Suddenly New Year’s eve 2021 had arrived, and we imagined that a bath with fireworks in the background would have been nice. We celebrated the new year at Idun’s big brother Asgaut in Rissa, Fosen. The hospitality included consumption of both wine and aqua vitae with the traditional Norwegian “Pinnekjøtt”, and lead to the conclusion that taking a bath as the year turned to a new number wasn’t really a good idea.
So we postponed the New Year’s Bath to the first day of the new year – there are lots of bathing opportunities between Rissa and Trondheim. But the matter of hospitality came in the way again! The breakfast was suddenly a loooong brunch and we didn’t get going before the sun
was almost down. A sour eastern wind fortified the decision of postponing another day.
On the 2nd of january , however, we received an invitation to reopen the “bathtub” in the ice on Kyvannet again. Our bathing friends Taru and Klas had a plan, and we wanted to join, of course.
Before Christmas, the hole was marked with a wall of blocks of ice, frozen in milk containers. Unfortunately, some hilariously funny people had thrown all of them into the hole! We brought some new ones, but it requires quite a lot before it can be called a wall again (se lower left corner of the next picture!). Anyone is welcome to bring some more ice blocks and help build the wall up again. And we dare you to do that without getting “Another brick in the wall” stuck in your brain! Impossible!
The ice was rather thick (10-15 cm) and the hole hadn’t been open for a college of weeks, so it was quite a job reopening it. Taru has a good ice saw, and after using an axe to make a hole first, sawing wasn’t too exhausting. Protecting glasses and water proof clothing might be a good idea if you make the first hole with an axe instead of an ice borer.
The biggest problem turned out to be to get rid of the ice flake that now was floating in the hole. The ice is heavy and it would be quite much extra work if we were to saw the flake in pieces and drag them up. The solution was to push the flake down under the ice. An operation we weren’t really equipped for. No one had boots or anything to grab hold of the ice with. With use of the ladder, coordination and collaborate effort, we managed to do it after a while.
Idun used the opportunity to take pictures and was happy with the work distribution: 6 workers and 1 photographer. The ladder was a little short and wobbly and floated up, so it was quite a balancing act to use it. Later it will get weighted down so it gets more sturdy.
Time to throw away the clothes and get in! We are beginning to have control of the planning. Layer upon layer of wool, changing to swim gear before leaving home, and foot pads to stand on for changing after the bath.
After the bath (we are talking around 1 minute, this time Knut stayed the longest – 90 seconds – it feels much longer, time goes slooow while you are ice bathing!) it is time to get dressed as quickly as possible, no time for fumbling with bras or complicated stuff.
And after the bath: Hot beverages. In Moomin cups, of course, to keep the Finnish “Sisu” spirit. Hyvää uutta vuotta!
Buon anno