Snow-shoeing, Vitsand, Jamtland, Sweden

..Apart from the cross-country ice skating during the short winter days, we took a couple of trips in the woods.. Markus tried to hunt for birds but with the hard snow it was impossible to move silently enough.. I used my snow-shoes, that are pretty good in difficult winter terrain.. Nice to get some fresh air and get a bit of excercise before the very long night starts, when we played a lot of poker instead..

Cross-Country Ice Skating, Vitsand, Sweden

These last couple of days of 2006 was spent in a log cabin in Vitsand, Jamtland, some 700 kilometres north of Stockholm in Sweden.. The weather was very mild for the season, with most of the snow melted away. After re-freezing on the ice, the conditions for cross-country ice skating was simply fantastic, the best I have ever seen up there.. Moving much faster than you can run but with much less effort is a nice feeling.. On the pictures are me, Hans and Markus..

Indoor Climbing, Stockholm, Sweden

This blog is about outdoor activites, but I'm in Sweden now, it's winter (sort of) and indoor climbing is currently the only thing I have time for.. Anyways, I've been climbing indoors 4 times since arriving in Stockholm with my brother. The first times revealed bluntly how much strenght, technique and stamina we had lost since we climbed regularly indoors last autumn and spring.. But now we are getting back into the stride and finding the old form again.. Best today was a "aha-moment" when I didn't get up on a long wall due to fatigue, I decided to "speed-climb" it, and then managed to get up on half the time with half the effort..

Bouldering, Wied Babu, Malta

Very short bouldering session in the green little valley Wied Babu on the south side of the island.. Traversed some sections around the fallen rock.. Nothing difficult but still fun.. 2nd of December, last climbing on Malta this year, nice day, warm enough for shorts and t-shirt..

Mtb: Golden Bay to Mellieha

Sunday ride before noon with Steve.. We parked the jeep in Golden Bay and headed up north on the ridge, down on the other side past Popeye village and then on the connecting trail over the last lower hill before going to a restaurant in Mellieha for a coffee & sandwitch break.. Back the same way, being a bit lucky to avoid rain from threatening clouds.. I had a lot of hassle with a my drive train due to a new chain that turned out to be too long, but it was still a lot of fun to be out..

Mtb: Sliema to Golden Bay and up on the trails..

Another ride up on Ras il-Wahx, but this time I rode my bike from home in Sliema to Golden Bay and then up on the hill that falls abrubtly into the sea.. These trails are in some sections very bumpy and tricky.. Half-way to the Ghanj Snuber tower I had to stop and turn back as a jeep-rally competition was using the trails and dirt roads.. Kept a high pace back home on the road, just stopping for a milkshake in Bahar Bay.. Back home at 4 pm after being out for 4 hours. Total distance about 45 kilometres..

Mtb on Trails on North-Western Malta

With a Maruti Jeep and an additional rented bike I headed with my GF to Popeye Village.. We started off south, on dirt roads and bumpy trials with several steep sections uphill and downhill.. Our turning point was Ras il-Wahx from where we could see down towards Golden Bay.. Back at the Jeep we headed to Mellieha Bay for lunch.. Our second section was from Red Tower on the Marfa Ridge, going west to Ras il Qammieh and then north towards Paradise Bay and back.. This whole area is probably the best on the island for offroad biking..

Mtb Daytrip: Sliema, Gozo, Popeye Village

A full day on the bike in nice November weather, around 20 C and sunny.. Left Sliema 8.30 AM and headed on the main road towards the ferry to Gozo.. After espresso and cake I headed over to the smaller sister island and zig-zagged my way towards Ramla Bay on the north coast, a very pretty beach I wish I had visited while it was still summer and warm in the sea.. Back on Malta I found a couple of new challenging trails and passed Popeye Village, the settings of one of Robin Williams early movies.. Riding on a few more dirt roads up on ridges I headed home again, back in the flat about 8 hours after leaving it..

Scuba Diving, Um El Farud, Ras il-Bajjada

Great weather for Sunday scuba diving, probably the last underwater adventure for the year.. With Lydia and Måns from Oxygené Diving I went to Ras il-Bajjada to dive on Um El Farud, a tanker ship that was placed there on purpose after a disasterous re-furbishing in the docks in Malta.. It's a fantastic dive site, with the huge ship offering lots to discover.. On the first dive we passed between the hull and the propellor at 36.7 meters, spotted a big barracuda.. On second dive we made a few passes through cabins and corridors.. For next season, I want a digital camera for under-water photography!

Jeep Safari and Kayaking, Malta, 28th Oct

We rented a jeep on Saturday, a Maruti that had a rather rustic patina, but it worked fine and it was a convertible so we were happy.. With map and compass we zigzagged across the southern parts of Malta, enjoying great views of an island that is much greener than in the summer.. Still warm and sunny though, and around 26C.. After having lunch at a restaurant with superb views in Ghar Lapsi, I inflated my kayak and had a look at the rocks from the seaside for an hour or so.. Coffee break in Mgarr in the late afternoon and then we headed back towards Sliema..

Scuba Diving, Comino, Malta

Scuba diving mid-week with Oxygené Divers. We headed out on a pretty rough sea (from a storm during the night in another part of the Mediterranean) and past the northern coast of Malta to Comino, the small island between Malta and Gozo. First dive was at Lantern Point, with the highlight being a number of cave tunnels on 27-30 meters of depth. Second dive was next to Blue Lagoon, shallow waters, passing under an arch, saw octopus and lots of fishes I don't know the name of..