March 01, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Today we visited the camps up on the top of Holmenkollen. This place has to be the camp of all camps! Between a man prepping his skis for pine tar, a couple of big-screen TVs next to a bonfire by the trail-side and some “old-time” outhouses, we saw a lot! Many of the folks we talked to have been camped out all week and some will be staying until after the 50km this coming Sunday. Check out the pictures in the picasa album HERE.

We missed this in the local news a few days ago, but this is an important news story. With all the people in the woods, it seems that moose feel like their home has been invaded. At least one moose took matters into his own hands (err… hoofs) and decided maybe there would be more space for him to breathe in the city (and it would be quieter too, none of the blow horns or cowbells and loud fans waving things around). He came into the center of the city… and unfortunately met an untimely death because he scared a few people who had not made it up to Holmenkollen.

Plowing in the Oslo City center would make even the heartiest of northerners cringe. As previous pictures that we posted in the picasa album indicate, marching through soft snow and slush have been a daily experience, and this is in downtown! We have a theory based on some of the news that we have heard. We think that since the budget of the new jump increased significantly over its planning and construction that the City maybe had some problems with the snow removal budget. Now that tourists and spectators have been here for six days (or more) and have replenished the budget, the plows are running. We saw TWO last night and our boots are almost dry as we head to the races today.

It was Ahvo’s birthday today, so we visited a local bar for a birthday drink. State-side Ahvo’s birthday drink would cost about $12.00 but here it was closer to $50.00. You only turn 65 once though, so we think it was worth it (but that’s probably the last time we will celebrate Ahvo’s birthday in Norway). Happy 65th Birthday to Ahvo!!

We chatted with some Swedish women who came to watch the races:

Campers on top of Holmenkollen:

More campers on top of Holmenkollen:

Prepping skis with pine tar:

Huge camp site with big screen TVs:

We also ran into Jessie Diggins on the trail and asked her what she thought about the camps: