In mid august 32 best teams from around the world gathered at Hemavan, a scenic town of northern Sweden. Where polar circle meets Sweden, Norway and their breathtaking landscape.
The Norwegian archipelago, the Seven Sisters (mountain range), midnight sun and northern shine were waiting for the toughest teams to discover them. Eight hundred kilometers long route was prepared with caution and as one of few races without dark zones or obligatorily rest it had offered the best of adventure racing. A true expedition race.
The Norwegian archipelago, the Seven Sisters (mountain range), midnight sun and northern shine were waiting for the toughest teams to discover them. Eight hundred kilometers long route was prepared with caution and as one of few races without dark zones or obligatorily rest it had offered the best of adventure racing. A true expedition race.
Organization of 4th AR world championship was under control of Mikael Nordstrom and Helena Lind, the founders of Explore Sweden. A young Swedish organizers with competing experiences from toughest and biggest races worldwide. They promised the best race ever and, as teams said it, it was.
After the official opening ceremony, with Anja Pärson as special guest, the route was revealed to the teams. Leaving them less than 24 hours to prepare the strategy, gear and combine this with the last good sleep before the race. And with sixteen gear changes strategy is playing a significant role. Next morning the race started with a short run and quick transition to inlines with which the they went 2km up the hill. After that they were headied with mountain bikes for spectacular singletracks around the hills Hemavan/Tarnaby. After finishing the MTB section and canyoneering favourite teams were in front. Neck to neck were Ian Adamson with Nike/Powerblast, Petri Forsman with Team Finland, Arbedeen Asset Management with Warren Bates, FJS with Shubi, Lundhags and team Spyder with Travis Macy. After the first day there was less than hour difference between first and fifth team. All there, taking lead at different part of the first day's race.
On the second day one of the most adrenalin part of the race was ahead of the teams. The Red Bull Challenge. The Red Bull Challenge is a tyrolean rope section over a canyon where team members pull up the rope system, clip in and slide down the kevlar rope at up to 100km and hour before coming to an abrubt stop over the valley. The ”ride” is approximately 200m long and very fast. Weather at the start and first two or three days was really bad with fog and low temperatures. Team were cold and fog made the hard orientation even harder. Later on the race team Merrell had to withdraw because of a trenchfoot of Robyn and team Arbedeen because of a broken toe of a team member. Leaving four teams fighting for the victory. After three days of struggling over glacier, 75km of rough mountain biking, 45km of inlines and a spectacular trekking over Seven Sisters an epic 90km paddling on open ocean was ahead of teams. Just before the final mtb section to the finish line caving and fixed rope section was scheduled. This is usually an exciting part of the race, but not this time. Water in the cave and a waterfall as well had only 2°C. And imagine ascending the rope with water of that temperature flowing over your hand and body?!
Nike/Powerblast's steady pace break the rivals, team Finland. They were neck to neck till the last day, but small strategy mistake cost them of approximately an hour or so and they ended second, three hours after the team Nike/Powerblast, which arrived at the finish line, 122 hours after the race start.Twenty three teams finished all 800 kilometers, with 15.000m of elevation gain,... with only some blister, sore feet and some other injuries, but nothing serious. They made it. At the end they all had one common thought: This was the best race ever. And they know what is a good race, after all many of them are already fifteen years in this sport. Thank you Mika and Helena.
Text & Photo: Tomaž Oštir
Adventure race details:
Dates: August 16-23, 2006
Time: 7 days non-stop racing
Shake down: Hemavan-Tärnaby, Sweden
Destination: Lapland, Sweden- Nordland, Norway
Teams: 40, 4 members mixed. Unsupported.
Countrys represented: 20
Total distance: 800 km
Max altitude: 1.900 m
Min altitude: -5 m
Elevation gain: 15,000 m
Sections:24
Disciplines: Mountainbike, Trekking, Kayaking, White Water paddling , Glacier-mountaineering, Ropeworks, Coasteering, Canyoneering, Inlines and Caving.
Adventure Race Results:
1. Nike/Powerblast
2. Team Finland
3. Lundhags
4. GoLite/Timberland
5. OrionHealth
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