Rafting Trip

As I foretold in my previous entry, this past weekend 25 or so other international students and I headed to Sjoa to experience Norwegian nature. Little did the Norsk wilderness know, nature was about to experience US! The Sjoa River is about 5+ hours north of Oslo, and provides the outlet from lake Gjende at Gjendesheim in the Jotunheimen Mountains of Jotunheim National Park. The river is popular for kayaking and rafting, which has made the region a popular tourist destination.

 

After spending entirely too much time on a bus, the crew and I finally reached what was to be our new home for the weekend – the quaint little accommodation center for Sjoa Rafting Center Norwegian Wildlife and Rafting (NWR). Although we had been briefly warned that it would be a tad bit chillier since we were heading away from the coastal climate in Oslo, none of us took the offhand comment seriously enough to pack appropriate clothing for the weekend. That first night the temperature dropped to 3 degrees Celsius, and for the first time since I arrived in Norway I acknowledged that winter here is REALLY GOING TO SUCK. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one crying frozen tears, as some of the other international students along for the ride were from Australia, Mexico, and other warm places where being placed in this kind of weather is deemed to be cruel and unusual punishment.

 

Nonetheless, I kept my mouth shut to quiet my chattering teeth so as to avoid being scolded by the Norwegians. If I had 1 kroner for every time I’ve heard a Norwegian remind me that “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”, I would be able to buy a whole six pack of beer here (no joke, the cheapest brand costs 50 US dollars in Oslo…. And no, I’m never going to stop complaining about the cost of living, so learn to like my whining). I have news for you, Norwegians: this adorable and condescending little saying of yours is just something you have to keep telling yourself to justify your rainy/freezing surroundings. California may be going bankrupt, but we are toasty (holla back, global warming), and our clothes are better than yours. Luckily there were heaters in our cabins, which actually had super comfortable beds and blankets, and they fed us repeatedly there with things like steak, potatoes, pasta, warm baked bread, corn on the cob, etc. etc. After living in the very old Sogn and starving for about 6 weeks – heated rooms, feather beds, and fine dining was just what this Hansen needed!

 

We awoke the next morning pumped to take on our first Sjoa adventure - whitewater rafting! Since we were already staying at the rafting center’s headquarters, after breakfast we were introduced to the river guides and smashed into wetsuits, helmets, life jackets, and water socks. From there we were loaded onto a charter bus and shipped up the river to our drop-off point. After a quick water safety review, our crew was split up into teams and each assigned our own river guide. Our assigned guide was a somewhat insane but equally hilarious Australian named Ben. My team consisted of a German boy, Jonas and a big strong rugby playing Scottish boy named Louis in the front, then two French girls (Caroline and Alix), a German girl, Sara and yours truly bringing up the back end of the raft. The person you are placed next to (your partner) is supposed to be roughly equal to you in size/weight, because if the raft begins to tip to one side, your partner on the opposite side has to jump onto the person on the “high side” to prevent the raft from flipping. Similarly, if/when someone falls out of the raft, his/her “partner” is the one responsible for climbing over to the other side of the raft and pulling you out of the river. Rescuing someone from the water is pretty straightforward: you simply stand up, brace your knees against the side of the raft, grab onto the top of their life jacket and yank them out. Although effective, when done correctly this rescue always results in both the rescuer flat on their back and the rescuee sprawled on top of their savior in the raft. I mention this in such detail, because I ended up being the only person other than Louis and our guide who had to perform this rescuing task throughout the excursion.

 

Ben first informed us that this was NWR’s last rafting trip of the year since it was the end of the rafting season, and according he would push us to go through some of the rapids that he is technically supposed to guide us around since it was his last time rafting for the year as well. In addition, he warned us that as a result of all the rain from the past week, the river’s tide was at an all-time high, and the typically level 3 rapids were moreso upwards of level 4 (level 6 is as high as you get). He then proceeded to tell us that we shouldn’t worry too much, because flipping the raft is usually when he has the most fun. At this point I became a bit apprehensive about our dear Ben, especially since falling into the freezing water was the last thing I wanted to happen, while it seemed to be a goal he maniacally pursues. After Ben gave us the thumbs-up on the dry run, we carried our raft down to the river for our launch off. All of our group’s rafting teams traveled down the river together – there were a total of 4 rafts in all, each w/ their own river guide. The launch off was a little scary, but within the next minute all of us loved it, and we rafted about 10 minutes before hitting some flat water to flip our rafts over and practice getting back in them. We tossed each of the girls and Jonas out one by one, and quickly discovered that not one of them could lift each other out of the water. Luckily for the scrawny ones, Samantha and rugby playing Louis were in their crew, and somehow neither of us had any problem hauling anyone out of the water. Thankfully, our rescuing abilities extended to one another as well. Accordingly, at this point Ben told me to switch places with the skinny Jonas, since it became clear that if either me or Louis ever went overboard, we were the only people physically capable of pulling the other out of the water, and Ben was hell bent on us all going under at some point. Fuck my life.

