Planning for the North – going to the South Pole:
Amundsen started preparing for an expedition to the North Pole, but when both Frederick A. Cook and Robert E. Peary claimed to have reached the Pole, in 1908 and 1909, respectively, Amundsen secretly changed his plans. In Madeira he revealed that the expedition to the North Pole would go by way of the South Pole. The race was on with Robert F. Scott to see which of them would be the first man on the southernmost point on earth. Five weeks before Scott, who died on the return journey, Amundsen reached the South Pole 14 December 1911:

Norwegian flag planted on the South Pole (Photo: Norwegian Polar Institute)

The first to sail through the Northwest Passage:
In the summer of 1903 Amundsen sailed from Oslo with the ship Gjøa. The aim of the expedition was to find the Northwest Passage, for which the English had been searching for 400 years. Amundsen had a scientific goal: he wanted to measure the earth’s magnetic field and determine its exact location.

The ship Gjøa in front of Fram Museum

The expedition had a 23-month stopover in Gjøa Haven on King William Island. While there, Amundsen studied how the Inuit lived and gathered a prodigious amount of ethnographic material. In the spring of 1905, Gjøa sailed onward and emerged at the other end of the Northwest Passage in August 1906.

Norway marks Amundsen’s south pole feat 100 years on:
Today dozens of scientists and explorers joined the Norwegian prime minister to mark 100 years since Roald Amundsen led the first expedition to the South Pole. At the pole, PM Jens Stoltenberg paid tribute to “one of the most outstanding achievements of mankind” and highlighted the importance of this cold continent in our efforts to understand the warming of the globe! He also said Amundsen’s polar expeditions “helped to form our new national identity”. You see, Amundsen’s arrival at the pole on 14 December 1911 came only six years after Norway had declared independence after a long union with Sweden. So there is a lot of reasons to celebrate this year and especially today you know : -)

A cultural event:
I was there with some friends and my wife on Monday 28th (sponsored by the food company Stabburet, which used my photo in an advertisement – read details in the post here) and gladly invite you along. I promise it’ll be fun, even if sport isn’t your cup of tea! You see, Holmenkollen is not merely a sports venue; it is also a tourist magnet of note with over a million visitors every year and this event is a celebration for all with a variety a cultural events as well. Let me give you some examples of what we met on our way from one venue to another:

Lively characters, even Trolls from Norwegian fairy tails, as well as storybook bakers from popular children’s stories.

Combine sports mania & outdoor recreation:
Every day there are thousands of spectators at Holmenkollen, 20 minutes by Metro from Oslo City Center – they expect around 100 to 150 thousand on Sunday – fully equipped for a one day outdoor folk festival:
Most have a backpack, some have skies and of course they have flags too!

You see, if you are dressed right and have sufficient supplies, like coffee, toddy, an extra hip bottle and pack a good lunch, a day like this can be a blast:

Enjoying sports event is for everyone the Norwegian way : -)

If you are in for more luxury, there are of course tribunes too – very often occupied by invited guest from all over the world:

So as you can see this event is something for everyone to enjoy, both young and old, Norwegian or visitor there is something fun and exciting for everyone. Of course there have also been some very good sporting events hehehe, and I will be telling you more about it in my next post. In the mean time stay tuned and follows along with the news in Nordic Skiing, because there is still more fun to come!

Advantage of Social Media sharing:
My regular readers knows I’m above average in Social Media activities. As a network evangelist, I love to share and be inspired of others – like I often say: It’s a Givers Gain! It occurs in many ways and in this case, two of the pics I took in Holmenkollen last year (posted about and shared on Flickr) has become “famous” in Norway:

Sausages: Kollen Grill & Wiener:
One of Norwegian food companies, Gilde, who make sausages or hotdogs, wanted to use one of the photos for their Holmenkollen sausage collection and the result:

Left: Boil Hotdog (or wieners) – Right: Grill Hotdog – the word “Kollen” in the name is of course a direct reference to Holmenkollen. As locals call the ski jump Kollen for short.

The picture is now to be seen all over Norway; at gas stations, local groceries, in newspapers e.g.:

Nora homemade Jam:
Another food company; Stabburet, who makes jam (made from old, traditional Norwegian recipe) asked for permission to use the other and they promote their Holmenkollen collection in newspapers:

Follow RennyBA & DianeCA on Oslo2011:
The companies above have of course paid for the use of my photos. This has not made me a millionaire but of course I am very proud to see them all over the country! The best payment I received was in addition 4 VIP tickets to the World Championship in Nordic Ski events. So we will be reporting from the atmosphere and activities in the coming days. There will be a lot happening here in Oslo winter sport capital so stay tuned!

Holmenkollen spirit: Kollen is especially known for its sportsmansly atmosphere and its famous “Kollen roar”.

Last weekend, while attending our yearly family Rakfisk feast, we had fabulous sunny winter weather. On Sunday afternoon, after stuffing ourselves with “fermented fish” delicacies, and drinking a bit of Aquavit my sister suggested a walk on the fjord to freshen us up a bit. A great way to get some sunshine, experience the beautiful nature and recover from a late night of overindulgence. Since I always have my Nokia mobile handy to shoot some photos, I hope you’ll enjoy coming along for a taste of ice fishing:

Sunny weather, crisp fresh air and beautiful scenery: that’s what I call recreational!

