Sledging

We did sledging as part of the team building exercise.

We went to the same place at Voksenkollen by tram on route 1 and rented the sledges. Got the tram again to Frognerseteren. We climbed down 25m to where we start sledging. Just saw some of my team members went down on the sledge so... fast.

My first thought was "I cannot risk my life. I dont want to do this. I will go back and stay till these people finishes sledging". While I was waiting behind one of my Colombo collegues started on his sledge and found he is controlling the speed by pressing the foot on the gound.

So determined to give a try I started on my Sledge with both my feet on the ground. Wow..! is was so fun and so easy to controll the speed. Anyhow came to the meeting point some 500m below. We got some instructions from the experienced collegues on how to turn and control speed while keeping feet on the sledge.

To my astonishment It was a quick learning curve. Once we sledged down to Midstuen I was so confident that I can sledge with both feet on the sledge, turning to the correct path. But still not sure about controlling the speed.

Then started the fun rounds. Got tram back to Frognerseteren, came down sledging to Midstuen (about 3.2 km path). The tram pass is valid for the duration and we can travel as many times as we want. Like wise we did 5 rounds and in final round I could come down the distance of 3.2km in about 4 or 5 minutes. But it was on the final round I went out of the path and hit a pile of wood logs beside that made me realize excessive speed is dangerous even on a sledge.

After all it was so fun. Thanks everyone.

Skiing

I went for skiing for the first time in my life. It is really fun. Giving up the fear to fall down is the key to learn. It does not hurt much when you fall down on snow.
It is obviously not the right age for me to start learning skiing. Just after learning to walk is the right time to start skiing. More over I dont have any experience in a similar sport like Skating or surfing. If I had any experience I would find it easy to catch up.

Anyway it was fun to go skiing with few Norwegian (Swedish and Hungarian too) colleagues at Voksenkollen (Some 6 km north-west of Oslo city). We got tram on route 1 to reach Voksenkollen and Rented Skis (Skis, Boots and Poles) for 200 Kr per person. Skis are of different length and weights (stiffness).




Usually length of ski is selected to be the same as one's height. Theory behind the skis is that middle part of the skis should not touch the ground when you stand on both legs.
But when you put all your weight on one leg the ski straightens and middle of the ski (just beneath the boot) should touch the ground. Usually we apply a wax to make the middle of the ski to have more resistance.

Spent about one hour walking with skis before I could actually slide a considerable distance. By the time when we reached Frognerseteren I was proud of being able to slide on skis with less frequent falling :)

Passing a difficult era again

Again seeing a lot of bloodshed these days. I hope nobody on earth like to see so many people being killed. But I wish this is the last time in my life I see this happening in my country. Hopefully in the whole world. We should put a full stop to terrorism and the kind. In my life I first saw a bloodshed in 1983 where Tamils were robbed, chased away or killed throughout the country. In 1989 I saw lot of young men and women slaughtered by both government forces and JVP military arms. Then from time to time LTTE's bomb blasts and mass murders. And this time in the attempt to correct all political mistakes of the past.

I hope SL government eradicate terrorism from our land this time and bring hard and fast rules to avoid any such conflicts in the future.

I WISH I WILL NEVER SEE BLOODSHED AGAIN..!

Walking on the Frozen Sognsvann Lake

Took a subway from Majorstuen to Sognsvann lake. It was nice to see the frozen lake with about 2 feet snow layer. Just walked around the lake and crossed the lake without any difficulty.
Observed the fun of skiing and ashamed a little for not being able to do it. Anyway determined to come here again with skis and have the fun.
Returned to Majorstuen and again took the subway on route 1 to Frognerseteren. Frognerseteren is a mountain area from where the whole Oslo city is visible. It was very nice to see the Oslo city with the frozen sea.