 

After our "pretend you've lost someone over the side of the raft" exercise, our crew got back out on the river. The rafting tour is absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend it to everyone – The water that day was indeed very choppy, but any fear you had about tipping over was quickly chased away by adrenalin rushes. The view from the river was incredible - we paddled between huge mountains, past beautiful waterfalls, and tall canyons all the while laughing at our friends in other boats misjudging rapids and getting tossed out of their rafts. Unfortunately, a bunch of members in my raft continued to fall out too, which would leave me or Louis to paddle solo in front while the other climbed to the back of the raft to save the little ones. Big strong Louis even fell out on one of the rough areas during the beginning of our trip - I remember paddling into a huge rapid that splashed over his side of the raft, looking over and seeing my rowing partner's eyes get HUGE as the rapid swooped him over the side of the boat - luckily he hung onto the raft and I was able to scoop him back in before the river carried him too far away!

 

OK, now for the parts you've all been waiting for... the crashes!!! The rafting trip was going fantastical...then, disaster struck! *Cue scary music*

 

FLASHBACK: At the beginning of the rafting trip the lead river guide told us that we would be rafting by two rapids in particular that were really rough and likely to be extremely choppy that day because of the river's water level.

 

The first was a river bend that has a lot of rocks and rapids through it called the Devil's Elbow (aka: The Beer Machine - I like this name better because I prefer beer to Satan). The new name was given to it by the river guides because whomever screws up on the river has to buy beers for everyone else - Guide falls out of raft, guide buys everyone a round of beers; Raft flips over, guide buys everyone a round of beers...you get the idea.) Two rafts made it through the Beer Machine before us, one managed to make it out totally unscathed while the other lost a few members who were quickly rescued by the first raft. We were up next, and Ben explained that the best way to approach this rapid was coming from the left at a tilt. Instead, he thought it would be more fun to go at it straight on, and excitedly told us that this increased our chances of flipping tenfold, so we should paddle hard and then hold onto the rope lining the raft with all our might if we had any intention of staying on/near it.

 

Personally, I had every intention of not falling in the water, and as I was the only crew member in my boat left who had yet to “take a swim”, I felt compelled to save dear Benjamin from buying an extra round of beers by staying on the effing raft. Following the crazy Aussie’s orders, we paddled hard into the Beer Machine, and almost immediately we came up against a rock on the left (Louis’s side), Ben screamed “high side” at us, the command I referenced earlier which required me and everyone else on the right side of the boat to jump onto our partners and cling to that side of the boat. Despite our attempts to level the raft, I quickly felt the momentum was dragging us down as the raft began to flip onto its side. All I could see was a big wave, and I felt Louis lose his grip beneath me and fall under, but I clung onto that rope and hoisted myself up in desperation of preventing the full flip. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but quickly the raft flipped completely and everyone was dumped out except for me. Apparently, I climbed over the side of the raft as it was flipping, and ended up on top of the bottom of the raft (paddle still in hand) floating off into oblivion with all my boat members swimming around frantically for one of the other rafts.

 

This got Ben really excited, because instead of having to chase down the raft and climb up onto the back to flip it back over, he could have me do it instead. Sadly, this meant that my refusal to be dumped into the water was all in vain, because in order to flip the raft back I had to climb to one side, grab the rope, and dive backwards into the water to get the raft right side up. After successfully completing my task, I begrudgingly swam by the side of the raft until Ben swam over and climbed back into the raft. After pulling me back into the raft, we pulled over onto the side, and sat and waited as the boats came through one by one. The next raft came through with about 12 people on it, most of whom were members of my raft that were picked up after the rapids had forced us over to the edge of the canyon and flipped us over. Once all us rafters were transported back into our respective rafts, we continued on down the river to the next "big one".

 

The second problematic rapid the guides told us we were going to raft next to was called the China Hole. Named because reportedly if you fall in ... you fall all the way through the earth and land in China. I remember the China Hole as essentially a huge whirlpool that is in the middle of the river w/ calm eddies on the right and calmer rapids on its left. As we paddled closer to the China Hole, the rapids became bigger and more aggressive - what happened next is kind of a blur... I do remember hearing our river guide yelling "Forward! Forward! Forward!!!!" - which he yelled at us all time. However, as the rapids got thicker and bigger, Ben's voice started getting higher and louder...and then I saw it! The China Hole... that was slowing sucking us in!!! "Forward! Forward! Forward!" Ben shrieked as Louis and I peered down from our tiny raft into the monstrous swirling whirlpool of icy cold river that was getting closer and closer. As the China Hole pulled us closer, I couldn't help but wonder about Ben’s shrill "Forward! Forward! Forward!" chant - of all of the directions to be headed at that moment...paddling forward was not a direction I was too keen on heading. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely not a river guide nor was I really in any position to be questioning Ben’s sense of direction - I'm just saying that at that particular moment, as we all paddled forward towards the orient, back-paddling the hell out of there was all I wanted to be doing!

 

The "Umm, back-paddle?" thought was pushed out of my mind almost as quickly as we fell into the China Hole. Our little river raft surfed down into the center of the whirlpool and Ben screamed "Hold the %*$# on!!!" as the nose of our raft lifted up towards the huge wall of water coming down off the top of the whirlpool. The raft surfed up the opposite side of the whirlpool and the rapids coming down off the opposite side met the top of our raft with such force that it pointed our raft straight up in the air before flipping it completely over into the center of the whirlpool. As someone’s paddle smacked me in the face and left me stuck under the raft/underwater with a bloody nose, I remember a whole slew of thoughts racing through my head - everything from "I wonder what my parents will do with all my death/dismemberment insurance." to "What?! THIS is it?! I'm going down in a whitewater rafting excursion?!" flew through my mind at mach-speed as the water whirled me around and pushed me deeper under.

 

I surfaced once after the raft threw me back only to see another huge wall of water rocketing towards my face. Certain that behind that water wall was a gigantic boulder, I thought back to the "survival" swimming lessons that I took back at Oceana pool when I was a youngen. I covered my face and tried to keep my feet ahead of me as the second water wall - surprisingly rock free! - crashed down on me. I began searching for the surface and after a few big swimming kicks; my life jacket and I popped up to the surface, just long enough to catch a glimpse of Ram, another raft's river guide. Ram started yelling, "Swim! Swim! Swim!!!" and him and his team fought to keep their raft in one place (and out of the China Hole's reach) until I reached them. Luckily I made it over to Ram's raft w/out going too far under the water again, and once I was within reach, Ram reached down into the water, bear-hugged me, and pulled me up onto his raft and right on top of Alix (another rafter from my crew)! "YOU MADE IT!!!" Alix shrieked at me and as we looked at the other people in the raft, we found Sarah and Jonas had been pulled into Ram's raft too.

 

Us four were the lucky ones - we made it out of the rapid unscathed (other than my bloody nose, a sweet war wound from the China Hole). Ram paddled down the river to a more calm area and we waited about 20 minutes until more rafts began coming up. I was really beginning to worry about the rest of our crew when we spotted Louis, Caroline, and our river guide Ben rowing down the river towards us. Those three had actually held onto the raft like instructed and were pretty shaken up from having spent a little under a minute in the China Hole (the four of us that were picked up by Ram had all let go of the raft, and we think that might have been why we were thrown further away from the center of the rapid). We were all a little shaken by the incident, but luckily there were no broken bones. Ben and Louis walked away from the rapids with some scrapes and bruises and Caroline sustained a concussion but no big deal! We all pieced our egos back together and paddled about five minutes to the end of the rafting tour, where we were picked by our bus and shuttled back to the rafting center to dry off and relax before heading out on our next adventure, pendel-jumping!

 

Pendel-jumping is kind of like bungee jumping, except that instead of bungee cords you are attached to a rope in front of you, and instead of jumping and bouncing back you jump and swing back and forth, like a PENDELUM! Get it? You’re smart. ;) I didn’t bring my camera on this trip so I can’t show pictured examples, but here is a youtube link that should spell it out for you if you still don’t understand.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-klTbwLuGoE

 

It was even more fun than it looks! ;-)

 

Sunday morning we hopped on a bus home, and that was the end of my weekend adventure. That's all for now! I do believe this may be my longest post to date, which is quite a feat for a long-winded kid like myself! This upcoming weekend a bunch of friends and I are going on a cruise to Denmark, so I will try to bring my camera this time so that I can entertain with pictures instead of words. I’ll try to get tons of shots of the cool Copenhagen sights for the sake of anyone that cares, as I personally could care less about taking pictures. If memories are worthwhile I'll recall them without photographic proof! I hope everyone is having a great week back in the United States-- I believe my parents are back in CA, hooray! Hi mom and dad, hope you guys had fun on your Yellowstone adventure, AND I hope you are both game for some whitewater rafting/pendel-jumping when I get back! XTREME!