Swedish Olympics

I watched the Swedish Women beat Canada for the gold medal in CURLING…sat and watched with Maggan and Ulrik. Unbelievable, I’ve gone from complaining that Curling isn’t really a sport to being captivated by the competition…Proof of the hold the winter Olympics have over me (this winter obsession of mine). And coming from Duluth, I should be more supportive of Curling (Given the make-up of the US men’s team). Anyhow, I commit to being more curling positive.

Now I know the Olympic movement can be critiqued many ways…steroids…economic waste…women ski jumpers left out… scary nationalism…etc. Anyhow, I know I romanticize the winter games, so be it; I choose to be removed from the politics that I can simply cheer at the TV and for my temporarily adopted country.

It has been an exciting Olympic year for Sweden…for example, Men’s/Women’s Hockey and Women’s Biathlon have not gone as planned, but many other positive surprises have emerged. My favorite Olympic moments this year include the Swedish men’s victory in the XC relay (the premier men’s event in the whole games, in my humble opinion) and the Women’s Silver in the sprint XC relay…when the Swedish skier Anna Haag crossed the line in 2^nd place after having led the whole way. You might think her face would show disappointment…but it was simply happiness that literally radiated from her face. Another favorite Olympic moment was when my Polish friend Lukasz told me, while watching the Russians and Germans battle for position in some race, that God played a cruel joke on the Polish people in putting the Poles between the Russians and the Germans…I learned a thing or two about the Polish psyche during this year’s Olympics thanks to Lukasz. (BTW, strong showing of the Poles in Women's XC skiing and Men's ski jumping).

Two phrases you must understand when watching the Swedish Olympics:

Aj jaj jaj! and oj yoj yoj!

Both are phrases of concern often spoken with enthusiasm or grave concern. It makes we laugh to hear these phrases over and over (it sounds a bit like the Muppet chef)…

One more Olympic comment: Can you believe the Norwegians! Amazing as usual!

Enough sport, except for the update on my own endeavor. I am on route to the Vasaloppet tomorrow (I will ski the ‘open trail’ event on Monday). I have chosen one of the non-competitive ways to participate, i.e. I ski the full route and get the feel without all of the race craziness. Can’t wait to be skiing the historic trail from Sälen to Mora…here’s hoping that I can finish!

Nästa steg!

Passed my Oral exam...I am a doctoral candidate now, officially. Feels good...much to do...

Obsession

This blog should probably be called Tom's obsession with winter. I can't help but take a little credit for this wonderful winter (grandiose, I know)...but everyone warned me about winter on the West Coast would be a disappointment to a winter fan. Not true this year! You saw my ice pics perhaps, and now it is all about SNOW...biggest snow since 1995 hit over the past few days. I love it. If love of winter can influence weather patterns, then I may be able to claim some credit in all of this.


Here is something truly wonderful about Sweden and snow removal..sidewalks and bike paths get cleared with the same urgency as the streets. I like the priorities...





Anyhow here are a few random winter pics...

Here’s a picture of Haga, my neighborhood…compare with one of my August pictures…from red roofs to white!

My pictures are not spectacular, but some of the cornices forming around town are! Wind and snow (and a process that snow freaks know as destructive metamorphosis) has formed many gravity defying snow cornices from the lovely architecture...many a sidewalk is cordoned off in fear of the cornices breaking and dropping…it is an exciting time in Göteborg.

Take for example, another exciting event, the return of daylight! Despite the snow and cold, the days are getting longer and Swedes are out taking advantage of it!

Cesar and I braved the snowstorm and Cesar had his first cross country ski experience…I think he liked it. We skied around Skatås as the snow piled up!

Skiing in Göteborg has really forced me to think about how much I use my car for recreation back home. What a luxury! Sure, it takes effort and time to use public transportation to get out to the trails here, but it works. I can do all the things I want to do here without a car…not without planning and timing and effort, but it works. It is so fun to see others waiting for the tram with skis in hand…

I promise that my next blog entry will go beyond a documentation of winter...

Vikingarännet

Made my way to the subway (Stockholm) at 6 AM. I was nervous for no good reason, the whole point in skating today was to be participating…however, I often get race edginess, which is so silly given my 'non-contender' status, i.e. I was not racing! What was fun, despite my nervousness, was noting the others on the subway platform standing with ice skates in hand. With each stop of the subway train, more skaters climbed on board--all the crazy types coming out of the woodwork...my people…40-50ish in age for the most part, my fellow middle age nature/fitness junkies. We eventually all piled onto buses at the central station, a seamless transition form communal traffic to chartered buses...I love transportation in Sweden (you can live so well without a car, it's true!).

The sun was coming up as we arrived on the outskirts of Uppsala…3000 long distance skaters converging to participate in a 50 km, 80 km or skate relay. The air was cool but not cold ~16 degrees F. No wind. I started to get over my anxiety and get happily excited about taking part n an event I have wanted to participate in since I first read about it 5 years ago. The big deal this year was the thick ice allowing passage the entire route from Uppsala to Stockholm (80 km or ~50 miles) minus a few ‘portages’ to avoid bad ice and one temporary floating bridge crossing of a ferry line (i.e. open water). The positive aspect of the ice situation was 50 km of good ice! Then there was about 10 km of rough ice (slush up to the ankles in a few places) and finally, 20 km of terrible ice. When I write terrible, I don’t mean break through and drown sort of dangerous, I mean break through the thin top layer and fall down and crack you head open. Deep cracks, fractured ice, holes, etc. bad to the point of taking away all the fun. I’ve never seen so many crashes (including 2 fairly spectacular falls of my own--no broken bones to report). Skating into Stockholm was not quite as enjoyable as I imagined, one was forced to stare down the whole time, thus missing the big feeling of skating under massive bridges and between the islands of beautiful Stockholm. I imagined that I would be super tired at 60 km, and I did feel the effort, but I was ready to skate to the finish with gusto! Unfortunately, I was so timid due to the bad ice, awkward really, that it was not the strong and brilliant finish I had imagined!














