Ready...3...2...1...

Winter is definitely here to stay for some time, and sportsminded people are taking advantage of some free time to enjoy the outdoors. Ski jumping hills have been groomed, and athletes have been training for the annual winter events.

 For the more adventurous skier, the world’s best ski jumpers have gathered at Vikersund, southwest of Oslo, for this winter’s Ski Flying World Championships.  Years of hard work and training are behind every one of the young men taking part in this tournament.While there are several Olympic-style ski-jumping sites, the most famous is Norway's  Holmenkollen Ski Jump which  has been setting the standard for Norwegian skiing for over 100 years.

 -----------------

 The first ski jumping competition took place on 31st January 1892. .Oslo’s newly remodeled Holmenkollen Ski Jump opened just in time for last winter’s Nordic Skiing World Championships, after enormous budget overruns and political controversy. Now it’s apparently full of construction mistakes and deficiencies, and maintainance costs increase. Newspaper Aften has  reported that a long list of problems had cropped up, but the sport goes on.
The first widely known ski jumping competition was the Husebyrennene, held in Oslo in 1879, with Olaf Haugann of Norway setting the first world record for the longest ski jump at 20 metres. The annual event was then moved to Holmenkollen in 1892, and Holmenkollen has remained the pinnacle of ski jumping competition.

-------------

Skiing has also been a staple of Nordic winter activity. Skis were necessary to “walk on the snow” to hunt or move anywhere in the rural areas. Earliest “skis” were long boards that were pushed by the feet, unattached to the boards, making turns impossible until someone designed a foot connection to the ski.

One of the first recorded advances in binding design was made by Sondre Norheim, the "father" of modern skiing. His invention was a binding utilizing a leather toe strap that was fastened tightly with a buckle, and a heel strap of small birch roots twisted into a rope, allowing the ski to be lifted from the snow and maneuvered.

Sondre Auverson  Norheim was born at Øverbø, a little cotter’s farm, and raised in Morgedal in the municipality of Kviteseid in Telemark. Skiing was a popular activity in Morgedal. Spectators watchng Sondre leap from shed roofs to the snow might have questioned his sanity, but ski-flying and the sport of ski-jumping was born..

----------------------

The new skiing activity was not without accidents.Norwegian ski jumping star Tom Hilde took a bad spill during the annual New Year’s week of competition in the Alps. Hilde had been in first place when he took a bad fall at Oberstdorf  while in competition. The 24-year-old was quickly back on his feet, to talk to NRK on Sunday.
“I’ll just have to use the time I have to make a comeback, or prepare for next season.” Hilde told reporters after being released from the hospital.

--------------

A Telemark landing

After each jump, competitors are judged by five judges, who are based in a tower to the side of the expected landing point. They can award up to 20 points each for style based on keeping their skis steady during flight, balance, good body position, and landing. The highest and lowest style scores are disregarded, with the remaining three scores added to the distance score. Thus, a perfectly scored K-120 jump - with at least four of the judges awarding 20 points each - and the jumper landing on the "K-point", is awarded a total of 120 points. In January 2010, a new scoring system was introduced to compensate for variable outdoor conditions.

-----------------

Snowflake Skihill

Meanwhile, back here in the USA, A southwestern Wisconsin community is hosting their annual Ski-jumping event.Westby, Wisconsin , a well-known Norwegian community plays host to jumpers during their 2013 Snowflake Ski Jumping Tournament, February 1st and 2nd. This annual event is part of the US Cup schedule that includes competition in several Midwestern states.Approxmately twenty-five national and international athletes are expected to be in the competition at Westby, arriving from Poland,Canada, and Norway and the United States.

--------------------

Snowflake Ski Complex in Westby, Wi.

Westby’s Snowflake Ski Club was organized in 1922 by a group who thought the community should have such an event, due to Westby’s strong Norwegian heritage. Organizers originally tried to buy some metal jump scaffolding,  but found the cost too expensive. So, they decided to build the scaffolding from wood. They ordered 10,000 feet of 1-by-4 and 1-by-6 boards and went to work. It has been said that “They didn’t really know much about building a ski jump, but just observed the way the hill went, and built the jump.” Some of the supports were tied to trees to help hold them up. These  ski-jumping events have created a tradition that has gone on since 1923, and has put Westby on the international ski jump map.
Opening ceremonies are scheduled for 7 PM, February 1st. The tournament  has added attractions  featuring night ski-jumping events with fireworks and entertainment between jumping events.