If you are patient and dressed warmly, a day of ice fishing can be an experience in a class of its own. Nature, tranquillity and the excitement of not knowing what you will catch are important elements. When passing some of these ice fishing enthusiasts, we stopped and chatted with them about the days catch and they were nice enough to pose for us to share in Blogsphere and more than willing to let us in on some of their “secrets”:

Temp of -10C (14F) is no problem if you dress correctly!

This type of fishing, is of course carried out close to the shore, and normally brings a variety of species. Most of them used mackerel as bait and normal catches were Cod, Herring, Haddock, Coalfish, Ling, Pollock and sometimes more Mackerel. Here are some examples:

Left: Pollock – Right: Cod and Blue whiting

If you have not become clear over this from the catches, this is of course frozen ocean water. The fjords are long fingers from the sea which reach into the country and bring us salt water delicacies to fish and enjoy. These same fjords are used for sailing and fishing in the summer and have lovely beaches along the edges. We were standing on 90 meters deep, just so you know, but as the ice was 30 – 60 centimetres frozen solid and more than enough to hold us all, plus skaters, skiers, dog walkers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Above you see some of the detail of the frozen ice crystals forming on the snow. The beauty is fascinating up close, and at a distance. Another experience you can only have in a land with all four seasons!

Thor is one of the world’s top sprinters, having tasted green jersey success for the points classification at the Tour de France. He is also a one-day classics specialist known for his ability to climb and finish well on uphill sprints.

Today he waited until the final 150 meters of the 750-meter home straight before unleashing a powerful sprint (Foto: Brandon Malone, Reuters/Scanpix).

This years world championship was actually threatened to be overshadowed by news of positive doping tests in Europe, most notably recent revelation that three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned stimulant clenbuterol during this year’s Tour. Thor’s comment was: “It’s sad for cycling, but it’s good that anti-doping still works,”

Running a blog about Norway and the Nordic countries; our culture, tradition and history, I seldom write about sports. This is however a historical sports triumph (since first time!) for Cycling-Norway and a Danish came second as well you know (the best Swede Jonas Ljungblad, was # 27). My regular readers might recall that I also made a post when The God of Thunder won the green jersey for overall points classification on the Tour de France. It was in 2006 and you are welcome to click and read my enthusiasm at that time too

Holmenkollen Ski Jump is the oldest in the world, built in 1892 and expanded 18 times since then. Recently the jump was demolished and totally rebuilt for the OSL2011 (taking place 22 February – 6 March, 2011), having a less steep in-run, artificial refrigeration of the in-run, a reconstructed lower part of the jump to the end of the outrun, lights for evening jumps, a new elevator for the jumpers, and wind protection measures for the jumpers. These modifications included new spectator grand stands, an improved loudspeaker system, and a new scoreboard – even free WiFi, so I uploaded a couple of pics that day from my mobile phone to my Flickr account!

Holmenkollen Ski Festival:
Foremost this is a Folk Festival. At the Olympics in 1952 there were 120 000 spectators – last weekend it was 25 000 and at OSL2011 there will for sure be more than the double that. Norwegians love to be outdoors in the winter time you know and with the right clothes and equipment, they have a blast of a party together with foreign spectators – cheering the ski jumpers and making a magical winter sport atmosphere (click all pics to bigify & enjoy):

Spectators enjoying the nature as well as the sun, the company and competition

A cultural high point:
Holmenkollen Ski Jump is just a 25 minute spectacular ride by public transportations from down town up in the Oslo Mountains (417 metres above sea level). You don’t use a car, as building up the atmosphere in anticipation, starts with the trolley or bus ride in itself. Besides for such a special day the roads are closed to all but public transportation to hinder traffic problems. The last hundred meters from the end stop to the ski jump, spectators were welcomed with an artistic presentation of mythical folklore:

Some cultural adventures along the way

The Ski Jump competition:
Of course I have not forgotten the sport in this brand new ski jump with a spectacular construction. In a competition, almost 200 architecture firms from about 30 different countries have placed bids on the new hill. The project was estimated to cost NOK 1000 mill (125 Mill € or 170 Mill $) and the winner with the concept named “The New Holmenkollen Lighthouse” was JDS Architects (Danish/Belgian architects firm). I took quite a lot of photos from the competition trying to show you the construction and the jumpers (hope you can spot them) from full zoom to full view:

Enjoy the architecture and the ski jump!

Explore yourself at the Oslo Blog Gathering:
Holmenkollen Ski Jump is the most visited tourist attraction in Norway with about 1 Mill visitors in August last year. The construction is impressive all year round (click to see it all from my summer post: Holmenkollen a cultural high point! Beside the jump at the top of the hill is the national ski museum (admission is free with the OsloPass). Holmenkollen is included on the Oslo Bus tour. So if you are joining us for the Oslo Blog Gathering you can start looking forward to this already as you will see it from all angles, and from the bottom to the top! So hop on board (click for the Official Program site!!!