The Cold

We had heard that Røros can be quite cold in winter, but we figured we're from Vermont, we can deal with cold. But we also have our limits. When the sun rises at 10, sets at 2, and gets only about 20 degrees above the horizon at noon, it doesn't have much warming power, so the cold lasts all day. Going out for several hours of skiing at temperatures below -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) is not really fun, and we had a couple of days like that.

One cold morning we explored the town on these spark sleds, which are used as a practial means of winter transport on the hard-packed streets. You stand on the flexible steel runners, and the seat can be used for a young passenger or a backpack full of groceries. We lasted about a half an hour before we retreated to the nearest cafe.

Later in the day Rick skied up the hill above the town and took this picture of the smoke chilling as it came out of the chimneys and settling in the town, and skiied back down with numb fingers and toes.

But the real victim was the car (and our bank account!). The old clutch gave up the ghost one cold morning, unable to turn gears set in cold grease. We got it towed into town, rented a car to get us through the last few days, and took the train back to Trondheim with a pile of gear and Sebastion in a crate. Nancy returned by train a few days later to pick up the car when it was ready.

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