varangerArctic

kiteEnduro

in th

is cold arctic desert. Yo

ur Turn p.26 .............................

Wha

t to know if you want to lose yourself

Adv

en

ture p.4 ...........................................................................

Ale

x an

d Julien are lucky to be on the starti ng line in 2013. Sometimes

slid

ing p

ulled by their kites, som

etimes touring.

Ad

venture makes us dreaming, and som

etim

es d

ream

s ne

ed a few to beco

mes true. B

y sharing our experiences T

erra

Edelweiss hope to see other’s wishes com

e alive.

In few words p.2 .......................

V.A.K.E in few wo

rds.

Gea

r p.2

8 .................................If

you

pla

ne to

bring your hairdryer for this

trip

, che

ck this section.

Cur

iosit

és p.42 .............................................Writer - julien Ondedieu

Pictures - julien Ondedieu

Developement - Ludovic Drocourt

Proofreader - Nicolas Lelarge

Ad

venture makes us dreaming, and som

etim

es d

ream

s ne

ed a few to beco

mes true. B

y sharing our experiences T

erra

Edelweiss hope to see other’s wishes com

e alive.

In few words

Vake is probably the most difficult race of snowkite that exists: six hun-

dred kilometers north of the Arctic Circle on the snow, through canyons

and hills, icy lakes and rivers. Two riders team travel the two hundred

kilometers race across the fifteen checkpoints that cover the distance.

without assistance, except maps and GPS. Alex and Julien are lucky to

be on the starting line in 2013. Sometimes sliding at top speed pulled

by their kites, sometimes touring slowly when no wind. Towing their sle-

dge from seven a.m. till ten p.m., as long as the regulation and the polar

light allow it. Except that the GPS trackers has to stay still in the bivouac,

often in the middle of nowhere in this polar desert.

Adventure

One afternoon of November the telephone rings. Alex informs

me about a great race, the logical following of our adventure

towards Kilpisjarvi last year. The event is planned in April, and

the weeks before we trained a lot. Flysurfer, Norrona, Cumulus, and MX3

supports us with enthusiasm. Bags are ready, our plane leaves Paris and

the next day, at Kirkenes, the organisation coach comes to bring the

participants to Berlevag. We pile up in a big gymnasium for an ultimate

check of kites and equipment, everywhere brains smoke to know what to

remove, and what is missing? During the dinner the race meeting puts

the set, outside it is the snowstorm and it will blow all night long.

On the starting line, in the middle of nowhere, with strongs gusts, we

choose to start with our small kites, six and ten meters for safety. The

green flag is raised far off but we do not see it in the blizzard, we hear

nothing but the wind, we just see everybody rushing towards the line.

Kites touch, lines get tangled, some teams are fair play, others doesn’t

respect the race rules.

The wind sprays snow everywhere, then it decreases

halfway between checkpoint one and two. Once kites

changed, with bigger sizes we go upwind fast and catch

up several teams, but the first are far. away The GPS in-

dicates the second checkpoint is less than a kilometer.

away As soon as we pass the checkpoint, the wind fall

again, we follow the South by trying to get up on the

hills. The first canyon to cross gets closer while the wind

still gets out of breath. Alex passes but i can’t. I continue

ski touring and we lose one hour in the race.

On other rim, at the top the big kites fly again, following

the South. We move forward since hours and the hun-

ger torments, cereal bars seem very thin, the GPS indi-

cates checkpoint three in one and a half kilometer. Days

decline and the wind disappear then we decide to set

up tent and sleeping bags While the snow melt on the

stove to rehydrate the dry couscous and tartiflette. Then

it takes twenty liters of snow to do three liters of water

which will quench us tomorrow. It is soon eleven PM, we

fall asleep in the freezing atmosphere of the tent.

In the morning the steam escapes from the

cooking melts the hoarfrost on the walls of

the tent, we dress, eat, then tidy up. Speed3

19m² and 21m² pull us pleasantly up to the

checkpoint three then towards the canyon of

Langdalen. Here no wind, we go down then,

the ski skins stuck under skis, in T-shirt and

the side zips of my pants wide open , I move

up hard, to the nausea. Alex is in front of and

I pull the heavies sledges...with the kites he

usually pulls both. We rise rather fast, we

caught up five teams this morning.

At the top, on the other rim the wind blows

hardly and we leave at top speed, the screen

of the GPS shows often more than forty kmh,

we slide to south-southwest. By going down

the hills of Davgecearu there is neither track

nor wind. It was a strategic error to go down

here, hidden to the wind. It is necessary to

walk to rise during forty five minutes before

finding a regular breath, it made us do a

bend, pass three times under electric lines,

navigate tight to the wind. The wind fades,

we move forward for ten hours. The time to

eat an energetic bar and the two bigger kites

glide silently to pull us up to a small pass.

