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    I dislike the cold, and being out in the cold, but the weather is what it is, and at least it''s not wet cold. I thought the sea and coast would mean milder winters, and according to the locals, this is unusually cold for unusually long. It is not every winter that there is more than the thinnest ice on the small lakes, and not very thick as we have now, but there have been winters when they could walk across the sea ice between the islands, which we cannot do now. I just have to accept that my first winter here in Alfheimr is cold and unpleasant, but with my warm and comfortable mansion, I really should not complain. The workers, Pedr and others living in newer houses are also happy for how good they are. The lake ice is frankly a good thing due to the ice house and for various tests, like now when we''re testing ice skates. But the cold and just trying to have a more social time, is the reason for having a fire and grilling sausages.


    The ice skates are based on tour skates also known as Nordic skates, and a 50 cm long steel blade with a flat top wooden footplate for some angled metal brackets and leather straps. Not surprisingly, Jane was expecting something like figure skates or hockey skates, but quickly realise why I''ve made something more practical for long distance touring and for walking between lakes or stepping ashore on islands. My explanation that the model is called ''Nordic skates'' or ''Tour skates'' in English says all Jane needs to know. Jane expects me as a Swedish man to know everything about snow and winter. No pressure.


    Considering what Olafr has already helped make and done very well, it''s funny that he''s a bit worried about getting these right, but it seems good enough. This is a very simple design, although constant blade width, sharp edges and a slight curve along the blade is important, and so is the foot attachment. I had planned for it to be mostly metal, but it makes sense to have the top part in wood, both for manufacturing reasons and cold conducting reasons. I probably should have skipped the metal brackets since normal winter boots here doesn''t have a thick rubber sole and will be all leather, and the other pair of ice skates to test doesn''t have them, and instead use thicker leather. But Olafr is so much more comfortable with the project of trying to make a well-balanced ''tactical'' Tomahawk with a spike back and small crowbar on the top.


    I try to adjust the metal angles and tighten the leather straps so the foot is gripped correctly. It does take some fiddling as I designed so there are several different mounting holes both front and back, but this seems good enough. It''s been a few years since I last skated, so there is a bit of nervousness. I''ve never skated in front of this kind of audience before, and not in front of girlfriends. Or a wife. Of course I have ice claws, an ice pole and a throw line with me, but I''m not worried about the ice thickness. It has been well tested. There is also a tent set up, just in case. So man up, and after several good luck kisses, I glide out on the ice.


    These skates are good enough, and it only takes a minute to get the feel of it, and soon I''m speeding up and doing big laps over to the other side of the lake and back to the crowds fascination. Yep, the skates absolutely works well enough, and as expected, tight turns and slaloming isn''t what these are good for. Olafr and the others will have to make some more. In the future, skating is something the students at the Academy will learn, and it would be fun to introduce Ice hockey or Bandy.


    I test the other pair of skates before I let others try that pair, but it soon becomes very clear that no-one have ever skated anything like this before, and my sambos don''t appreciate how easy and elegant I made it look. Trying to teach isn''t that easy, as it is both about balance on the skate, weight shifting and movement. Their boot isn''t ridged either, which makes learning harder, and those who haven''t tested don''t really understand and can''t avoid at least smiling, and once again there is a big audience. And some find it way harder than others. Maybe I should make a large wooden surface to have people practise just standing and walking on a hard surface first, before going out on slippery ice? But it''s kind of a nice moment to trying to teach my sambos how to skate, and there will be more ice skates made. And ice poles to help balance. Jane have skated before, and of course try to show off, but falls. No toe picks makes some moves hard, and the blade makes tight turns practically impossible. I''ll try to make shorter and more rounded blade figure skates too. A wider blade isn''t hard, but a good even hollow ground will be hard. I let them try my skates too, so two can practise at the same time.


    It genuinely feels good when a couple of workers explain about similar skating using bone blades tied to the feet, but it is clearly more gliding on the surface. I get why it''s more a thing in certain inland areas or on the Northeast coast archipelago around ''Stockholm'' area where the water salinity is about 0.5% or less. Where it is useful for moving across the ice if you live on an island. But I also get why a sled or a form of wide short skis or double man length long skis are more useful, require less skill and is considered safer.