-------------

Besides the food offerings onsite, a local Westby Church will be serving a special treat for hungry visitors. At 11 AM, February 2nd,  the main-street church basement doors will open for the traditional lutefisk dinner, complete with lutefisk, meatballs,potatoes, rutabagas, and all the expected Norwegian trimmings topped off with Norwegian pastries. An alternative dinner,  a cheaper version for those who come for the excellent meal, will be for  those who, for some reason, omit the lutefisk.

                      There IS something to do on a snowy February Day!

Stop!, or I'll......

"Stop!  Or I'll ..............."

The ending of this declaration depends upon the location of the person making the declaration!

As you travel through Scandinavia and Europe, you are expected to adhere to the rules of the country. While most countries have law-enforcement officers wearing side-arms, others do not. Norway is one of only three Western European countries lacking a fully armed police force. At the present time, only "beat police" officers in patrol cars have immediate access to weapons.
  By law, however, they have to remain unloaded and locked in a box in the car unless authorization is given.Some experts worry that arming police officers would only lead to an escalation of violence as criminals become armed. However, there was little that Norwegian police could do when faced by a heavily-armed gunman, who killed 77 in the August, 2012 massacre, swaying public opinion on the "unarmed" policy.

----------------

Norway has a large population of hunters. Semi-automatic and bolt action rifles, as well as shotguns, make up the better part of the guns in civilian homes. There is a total ban on automatic weapons for civilians, unless they fall into the collector category. Modification of semi-automatic guns into fully automatic without the consent of the police is a felony crime.

 ----------------

 Norway's neighbor, Sweden, began requiring its officers to carry guns in 1965.In one incident, numerous shots were fired by Swedish police after  robbers opened fire towards them during a jewelry heist in Södertälje, Sweden. Two plain-clothed policemen were the first to arrive to the scene 3 minutes after the first 112-call was received When the  robbers, armed with  automatic weapons opened fire on officers, the  robbers were immediately shot and subdued by the armed police.

---------------

 Other incidences require less violent reaction. No one was arrested during an  incident in Vallsta, 180 miles north of Stockholm this Christmas season. Police in Sweden had to intervene after a  visitor to a spa and conference center grew angry because a visiting Santa Claus was wearing a gray instead of red costume. Police said, in a brief statement, that the foreign guest grew agitated over the Santa outfit and argued with the center's staff. They did not say where the foreigner was from, and no armed action was reported.

---------------

 In Iceland all hand guns are banned. Buyers have to be 20 years old to be able to buy and use a rifle or shotgun. Each year, it is necessary to enter a lottery that determines if you get a hunting permit that year.
Icelanders mainly hunt for reindeer and ptarmigan.

---------------

In Denmark,hand guns are also banned unless you are licensed, and you can only get that license if you compete in tournaments, and the guns have to be kept in a safe at the club where you practice.
In order to get a permit to own a rifle, the buyer is required to participate in a course that takes 3 months to complete.

---------------

Switzerland practices universal conscription for their armed forces, which requires that all able-bodied male citizens keep fully automatic firearms at home in case of a call-up. Every male between the ages of 20 and 34 is considered a candidate for conscription into the military. During their enrollment in the armed forces, these men are required to keep their government-issued selective fire combat rifles and semi-automatic handguns in their homes.

--------------

Here, in the United States, a  United Nations report states that the US ranks number one in civilian ownership of firearms. The debate over gun ownership has become an important issue due to several individuals entering public buildings with assault weapons, killing defenseless school-students and movie-goers. Gun-owners defend their right to own weapons based on the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which reads in part: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, and the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. This has remained unchanged since the adoption of the constitution in 1791, and is well-supported by The National Rifle  Association (NRA) and it's members. Currently, the US President has issued several official orders to re-instate an assault weapon ban that expired in 2004, while establishing stricter rules closing some loopholes in gun-sale policy.

---

Of high priority is the ban of the favorite AK-47, a Russian-made military weapon that is so popular and simple to operate, that sources have noted that children can be taught to use this weapon in a single hour.

