Operation Grouse and Operation Gunnerside were conducted by British trained, hand picked members of the Norwegian SOE. These 11 ‘Heroes of Telemark’ survived in the wilderness of the Hardanga Vidda plateau in Norway for months on end, before successfully mounting two sabotage operations, which severely handicapped the Nazi’s in the race to build the Atomic Bomb. 18(UKSF) Signal Regiment challenged themselves to follow in their footsteps re-enacting this historical event in 3 days. On Friday the 11th March 2011 2 members of the advance party boarded the 17 seater minibus which would transport us through England to Denmark and finally through Norway to our destination in Evjemoen. Training started with a few basic movements, turning, gliding and generally getting the blokes ski legs back. An introduction to telemarking was also introduced, but on thin Nordic Skis – this proved to be too hardcore for the majority who were happy to stick with the basics of survival skiing. On the second day weight was introduced in the form of light Bergen’s and safety kit. This actually assisted some of the larger team members to ski better down hill. Downhill techniques were the focus of the day and after some spectacular wipe outs at the start of the day everyone was skiing well. By the time we returned to Evje everyone was comfortable skiing safely downhill with weight, but that would soon change once the pulks were introduced later in the week. Day three was a long Ski tour with full weight. This allowed team members to bring together everything they had been taught over the previous days, but more importantly allowed them to feel what it would be like skiing with kit for 20kms. This would also give them the chance to test and adjust their kit should they have an epic with loose straps or poorly fitted Bergen’s in potentially severe weather. Pulk day was by far the best training day. For this the group were arranged into 4 man teams of 3. The routine of changes on the Pulk and slick swap-overs were practised continuously, along with uphill and more importantly down hill techniques. Moving at speed down hill with 40Ib of kit and towing a fully laden pulk is quite an art to the un-initiated. Consequently a few spectacular wipe outs were order of the day. By the time we were back at the Centre in Evje, we were very tired at the end of a very hard day. The success that we had on the training phase was replicated on the Expedition itself. We set off early the next day to the DOP where we would meet the snow mobiles to take us to our first hut, Buruntun, on the Northern edge of the Songevatnet Lake. We awoke to an overcast and cloudy Vidda to set out on one of the longest legs of our journey. With high spirits we arranged ourselves into our pulk teams and started the long Ski tour to our team huts. All the team were still quiet fresh, so apart from some slight wind, we completed the leg in record time. Four of the team members had the luxury of Roligholet hut – a cosy hut 1km west of Rjupehytta hut where the remainder of the team would stay. We arrived and promptly went about putting as much wood as we could into the old stove. The day had been a long and tiring introduction to the Vidda and we still had two long days to go. We thawed out in front of the wood burner and cracked a bottle of Single malt I had been saving. The sun had decided to abandon us and high winds were order of the day on day two. The two teams met up before setting off on one of the shorter legs of the trip. The pulks didn’t seem any lighter which didn’t help as we negotiated a few uphills and downhills, with some spectacular wipe-outs on route. The previous day it had taken us 6 hours to cover 24 Km and as we skied towards our last hut, Reinar, we were happy to have arrived maintaining our 4km hour. The sun decided to pop its head out in places on the last day. The wind however was gusting up to 60 mph. The team headed out for the last push. Initially quite flat, the going got tough with a few cheeky uphills and even faster downhills. All sense of co-ordination and finesse for the team had gone out the window. The team decided to ski safe as one ski had already been broken, and we could not afford a repeat incident. The remaining couple of Kms was by far the hardest. Breaking track in deep soft snow up to our waists, the team rolled in to the pickup point exhausted but a sense of awe at what they had just completed. Here we met up with the transport that would take us to Fjellstue, where we would renact the assault on the heavy water park at Rjukan. After a few well earned beers, the following day saw us up bright and early to complete the trip with the re-enactment phase of the Expedition. The re-enactment phase really brings home what the Saboteurs went through to achieve their goal. The plant itself sits in a steep valley protected on all sides by almost sheer cliff faces. The valley is famous for ice climbing and I hope that this gives some idea of the difficulties inherent in approaching the plant unnoticed. We skied down to the valley as far as we could, before it became so steep that we had to take off our skis and walk. We then crossed the bridge and looked at the route that the saboteurs took to cross the valley floor. This was such a steep climb that the Nazis had not defended it, thinking it impossible that they could be attacked from there. The plant is now a museum. The original building made to create fertiliser still stands, but the building that housed the Heavy water has since been demolished. However, in its place is a large commemorative monument with the names of all the saboteurs carved into it. Together, they endured extraordinary hardship and showed unbelievable determination to achieve the mission We returned to Evje to de-kit and head back to the UK. The whole trip had been an exciting, moving, educational and remarkable two weeks, and would not have been achievable without the generous support of the Ulysses Trust to whom we are indebted. Thanks to working in partnership with
On Friday the 11th March 2011 2 members of the advance party boarded the 17 seater minibus which would transport us through England to Denmark and finally through Norway to our destination in Evjemoen.