    ''Unfortunately'' the workers will start taking up ice for the ice house, because it''s going to be a lot of work, and we don''t know how long it will stay cold. And if it stays cold, we might be able to get one more round of ice blocks. If there is no more skating this winter, some of my group will hardly be sad about it, but a couple of them have started to get the idea, and all agree that it might be nice for next winter as a fun thing to do. I might even make a watertight shallow hockey rink ''pond''. It should freeze faster, and be way safer if the ice crack. And we could start to play hockey. Along with the sausage grilling, it''s been an enjoyable day, especially when I got a ''surprise blowjob'' from Jane.


    Come spring, a small jetty will be built on the south-eastern side of the lake with a shelter and benches round a fire pit with grilling equipment. There will be similar shelters with fire pits built in a few places along the shore on the islands and a couple of other small islands as it is a nice thing to have, and something the residents might appreciate having available.


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    My ''crazy and lost'' snowboarding t-shirt along with the pictures, video clips and other things Jane and I have shown about winter sports and winter vacationing, has made my sambos interested in things like downhill skiing and snowboarding. So they have suggested making at least a small ski slope on the island, and this winter has proved that there can be enough snow for downhill skiing for a week or three in winter, or just for sledges and toboggans. By using the north side of the mountain to the west, across the valley from the village, we can get a short 250 meter ski slope that has a drop of about 35 meters down to the road going to Orusingen. With horse and sled, Hrappr can then drive us back up to the top for another go. I think the slope is unnecessarily short and there may not be enough snow every winter, but Jane, Iselin and Ciara are absolutely right; a bad short slope that we can ride a wagon or sled to in fifteen minutes, beats a better and more awesome slope that takes two weeks back and forth by boat, in Nordic winter. It is better that my sambos and future warriors, students and children practise here, and we will also have an easily accessible facility for testing equipment. Given the injury risk of modern downhill skiing, and limited medical care here and potential life threatening injuries, it''s a good idea that the slope is what I consider ''boring'', and at least there is no avalanche risk. That is mainly between 25 to 45 degree slope. I really need to educate on avalanche risk and why it happens, and what needs to be avoided etc. And how to search for people and what equipment to have. There are other places on this island that could be ski slopes and longer-higher ski slopes, but over there we don''t see the slope all year round, and neither will the village, and sheep can graze there during summer. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Which is why I''m currently walking around on that mountains north side to get a better view or it, and Ciara and Jane is just happy walk beside me. Yeah, the weather is cold and so on, but it''s nice to take a walk with just one or two of my sambos so it feels like ''just the two of us'', even though we''re three, plus Alith is protecting us.


    I have to agree. This can be a ski slope and it''s north-facing which is good to limit sun exposure during winter. The slope will get a C or S shape to suit the terrain, and be about 250 meters long and 25-30 meters wide, with a slope between 3:1 and 7:1, so 20 to 8 degrees. So like blue rating with the last 40 meters being green? Maybe make the lower part wider? Yeah, this slope will be cleared, and stumps pulled up and surface flattened over the summer, although trees can be felled now. Easier to transport on frozen ground. We might as well start marking trees now. And then I have to make some skis.


    Making good enough cross-country skis, downhill skis and ski boots or making a snowboard will be difficult. Very difficult to find a good glue and make plywood that can handle moisture etc. Some variant of Telemark skis may be difficult enough, but would be good to teach and use. Whatever skis we end up creating, I''ll have to try which skiing techniques work and not, since I''m by far the best and most experienced skier. Ciara really wants a snowboard because of my ''crazy and lost'' t-shirt, and that I''ve been on many skiing vacations. She were very focused on learning how to ice skate, and I get why she want to skate and ski with me. Jane expects that in addition to acceptable snowboards and cross-country skis, I can surely make some kind of snow cannon and maybe a piste machine. She have faith in me. Sometimes it feels like she have too much faith in me, and don''t understand all the problems.


