veko

welcome back to another segment in the continuing saga of american adventurers in norway. a lot has happened since the last post went up. mostly we have been slaving away guiding rafting trips. it occurs to me now that having a photo of rafting might be appropriate. i know that might be appealing to some of you blog fans out there, but for the most part i think the photos of us rafting are about as exciting as a picture for someone working at a desk.


photo by mw

my brother, philly bear, has come and gone after a two week visit with us. there was actually so much work going around, we were able to toss a few bones his way. philly timed his visit to norway perfectly, as he was able attend the world famous voss extreme sports week.
the epicenter of the festival is a circus tent located next to the town lake, where each night a video of the days action is shown and a concert is put on. the night of the opening ceremony (keep in mind it doesn't get dark here): two helicopters buzzed the crowd outside the tent on their way to an appropriate altitude to drop four parachuters. moments after their landing, an airplane buzzes the crowd, then climbs high into the sky to drop at least a dozen more skydivers: some trailing banners, others smoke plumes. throughout this action packed week the sky over the tent is filled with parachuters, paragliders, and folks bungee- jumping from a platform underneath a para-sail. if you venture out of town you can see athletes from all over the globe competing in mountain biking, free-skiing, BASE jumping, and whitewater kayaking among other gravity sports.

although we came to voss to compete in the kayaking races as well as each night's party:

photo by liza duncan

team racing:


the real attraction comes from all the rivers in and around voss.

photo by jj sheperd

here are some of the highlights of our on-the-water adventures:
amos at the nose-breaker:

photo by philly williams

the author revisiting a drop on the jordalselva:

photo by philly williams

i was very proud of philly. he kept up with us all week, and i am sure really enjoyed the various rivers we dragged him to:

photo by mw


photo by mw


photo by mw

thanks again for tuning in.
mefford.

photo by liza duncan

don't forget to click on any photo to be magically transported to the web gallery where you will find even more photos

fun 'til your friends find out

jolster rafting has added another activity to the line up: riverboarding. i had never set belly on a riverboard prior to our day of training.
swimming across the lake on a cold, cloudy day i was very skeptical.
but halfway through the first rapid:

photo by liza duncan

amos was similarly apprehensive, but found his river legs as well:

photo by liza duncan

our fellow head guide, ronny got into the mix with much more initial enthusiasm than us two americans:

photo by liza duncan

luckily the river was at a nice high level; so we all were able to find a good amount of action out there:

photo by liza duncan

be sure to click on one of the photos and check out the rest in the web gallery.
more and more adventure to come as the summer continues...

brand new bag

hello everyone and welcome to another addition. i've changed things up a bit: you can now view photos in a larger size on a web gallery. just click on the photo itself and enjoy.

things here have been very busy. lots and lots of work. the weather is nice. the company is even better.
i am pretty beat down tired at the moment, but i wanted to send out some photos of this beautiful place. still the scenery just has to be seen to be believed.


we are going to be out and about on some more adventures in our home valley as well as all over the hot spots in western norway, and i will be sure to share all that i document with you blog fans out there.
we have a wireless internet connection in our house; so we are now connected to the world at large as well as all our family and friends far and away.
we are a bit like a camp america, but still manage to blend in with our surroundings.


for now. be safe on the roads out there.