snowsport GB Nordic Director and Chairman of the
International Ski Federation Cross-Country Committee for Lowlanders
in the 1990s.)
Haukeliseter is on the southern edge of Hardangervidda. And from
here Dave's route should have gone northward over the `Vidda to
Finse. However, on 25 January he wrote:
"Another massive setback - was all set to leave this morning and
begin the long ski trek across the Hardanger plateau, when I found
out that none of the cabins in between Haukeliseter and Finse will
be open until late Feb. Without any possibility of shelter or
resupply across this long stretch of wilderness I would have to
carry at least 10 days worth of rations in order to make it to
Finse. The only way to do this would be to tow a pulk, and the snow
conditions are such that this would be next to impossible for one
man - or at least for this man"
This needs some clarification, for the huts on Hardangervidda are
mainly unstaffed, just like those that Dave had used in Setesdal,
and they are never really closed. Nevertheless, Dave decided not to
ski across Hardangervidda, but to walk around it instead, using the
road through Roldal to Odda and Tyssedal and onward to Eidfjord,
from where he skied to Haugastol, near Geilo, reaching there on 30
January after a month of travel.
February was marked by more problems, the first of which was a
shoulder injury, which made Dave choose not to ski north to Jotunheimen, as would be normal, but to walk on roads through Geilo
towards Fagernes. (There was also high risk of avalanche in
Jotunheimen.) From Hovda he was able to ski again and moved over to
Ringebu from where it should have been relatively easy going through
Rondane, but he had a problem with his mobile phone that caused a
long diversion - and more road walking. By the end of the month he
was in Meraker, north of Roros.
In early March he twisted his ankle. This forced him to do more
walking, rather than skiing. Then, when he did get back on skis, he
broke his nose in a fall and sprained his wrist at the same time.
But he pushed on doggedly, along the Kungsleden trail, finally
reaching the Arctic Circle at the end of March, by now having
covered about 2000km.
In April he has had to contend with the approach of spring, which
makes rivers harder to cross. And then there has been toothache,
requiring a detour to Kautokeino where a dentist extracted a wisdom
tooth.
Throughout all these setbacks, Dave has kept moving with huge
determination. (He is a Royal Marine Commando.) He is motivated
largely by a wish to raise money for the charity MAG (the Mines
Advisory Group) "which works in conflict zones around the world to
clear landmines and dangerous unexploded ordinance, to enable people
to escape from the poverty and suffering caused by conflict, and
educate indigenous communities to lessen the threat of death and
injury." For more details of MAG, go to
http://www.mag.org.uk.
With a bit of luck - and it's surely time he had some - Dave should
reach Nordkapp in another couple of weeks.
UPDATE
Since his Norway adventure Dave Leaning has
completed a solo walk across Australia. For details see:
http://dumas.standard.co.uk/2009/08/fly-no-thanks-ill-walk-across-australia.html.)
Stuart Montgomery
For XCuk
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