Snowscooter trip/ Snowboarding

Since there are no prepared slopes or skilifts, one has to walk up a mountain before you can snowboard down.


Sigurd guided the snowscooters through difficult passages and up and down steep slopes.

He also showed the Dutch boat that was frozen in the ice, the "Noorderlicht":

Arctic Hunting II

Then it was time to upgrade to something more difficult: seals! The trick is to get close enough to shoot them without them escaping through their little holes in the ice:














Don DeVallado was never a big fan of Seabert anyway

Arctic Hunting

There are more polar bears than people on Spitsbergen, so trusty guide Sigurd took the Don to the shooting range to teach him how to load and shoot a firearm (it is obliged to carry a rifle on Svalbard).











Then, the Don was ready for some action! First, he shot a reindeer:










This was fairly easy, since they are just standing there like sitting ducks (thanx Sigurd for that delicious reindeer stew you cooked!).

Longyearbyen

This is typed from UNIS, the university of Svalvard, Spitsbergen.

It is the building on the left on this webcam

The Don is freazing his ass off, cool pictures of hiking trip, scooter trip and shooting the wildlife will follow!!!

Nesbyen

Today the people we stay with arranged free ski passes for the Nesbyen alpinsenter. It turned out there was NOBODY there. It was as if we walked into a David Lynch movie, having the entire area to ourselves...

M'Chell-Ché queueing the line for the lift in Nesbyen

Leaving Hemsedal

Yesterday we left Hemsedal to go to Nesbyen.

A big Thanks! to everyone at the lifthouse!!


Our man Fred, caught in the act with two of his fellow "lift mates". Of course he doesn't kiss and tell!

Hemsedal

Right now, Don DeVallado is in Hemsedal. Although he is in Norway, he is staying in a house with Swedish people who work the lifts at the Hemsedal skicenter...

Norway & Spitsbergen

Tonight, Don DeVallado will leave for a 3 weeks holiday to Norway and Spitsbergen, so until the 25th there will be hardly any updates!

HC Meeting Eindhoven

On Saturday there was yet another Hospitalityclub meeting, this time in Eindhoven. Suddenly Don DeVallado found himself flipping pancakes for 30 people in a strange student house, not remembering volunteering for the job...

Don DeVallado and M'Chell-Ché with in between them their Jamaican and American guests

(Plus some unknown insane Norwegian chick)