RCN’s Friluftsveka (literally, “free-air-week”, our variant on the Scandinavian “friluftsliv” concept) takes place each February: all the first year students away from campus, with a day’s slalom-downhill skiing, two days’ back-country skiing, a night in a lavvu (a conical kind of tent, widely used in northern Scandinavia) and a day on kitchen duty/rest, all skiing planned and supervised by the Outdoor Department with RCN staff assisting – supervising groups of students, managing the equipment, and assisted by ski instructors for the downhill days.
This year we stayed at Stryn Youth Hostel / Vandrehjem for the first time: RCN kitchen staff handled the demands of reduced space & facilities with incessant smiles, reinforced by the students’ thoroughly enthusiastic response and the perfect sunny sub-zero weather conditions. The one significant accident – a broken leg on the downhill slopes – was handled promptly and effectively by staff and local emergency services; the difficulties greatly ameliorated by the student’s magnificently stoic and courageous response. All in all, a fantastic week!
It has become a tradition to award “emergent categories of award” prizes at the completion of friluftsveka: emergent in that staff draw attention to “idiosyncratic accomplishments” during the week. Importantly, these prizes to individuals or small groups of students are must be seen as representative: while particular individuals receive the nomination, they clearly represent the good spirits demonstrated by so many others (enthusiasm / determination to master these ski things / care for others / disregard for personal comfort, etc).
Nominations were suggested by staff, confirmed by a sub-group, announced by Alistair and awarded by Jeanie the elegantly-coiffed assistant.
- Fann receives her prize, in the category “Hero’s hero”, for “cool, calm and compassionate care”
- For his love of white powder, from Columbia, the “Me Gusto Mucho” award to Ervin
- For breaking down more than simply cultural barriers, the “Fencing Award” to Moriya & Yuliya
- For covering more than 100km on a 10km circuit, the “Human Yo Yo” award to Priit
- In the category “slowest skiers”, the lingering couples award to Rodrigo & Helena
- In the category “tandem skiing”, the “conjoined at some body-part” award to Oliver & Fredrik
- The “Good Housekeeping” for best-dressed toilet cleaners award to Jetnor & Henrik
- Anticipating the 2014 Winter Olympics, the “Cameroonian Cool Runnings” award to Leo
- The “Peak decibels” award for positively loud cheer-leading award to Kathrin
- In the category of “Challenging Relationships”, the “T-bar Rejection” award to Christopher
- For sustained nocturnal disturbance of Norwegian forests, the “Loudest Lavvu Lullaby” award to Alma, Ebba, & Mende
- For training body and mind, the “Best Teamwork” award to Feng, Sophie & Kip
- For never never never giving up, the “Try Try Try and Try again” award to Merry
- For destroying most obstacles on the training slope, the “Demolition Queens” award to Ya & Kanchan
- From “I can’t do this, Leave me alone!” to “Leave me alone, I wanna ski!”, the “Significant Transitions” award to Bernadette
- There were many contenders for “Face Plant” award; after lengthy deliberations, the team of judges narrowed the list to Alvaro, Rabail & Hala.