Four years ago, I found myself at a low point; broken without a clear way forward and without a home in a foreign country. A summer job took me to the mountains, where I sat and drew this DNT ‘varde’, or way-marker, and gave it a title ‘veien videre’, or ‘the way onwards’. Since then the T symbol has become ever more significant as things have continued to look up. Two years ago I moved to Oslo to start a PhD, and earlier this year I started volunteering as a tour leader for DNT Oslo. This past week I have been trained and certified as a summer mountain tour leader which took me back to those T-marked mountain paths and to spectacular surroundings that helped me through some difficult times.

With this I am looking forward to being able to help others find a way onwards and upwards, even when the path is tough, and includes emergency shelters and river crossings. Thankyou DNT for this opportunity, fantastically skilled and knowledgeable instructors, wonderful cabins and to fellow course participants for their humour and support!