Training started with a few basic movements, turning, gliding and generally getting the blokes ski legs back. An introduction to telemarking was also introduced, but on thin Nordic Skis – this proved to be too hardcore for the majority who were happy to stick with the basics of survival skiing.
On the second day weight was introduced in the form of light Bergen’s and safety kit. This actually assisted some of the larger team members to ski better down hill. Downhill techniques were the focus of the day and after some spectacular wipe outs at the start of the day everyone was skiing well. By the time we returned to Evje everyone was comfortable skiing safely downhill with weight, but that would soon change once the pulks were introduced later in the week.
Day three was a long Ski tour with full weight. This allowed team members to bring together everything they had been taught over the previous days, but more importantly allowed them to feel what it would be like skiing with kit for 20kms. This would also give them the chance to test and adjust their kit should they have an epic with loose straps or poorly fitted Bergen’s in potentially severe weather.
Pulk day was by far the best training day. For this the group were arranged into 4 man teams of 3. The routine of changes on the Pulk and slick swap-overs were practised continuously, along with uphill and more importantly down hill techniques. Moving at speed down hill with 40Ib of kit and towing a fully laden pulk is quite an art to the un-initiated. Consequently a few spectacular wipe outs were order of the day. By the time we were back at the Centre in Evje, we were very tired at the end of a very hard day.
The success that we had on the training phase was replicated on the Expedition itself. We set off early the next day to the DOP where we would meet the snow mobiles to take us to our first hut, Buruntun, on the Northern edge of the Songevatnet Lake.
We awoke to an overcast and cloudy Vidda to set out on one of the longest legs of our journey. With high spirits we arranged ourselves into our pulk teams and started the long Ski tour to our team huts. All the team were still quiet fresh, so apart from some slight wind, we completed the leg in record time. Four of the team members had the luxury of Roligholet hut – a cosy hut 1km west of Rjupehytta hut where the remainder of the team would stay. We arrived and promptly went about putting as much wood as we could into the old stove. The day had been a long and tiring introduction to the Vidda and we still had two long days to go. We thawed out in front of the wood burner and cracked a bottle of Single malt I had been saving.
The sun had decided to abandon us and high winds were order of the day on day two. The two teams met up before setting off on one of the shorter legs of the trip. The pulks didn’t seem any lighter which didn’t help as we negotiated a few uphills and downhills, with some spectacular wipe-outs on route. The previous day it had taken us 6 hours to cover 24 Km and as we skied towards our last hut, Reinar, we were happy to have arrived maintaining our 4km hour.
The sun decided to pop its head out in places on the last day. The wind however was gusting up to 60 mph. The team headed out for the last push. Initially quite flat, the going got tough with a few cheeky uphills and even faster downhills. All sense of co-ordination and finesse for the team had gone out the window. The team decided to ski safe as one ski had already been broken, and we could not afford a repeat incident. The remaining couple of Kms was by far the hardest. Breaking track in deep soft snow up to our waists, the team rolled in to the pickup point exhausted but a sense of awe at what they had just completed. Here we met up with the transport that would take us to Fjellstue, where we would renact the assault on the heavy water park at Rjukan.
After a few well earned beers, the following day saw us up bright and early to complete the trip with the re-enactment phase of the Expedition. The re-enactment phase really brings home what the Saboteurs went through to achieve their goal.
The plant itself sits in a steep valley protected on all sides by almost sheer cliff faces. The valley is famous for ice climbing and I hope that this gives some idea of the difficulties inherent in approaching the plant unnoticed. We skied down to the valley as far as we could, before it became so steep that we had to take off our skis and walk. We then crossed the bridge and looked at the route that the saboteurs took to cross the valley floor. This was such a steep climb that the Nazis had not defended it, thinking it impossible that they could be attacked from there. The plant is now a museum. The original building made to create fertiliser still stands, but the building that housed the Heavy water has since been demolished. However, in its place is a large commemorative monument with the names of all the saboteurs carved into it. Together, they endured extraordinary hardship and showed unbelievable determination to achieve the mission
We returned to Evje to de-kit and head back to the UK. The whole trip had been an exciting, moving, educational and remarkable two weeks, and would not have been achievable without the generous support of the Ulysses Trust to whom we are indebted.