"Moon Valley" brought out the best in us

arlier this year I attended a friends Norwegian wedding in Hemsedal, a few hours by car northwest of Oslo. At dinner, I was seated next to Black Crows athlete and fellow Db ambassador Nikolai Schirmer. Over several courses of reindeer, he told me about his next alpine mission; to find, climb and ski "Moon Valley" completely self-powered with Norwegian pro Asbjørn Eggebø Næss, and renowned Swedish photographer Mattias Fredriksson. By dessert (more reindeer), I'd cancelled my flight home and invited myself to tag along on what sounded like a delightful remote hut adventure in the Norwegian high alpine.

The next night I was sleeping in Nikolai's bio-diesel van after an 8 hour drive north to Måndalen - a heavy toll after a festive few days consuming the equivalent of my own weight in native red-meat dishes, and a soft bed (the absence of which I would soon lament). What came next was two weeks of Norge animal mode - none of the usual helicopters, cats, sleds or even ski lifts - just a cabin surrounded by an intoxicating white expanse. When the snow turned to grass, we climb higher. When the weather came in, we waited. When we were hungry, Asbjørn ripped fish out from under the ice with his bare viking hands like a mythical Norsk beast. And when the winds finally ceased, we skied.

It turned out that Moon Valley isn't a point marked on a map... there are no coordinates to get here. It's not until you find yourself deep in the white room, that you realise you've arrived.

Now, Nikolai has made a short-film about our search. This is his teaser. If you have any interest in what motivated a young lawyer to sacrifice a decent wage in favour of van-life, keep an eye out for an advance screening at select outdoor film festivals ahead of his online release.