The three teepees of the fourth checkpoint are visible, finally. The GPS

indicates two kilometers to go. Our painful legs slow us down . Alex pulls

both pulkas, his harness cuts its pelvis but he always moves forward si-

lently. We slide slowly towards the checkpoint the GPS indicates half a ki-

lometer to be still browsed, we are so slow. We cross an ice-cold road and

we arrive at Checkpoint. Here two hours of break are imposed by the re-

gulation, anyway it is already 7pm, then we shall camp here for the night

because the race stops from 10 PM till 7 AM. Alex feet are very painfull . I

feel broken, everywhere, exhausted, every muscle of all my painful body.

This night the weather report announces

a strong blow of wind then we dig in the

snow to protect our shelter. Here we find

the others. Evgeniya and Lyudmila warms

themselves and the Americans rest, Nick

has tempered socks. Most part of the fo-

reign teams are at the end of race. The

Swedes and the Russians slide well, quite

as Kinetic Warriors, The British. Other than

that, the Norwegians dominate the race.

We discover for the first time the ranking,

we had gone raised of five places early in

the afternoon but the option which I chose

at about four PM we made them lose. I am

admiring brave of every team and comple-

tely stunned by the performances of the

head of race. The Vindcraft team is approa-

ching the finishing line.

Tomorrow the checkpoint six must be

passed before three PM, what makes more

than sixty kilometers browse in a straight

line in a few hours. It is not very probable

that we arrive on time. Three miles watts of

the titanium stove hardly melt the snow in

the pot. We eat a double ration this eve-

ning: Tartiflette for me and Couscous for

Alex! The blows of wind shake the walls of

our small shelter, we fall asleep warm in our

sleeping bags.

When our eyes half-open the light is already strong. There is no wind

this morning, we shall not arrive at the sixth Check before fifteen o’clock,

then we choose to leave the race here. We thread our clothes warmed

inside our sleeping bags, our freezing ski boots and we compact our

gears in our backpacks. A bus comes to get back five other teams forced

to stop here for lack of time. We leave bitter. In the bus for Vadso our

bodies warm themselves, I fall asleep.

We spend the next days to observe the GPS signal of the teams still on the

snow. The first ones arrived. We have a walk in Vadso on the small harbor.

Organisators take us to Vardo to welcome the last finishers before leaving

to Vadso to offer to the winners prizes. Everyone rests finally, we take care

of ourselves. The teams scatter by sharing the wish to come back some-

day to go faster or to be more efficient , finish maybe, win why not.

The power of a handmade sleeping bag filled with

the finest down keeps me warm but light

Julien

less than 1550g warm until -30°C

Your Turn

How to go:To follow the tracks of this beautiful adventure, the simplest is to take

the plane until Kirkenes. The city is every day served by flight from Oslo.

Then, you can join the harbor station by bus to take the ferry which go to

Vadso, Vardo, Berlevag, and the other seaport of the North of Norway.

You will find schedules and rates on the Hurtigruten website. A public

bus makes the connection between the harbor and the airport. But in

this direction, it is sometimes crowded by travelers who want to take

their plane too.

About the weather:We left at the beginning of April. In this period the sun gets up be-

fore five o’clock to sunset in the evening after seven PM. Light remains

strong till ten PM. In lands, it made minus twenty Celcius at night and

around minus ten during the day. Two days later the temperatures were

positive in Vadso. The weather is very changeable on the peninsula of

Varanger. The first day we used all our kites from six meters to twenty

one. The meteorological site yr.no offer detailed forecasts. You will find

information about the snow on the website of senorge.no.

GEAR

Type Num

ber

p

er p

ers.

Num

ber

p

er t

eam

Ski shoes + ski touring, Tlt speed bindings 1 2Harnesse 1 2Photon Fil Carabiners 2 4Ski touring pole (pair) 1 2Ski skins (pair) 1 2Snow shovel 1 2Helmet 1 2Rope ( 10m 6mm diameter) 1 1Backpack Exos 58L 1 2Sledge 1 >1Kites speed 3 21, 19, 15, 12, speed 4 10 et unity 6m FLYSURFER 3 >1GPS Etrex Legend GARMIN + 8 lithium batteries 1 >1Talki walkie 1 2Map and compass 1 2Go pro +2 batteries 1 1Safety kit 1 1Sleeping bag Excuitic 1200 (-30°C) CUMULUS 1 2Mattresses Neoair Xtherm XL THERM-A-REST 1 2Tent Twin-Sisters by MSR 1 1microrocket Stove + 1 pot MSR (the windpro II will be great) 1 1Dry food MX3 12/40 24/80Balaclava + gloves + mittens by NORRONA 1 2Bib pant Trollvegen + Falketind jacket by NORRONA 1 2Polartec Fleece Trollvegen jacket + down jacket by NORRONA 1 2

Shirt 29/ + stretch tights + socks by NORRONA 2 4

coups de coeur coups de

coups de coeur

coups de coeur coups de coeur co

ups

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