--------------------

In this January 10, 2013 report: "U.S. life expectancy is lowest among wealthy nations due to disease, and violence. Not only do Americans live shorter lives than people in other wealthy nations, but they suffer more violent deaths compared to their peer countries, according to a report released Wednesday by two of the nation's leading health research institutions".

The debate rages on.

Getting The "Post-Christmas Blues"?

The holiday excitement has ended and a long winter has become a reality.

Winter days and nights can become dreary, but things are happening!

 If you are looking for "Something Different" to do, check out Hayward, Wisconsin this winter. The American Birkebeiner celebrates its 40th Anniversary  February 21-23, this year. A total of 10,000 skiers will ski the American Birkebeiner 50K Skate and 54K Classic races, the 23-kilometer Kortelopet  races, and the Prince Haakon 12K

Youngsters may also take part in a range of youth events. In 1206, Birkebeiner skiers, so called for their protective birch bark leggings, skied through the treacherous mountains and rugged forests of Norway's Osterdalen valley during the winter of 1206, smuggling the son of King Sverresson and Inga of Vartieg to safety. The annual race requires that adult skiers must carry a pack weighing the equivalent of this young child in memory of this rescue.....Wax your skiis and away you go!

----------------

Leaders of the Pack

If you'd prefer riding in luxury, You can experience the Iditarod from your own personal front row seat in the sled of an Iditarod Musher .This opportunity is a sled-ride from the starting line in Anchorage, Alaska for eleven miles and be part of the race!..The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled-dog race  in early March from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of 12–16 dogs cover the distance in 9–15 days. The Iditarod began in 1973 as an event to test the best sled dog mushers and teams, but evolved into today's highly competitive race. It may become cold, at times.Teams frequently race through blizzards causing whiteout conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds which can cause the wind chill to

 reach -100 °F. Bundle up!

---------------

Robert Sørlie (born 1958) is a two-time Iditarod champion Norwegian dog musher and dog sled racer from Hurdal.  In 2003, he became the only non-American to win the 1,049-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska, U.S. He won it again in 2005.

 ----------------

Or, if you happen to be in Norway after Christmas, you could sign up for a vacation trip that includes mushing your  team dog sledding trip this winter, traveling at high speed across the Norwegian wilderness.  This is a unique lifetime experience that lasts usually a week, with different levels, for beginners, intermediate and experts. While traveling throughout the Country, you can get a day off , while tour guests can play in the snow (go skiing, snowmobiling, etc.) and the dogs can relax. Get a taste of what life was like in the old days, when dog sledding was a much more common mode of transportation for many.

------------------

And where to stay overnight? Visit the Ice Hotel in Norway, kept at a constant temperature of around -4 to -7 degrees centigrade. With 30 bedrooms and two suites you will be cozy during the night with a sleeping bag that can keep people warm up to extreme temperatures of -30 degrees centigrade, and sleep on bed made from a genuine reindeer hide.

 ----------------

" I got one!"

 While you are visiting Sami Country, try some native Ice-fishing! Traditionally, once you drill a hole in the ice large enough for your bait, you then lie on reindeer skin placed on the ice and look through the hole at  crystal clear waters to see your bait and the unsuspecting fish swimming by.

                                                 ------------------

However, there are warmer sports to enjoy this winter..Bring your swimming suits..The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. The steamy waters are part of a lava formation located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwestern Iceland.

The Blue Lagoon is a unique place surrounded by lava fields that created in the past the perfect conditions for a natural Spa with geothermal seawater.  The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 37–39 °C (98–102 °F)..

---------------

Few people go on a safari, but you can rack wild reindeer and moose on your winter safari, up Nort!
Safaris aren’t limited to tracking the “Big Five” in Africa. During winter, you can enjoy several safaris that take you through Lapland’s wilderness, forests, and tundra regions to find Sweden’s own “Big Six” — moose, wolverines, wolves, brown bears, lynxes, and musk oxen. You may even get an “upclose” experience!

-----------------

Something for everyone, unless you have golfclubs in mind. If so, you’re going in the wrong direction! At any rate, the long days and nights of winter can bring opportunities..

Check out those northern lights!