4 hours and 36 minutes…given the frozen skates and the portages, I estimate I was actually skating, good and bad ice combined at 20 km/hour (12 miles per hour).

Aside from the noted ice conditions, it was a beautiful route. Imagine skating down a long BWCA type lake, pine forest and rocky outcroppings. I felt like I was far removed from the city for much of the race…and that is a beautiful thing about Stockholm, it does not take much distance to go from city life to the forested lakes and summer cabins...the water and forest is accessible and lovely.

Passed Skokloster Slott along the route, a castle built in 1646, the largest private castle built in Sweden (i.e. not originally for the Royal Family). The castle made a fairy tale appearance, sunny blue sky, an ice road, a cold fog burning off in the sun, and then the castle in the near horizon. This beautiful route is on the Lake Mälaren, Sweden’s third largest lake. The lake is important for Viking history (evidence of settlements throughout the region), hence the name of the race, Vikingarännet (the Viking run). There is a Norse legend that says the land taken from Lake Mälaren by one of the Nordic gods was used to create a part of Denmark!

I drank a lot of blueberry and rose hip soup along the way, ate a few cinnamon buns and munched on chocolate; the aid stations were friendly and festive. I like how the ‘race’ did not feel like a race much of the time, no cheering crowds…simply a long line of skaters snaking their way across the horizon line! I was reminded about how glad I am that I have registered for the upcoming Vasaloppet Öppet Spår ‘open trail.’ When I ski the Vasaloppet later this winter (90 km of classic XC ski), I have chosen to do it on one of two days prior to the ‘actual’ race day. I’ll still get to say I skied the Vasaloppet and will get to experience the historic trail…but without the thousands of people all vying for their ‘personal best.’ I will want to ski that trail hard, but my goals will be the same as it was for today…to participate, and to finish! I don't like the emotional energy of citizen races, I like to ski (and skate) hard. I like the challenge.

It feels good to do things that I have dreamed about doing...I will soon forget the trouble of the bad ice and simply remember ice skating through a winter fairy tale...








Stockholm is the queen city of Lake Mälaren, poised at the place where the Lake meets the sea. 'Beauty on Water' is one of the catch phrases promoters of Stockholm use to describe the city. I think it is apt, in any weather really...

Wolves and Finns in Värmland

I recently had the opportunity to travel to a part of Sweden called Värmland, specifically a part of Värmland called ‘Finnskogen’ (literally The Finnish Forest). The Finnish history of the region goes back to a time (seventeenth century) when the Swedish king ruled much of Finland. In an effort to increase tax income he encouraged Finns to settle a part of Western Sweden along the border with Norway. These Finnish immigrants brought slash and burn agriculture, called svedjebruk. After the clearing they grew a hearty rye in the forest openings.

It is interesting to consider that many of the Finns of this area eventually continued west…to America. As my Dad reminds me, the Finns have the most interesting of migration histories.

I found myself in Finnskogen at the invite of one of the researchers, Gabriel, of the Friluftsliv i förändring research team. Gabriel, knowing my interest in skiing, invited me to experience some of the finest ski trails Sweden has to offer. Seemingly endless trails up and down rolling hills, over bogs, around small lakes…the forest was buried in snow and encrusted with rime frost, a fairy tale winter setting for sure. If only I had my camera on the first day, then I would show you a sky unbelievably bright blue against the snowy forest…but you will have to settle with some pictures from a blue-grey day…also lovely.

It is the time I spend in such places and with such people that really teaches me about Sweden...thanks Gabriel!

On this blue-grey day, Gabriel and I skied 40 km into Norway. Besides the amazing skiing, other highlights included a winter fika (blueberry soup, rolls, sandwiches, fruit and chocolate) and the other highlight was a wolf kill site. We skied upon a moose skeleton that was picked clean! This event has special significance for me as I am following the wolf debate in Sweden quite closely.

We were skiing in the heart of Sweden’s wolf country and up against the only part of Norway that wolves are allowed. Seriously low tolerance for wolves in Scandinavia. Almost all of Norway and the entire reindeer region of Sweden and Finland (HUGE region) have no tolerance for wolves, literally. Sweden is wrestling with this question…how many wolves should be allowed? How many wolves are necessary for a healthy population? What are the social costs of wolves? Should wolves be transported (flown in) from Eastern Finland to add genetic diversity? And on and on. I actually think the experience of wolves in America has much to offer this debate. (Hmm? Next project?)

One must really wrestle with the question of what is ‘natural’ as one tries to form an opinion…people and wolves have shared the landscape of Scandinavia since the ice retreated. Wolves and people belong. It will be interesting to see if the Swedes ultimately have room for wolves in 21^st century Sweden? I will return to this topic…