On Friday the 11th March 2011 2 members of the
advance party boarded the 17 seater minibus which would transport us through
England to Denmark and finally through Norway to our destination in Evjemoen.
Training started with a few basic movements, turning, gliding
and generally getting the blokes ski legs back. An introduction to telemarking
was also introduced, but on thin Nordic Skis - this proved to be too hardcore
for the majority who were happy to stick with the basics of survival skiing.
On the second day weight was introduced in the form of light
Bergen’s and safety kit. This actually assisted some of the larger team
members to ski better down hill. Downhill techniques were the focus of the day
and after some spectacular wipe outs at the start of the day everyone was skiing
well. By the time we returned to Evje everyone was comfortable skiing safely
downhill with weight, but that would soon change once the pulks were introduced
later in the week.
Day three was a long Ski tour with full weight. This allowed
team members to bring together everything they had been taught over the previous
days, but more importantly allowed them to feel what it would be like skiing
with kit for 20kms. This would also give them the chance to test and adjust
their kit should they have an epic with loose straps or poorly fitted Bergen’s
in potentially severe weather.
Pulk day was by far the best training day. For this the group
were arranged into 4 man teams of 3. The routine of changes on the Pulk and
slick swap-overs were practised continuously, along with uphill and more
importantly down hill techniques. Moving at speed down hill with 40Ib of kit and
towing a fully laden pulk is quite an art to the un-initiated. Consequently a
few spectacular wipe outs were order of the day. By the time we were back at the
Centre in Evje, we were very tired at the end of a very hard day.
The success that we had on the training phase was replicated
on the Expedition itself. We set off early the next day to the DOP where we
would meet the snow mobiles to take us to our first hut, Buruntun, on the
Northern edge of the Songevatnet Lake.
We awoke to an overcast and cloudy Vidda to set out on one of
the longest legs of our journey. With high spirits we arranged ourselves into
our pulk teams and started the long Ski tour to our team huts. All the team were
still quiet fresh, so apart from some slight wind, we completed the leg in
record time. Four of the team members had the luxury of Roligholet hut - a cosy
hut 1km west of Rjupehytta hut where the remainder of the team would stay. We
arrived and promptly went about putting as much wood as we could into the old
stove. The day had been a long and tiring introduction to the Vidda and we still
had two long days to go. We thawed out in front of the wood burner and cracked a
bottle of Single malt I had been saving.
The sun had decided to abandon us and high winds were order of
the day on day two. The two teams met up before setting off on one of the
shorter legs of the trip. The pulks didn’t seem any lighter which didn’t
help as we negotiated a few uphills and downhills, with some spectacular
wipe-outs on route. The previous day it had taken us 6 hours to cover 24 Km and
as we skied towards our last hut, Reinar, we were happy to have arrived
maintaining our 4km hour.
The sun decided to pop its head out in places on the last day.
The wind however was gusting up to 60 mph. The team headed out for the last
push. Initially quite flat, the going got tough with a few cheeky uphills and
even faster downhills. All sense of co-ordination and finesse for the team had
gone out the window. The team decided to ski safe as one ski had already been
broken, and we could not afford a repeat incident. The remaining couple of Kms
was by far the hardest. Breaking track in deep soft snow up to our waists, the
team rolled in to the pickup point exhausted but a sense of awe at what they had
just completed. Here we met up with the transport that would take us to
Fjellstue, where we would renact the assault on the heavy water park at Rjukan.
After a few well earned beers, the following day saw us up
bright and early to complete the trip with the re-enactment phase of the
Expedition. The re-enactment phase really brings home what the Saboteurs went
through to achieve their goal.
The plant itself sits in a steep valley protected on all sides
by almost sheer cliff faces. The valley is famous for ice climbing and I hope
that this gives some idea of the difficulties inherent in approaching the plant
unnoticed. We skied down to the valley as far as we could, before it became so
steep that we had to take off our skis and walk. We then crossed the bridge and
looked at the route that the saboteurs took to cross the valley floor. This was
such a steep climb that the Nazis had not defended it, thinking it impossible
that they could be attacked from there. The plant is now a museum. The original
building made to create fertiliser still stands, but the building that housed
the Heavy water has since been demolished. However, in its place is a large
commemorative monument with the names of all the saboteurs carved into it.
Together, they endured extraordinary hardship and showed unbelievable
determination to achieve the mission
We returned to Evje to de-kit and head back to the UK. The
whole trip had been an exciting, moving, educational and remarkable two weeks,
and would not have been achievable without the generous support of the Ulysses
Trust to whom we are indebted.