Norwegian Mountains, Sogn og Fjordane
Vågsberget (1266m), Mar 1 2014
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Vågsberget
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What a lousy winter seen from a skiing point of view! But when the coastal side of Norway is virtually snow free, one can always count on Indre Sogn...
Anne and me decided to go to Vigdalen and ski Vågsberget (1266m) - a mountain top that neither one of us had been to before. However, we visited Fivlenosi in April 2010 and that was indeed an unforgettable and most excellent ski-trip!
There were of course higher and more interesting peaks in this region - such as Buskrednosi and Vongsen - but we didn't have enough faith in the weather to go for anything higher than Vågsberget. The weather was OK when we headed out from Vigdalen @10:27am, but we weren't sure if it was going to stay that way.
Heading out from Syneshaug
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It was indeed expected, and at Vårstølen we saw tracks going in the direction of the river. Good! At least Karma would have some tracks to walk in and that she could stay ahead of us. Because, when she's behind us, she's walking on our skis and this is not only very unpractical for us, but it's also dangerous for her. More on that topic later on...
That way!
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After a nice and easy plod up the forest, we arrived at point 935m and had both Fivlenosi and Vågsberget in view. We agreed that we should avoid the steepest slopes and picked a route that followed a small ridge upwards.
Vågsberget ahead
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We arrived on top at 12:35pm - roughly 2 hours after heading out. The weather was still fairly OK, but I had this feeling that it could turn into something nasty in the blink of an eye...
On top of Vågsberget
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If Karma walking on the back of our skis upon ascent feels like a problem, it is nowhere near the problem we're skiing down the mountain. We haven't yet understood what is going on. At first, we thought she was afraid of being left alone, but when we ski s l o w l y, she's behaving the same way - running around us in circles and bark. She NEVER barks elsewhere. She seems to be some kind of chase mode.
This is of course an incredibly dangerous situation. So to avoid any incidents, we only ski one at a time. That has worked quite well so far...
The dessert...
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But naturally, we want to ski together so I ordered Karma to stay behind, then ski a bit down and call for her. That worked great the first time and the second time. On the third time, I sat out and immediately turned my head to make sure she was waiting. But she wasn't. She was right by my side. To avoid an accident, I made a sudden left turn. But then she did the same...
At first, I didn't think any of it. But shortly after Anne shouted that she saw blood tracks in the snow. Karma was running around - seemingly unaffected. I thought that it was blood from her paws, but upon examination we saw a 2 cm cut in her left front leg. But it didn't seem to be very deep and she didn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort.
There was little to do other than to put on a bandage on. That didn't stop all the bleeding and she left a blood trail whenever she stepped out of the ski track and let the wound come in contact with snow. But I was just so thankful that she was able to walk on her own. I've carried her on my neck down from a 700m mountain, but then I was on foot. Doing the same on skis would have been utterly difficult.
Near point 935m, we met four skiers. They seemed to be in disagreement whether they should go for any of the mountain tops or not. The weather was clearly deteriorating. And down in the forest we met two more skiers. We explained what had happened to everyone, but I'm sure it must have been awkward to see the blood trail...
Back at Syneshaug, we made sure Karma was comfortable in the car. Then I called the information service and asked for Veterinarians in the region. I was given a number to Veterinærvakta i Luster, Sogndal og Leikanger. I called the number and the Veterinarian on duty answered. She said that she would be able to get to the office in Gaupne within an hour. Although she was delayed for another half an hour, we were so thankful to see her.
Karma was given a sedative and was soon knocked out. She was then properly stitched up. Afterwards, she got a wake-up shot and was on her feet one minute later. We could then return to Sogndal with a real lesson learned in terms of skiing with Karma...
Many, many thanks to the Veterinarian! We really appreciate the job she did the wound seems to be healing quite nicely.
Poor girl...
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