    Can I create a water and air pump with enough pressure to actually make a snow cannon? For that I must have fresh water access, and there is no water reservoir at the top even if I intend to clean up the small pond there and build something there for irrigation, and it is possible to build it higher up than the pond. But it is at least 6000 m2 of slope to be covered. Jane consider it''s just bad excuses. Get working, bitch!


    Once I have better pressurised tanks that can handle decent pressure, I''ll have to see if I can make snow on a small scale. Cold water, pressurised by air pressure, and mixed with compressed air and sprayed out from enough height when it is cold. Snow. At least some nights between November and March should be cold enough, so I have some time to experiment. And it''s not like I need to solve it to next winter.


    I might as well try to get a worker to make skis this winter, just to have something to learn and improve upon before next winter. The skis here are so incredibly bad by modern standards, and barely worth calling a ski. But it''s not like they share such knowledge widely or there is a huge market for good skis. Many probably make their own, copying others or what they''ve heard about. So I''ll try for a bow shaped modern ski that lifts the middle for better weight distribution and flex, and is slightly narrower in the middle for better turning, with more modern bindings that stabilise the foot but freeing up the heel, along with a pair of better ski poles. It should make a big difference. Especially in combination with climbing skins, or maybe with ''fish scale'' patterns on the underside for less steep terrain. Then I need to research the best wax depending on the snow and temperature, and what someone can improvise in the field from animals or trees, because shit happens. A spare ski tip will be tested. Maybe do twin tips? Try adding steel edges on a pair needs to be tested, but how to make that steel stay in place, and not weaken the ski?


    One thing I want to try is to make the ski so the tree rings are vertical in the skis, and the softer wood in the annual rings will wear a little more than the hard rings, which should make the skis slide easier. I believe I heard or saw that was something that was historically done. If good skis can be made from pine, it is very advantageous, because pine is everywhere in the north. We just have to try to make skis, poles and everything else until next autumn, so come spring and summer there will be prototypes and smaller series with a little different shape and of different types of wood, and then test when the snow falls next autumn-winter, to then build more during the winter and use next spring, before a larger production next summer.


    At least my bodyguards and sambos don''t know about proper snowshoes either, which I assumed already existed and it might, but all of them are basically from ''coastal Norway'' or ''coastal Sweden'' where there is far less snow than in the interior or Swedish Norrland. Maybe just a few centimeters or a decimeter, but it won''t stay for long. As well as making proper snowshoes, we are also going to try making improvised ones.


    As we walk around marking trees to cut down for the future ski slope and checking where there might be a reservoir, Alith tells me that she and the other bodyguards like Ryla and Agnes as bodyguards, or secret bodyguards. They''ve talked a lot with Ryla and Agnes, and besides the fact that they seem incredibly grateful to be part of my household even if only occasionally, they also seem convinced that I''m sent by Freya and the most important man in the North and must be protected, even if it costs them their lives. Unlike her and the rest of the bodyguards, Ryla and Agnes have no family, cannot have children, and will never be married or even concubines. Their loyalty and lives are totally focused on me, and Alith and Ciara are pleased and happy to know that. Jane understand the benefits, and are okay with some of it, but of course she is a bit worried about the sexual potential, and she is a bit envious about Ryla''s boobs.


    Alith doesn''t like the fact that Ryla is really tall and also has slightly larger breasts than her, but it''s not Ryla''s fault that the gods have blessed her that way. Alith is hoping that Ryla and Agnes won''t make me uninterested in intimate moments with her, which I can honestly say Alith doesn''t have to worry about. Yes, they are incredibly flexible acrobats who want to please me, but I have no sexual feelings for them, and I will try to avoid getting it. I''ve managed that with Bodil, Gunhild and Hillevi. At least so far.


    Ciara have known about my intimate moments with Alith since we lived outside Borgarsandr, and Jane since a month or so ago, but it still feels awkward talking about future sex with Alith, while holding hands with Ciara and Jane whom are walking beside me. Jane have such a smug face and enjoy Alith''s and my discomfort.


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