Red Bull Ragnarok snowkiting competition in Norway 2014

Just two weeks after we came home from Cape Verde, it was time for the next kitesurfing vacation. But this time we did something I have never done before – a snowkiting trip! I usally prefer warm climate for my kitesurfing trips, but when I heard about Red Bull Ragnarok I just had to participate. Jonathan and I was quick to sign up for the event, and headed for Haugastol glacier, Hardangervidda, with all the Airush kites and our snowboards. We flew to Oslo, and drove by car the rest of the trip to Haugastol.

The goal for Red Bull Ragnarok was to snowkite the 15 km track 5 times around as fast as possible.

The place for Red Bull Ragnarok was really nice on the most beautiful glacier, and a lot of people was already there when we arrived. We met both old and new friends at the event, and surprisingly many other from Finland participated as well. The day of the race we had really beautiful and sunny warm wheather, but the wind was very light. So we pumped the biggest kites, put them in the air and waited for the start signal toghether with approximately 200 other kites, trying my best not to get tangled with any other kite. The start signal went and the adrenaline rushed into the blood. The wind was very light at the start area, but I hoped it would be better further ahead.

But as I approached the first gate of the track, which was on top of a small mountain, I saw how the kites ahead of me, one after one, fell to the ground. The wind at the first gate was close to zero. Also my kite went down, and I got it up a few times back again, until I gave up and walked, like everybody else around me also did. I walked with the kite in my hands up on the mountain, but on the top of the mountain the wind was not any better. So I walked, tried to kite, walked, tried to kite, walked some more and kited some more. Snowboarded  downhill with either the kite in the air or in my hands. At the bottom of a valley it was not so fun anymore. Well, the sun was shining and I talked to friendly people with the same problems like me, but I was tired and thirsty. Physically it felt like a marathon. I did not bring any water with me on the track, beacause I thought that I would be back so quickly on the finish line. But there I was, in the middle of nowhere starting to feel the symptoms of dehydration one after one. The only thing I could think of was water.

 

I could see the second gate from the valley so I diceded to walk there so I could get some water and continue if there was more wind. But when I arrived there was nothing to drink there (a girl borrowed me some of here water and it tasted sooo good, but I did not want to drink to much of it since she still continued) and there was also no wind, so I gave up and jumped on a scooter back to the starting line. At that time I had been out on the track for three hours. Disappointed, but I could not really care beacause I knew that I had to get water to continue. And boy that water and red bull tasted  great at the finish line! After som rest and hydration I kited some more on the glacier close to the starting and finishing line where the wind was stronger.

So Red Bull Ragnarok did not go as espected but I can not blame anything else than the wind. Next year I will bring bigger and faster kites and also have some water with me on the track. This year the guys with the biggest kites won, and the unlycky people with small C-kites like me had really no chance at all. I love love love my Airush Razor for freestyle, but it’s main area is clearly not lightwind racing… ;)

So the gear really matter in light wind lika this. The fastest guys this year had big foil kites. You find the results here if you want to take a look.

We got one more day of snowkiting, the day after the race, which was fun. Stronger wind next day, but foggy so it would have been dangerous to held the competition then. But after all I think that Red Bull Ragnarok was a really cool experience and I would love to participate next year too. I just want some more wind for next year, please!

Here you find more pictures from Red Bull Ragnarok 2014.

Here is a video when you can see the start and how it looked at the first gate.. :)

And Highlights of the 2014 Red Bull Ragnarok: