The world looks different from above, even Malla Fell has another charm seen from the lake or seen from the slope of Saana Fell. Two young women writing their MA thesis here at the station had decided to take Sunday afternoon off and try to climb up to Saana, since some of their colleagues had done that yesterday, and I joined them. Eagerly we set off after lunch, with warm clothing for the cold wind up on the top, with water bottles and walking sticks (but no snow shoes). The sun was shining from a deep blue sky and the world was as beautiful as it could be with the noise and smell of snowmobiles spreading from down below. There were other people outdoors as well, and I looked with admiration at people climbing up the slope with skis, when I had trouble not sliding backwards with my sturdy shoes. We had been warned that there would be a steep part after the end of the tree line, but I did not imagine it to be steep in a way that made me dizzy. The snow was rather hard and slippery, and about half way up the first part I realized this was too much for me, and turned back. I always forget that I am no longer twenty-five. Actually it was not lack of stamina that made me stop, but fear, I was scared of sliding down. So I returned to the crossroads and the girls continued up.
Once I had made it to the crossroads I stayed for a while above the tree line and admired the view. Then, when I had become accustomed to this new world of distances and vistas I decided to walk up to the lower ridge straight ahead, following the other slightly less steep path, that would take me around Saana, but only so far that I could see to the other side. And it was worth it, really. A world without vegetation, only whiteness. I can only imagine what you could see from the top! I include here a snapshot of Malla Fell from that ridge, with the top of the skis of a Norwegian couple, included by accident.
While returning down to the station I tried to think of the characteristics of that environment, and made some experiments with the walls of snow surrounding the paths between the buildings, focusing on the enclosures, as it were. They look amazing when you walk between them, but do not make very interesting images, or at least I did not know how to approach them. Perhaps I have to stick to working with Malla...
