Five young athletes from RVT, accompanied by the HRJ (Hamburg Rowing Youth), were able to travel to Oberhof in Thuringia for a cross-country skiing weekend from February 9-11, 2024.
On Friday morning at 8:00 AM, a coach picked us up and drove us to Oberhof in about 6 hours. We had a lot of fun on the bus ride and already got to know some athletes from other Hamburg rowing clubs.
When we finally arrived in Oberhof at 2:30 PM, we assigned rooms so that the clubs were mixed. Unfortunately, there were only 4 rooms we could move into because the other rooms weren’t ready. So we took turns changing and then drove to the ski rental.
There, we all got our shoes, skis, and poles. Because there was no snow in Oberhof, we went to the indoor ski hall. We trained a bit there. First on one ski, then on two.
After an hour, we drove back, already hungry. Afterwards, we had some time to ourselves to make the beds and set up the room. At 7:00 PM, there was dinner. We had fries with Cordon Bleu. After dinner, we met in the common room
where we played some get-to-know-you games and planned the next day. Around 8:30 PM, we went upstairs, and the boys played foosball. By 10:00 PM, it was bedtime.
The next morning, breakfast was served at 8:30 AM. We were supposed to pack a lunch with rolls for the day. Tired and a little excited, we took the bus to the ski rental.

And off we went! We warmed up with exercises on two skis and without poles, and then the first ones already got their
poles. The downhill runs were especially fun for everyone, even if some still had trouble braking. Going uphill was quite strenuous at times. It was -4 degrees Celsius in the hall. But because we were exercising, most of us were warm and skied without jackets. After two hours of cross-country skiing, we drove to the village and were allowed to stay there in groups of three or more. We bought some things for the return journey and food for now. After an hour and a half, we took the bus back to the indoor ski hall. There, we had another chance to shoot with
a laser rifle at the biathlon stand. We were divided into eight groups. We had a competition to see which group hit all the targets first. We all had fun! Then we all had to change quickly so we could return our equipment to the ski rental on time. When everything was done, we drove to the youth hostel. There, we had dinner. We had potato noodles with
chicken. When you were finished, you were allowed to go to your rooms and enjoy your free time. Anyone who wasn’t in their room by 10:00 PM had to go for an early morning run at 6:00 AM the next day.
The next morning, we had to be at breakfast at 8:00 AM, but some of us had to get up at 6:00 AM because of the early morning run. After breakfast, we had to tidy up our rooms. At 9:30 AM, we all went jogging. Then we did some relay races and exercises. Back at the youth hostel, we changed again and had lunch there. After lunch, we all got on the bus and drove to Hamburg.
It was a trip with many new experiences, impressions, and a lot of fun!

Report by: Carlos Kröger, RV Teichwiesen