Norway is one of my favorite countries to visit. It is clean, the scenery is unbeatable, the language barriers are manageable, and the people are friendly. I love the place.

In my previous travels to Norway, I was a business-traveler. Business-travelers have to sandwich quick sight seeing jaunts around long meetings. It was torture heading between Oslo and Bergen; seeing all that wonderful white water and sea kayaking without the time (or boat) to paddle. I just had to come back and see this amazing country from the vantage point of a kayak.

In July of 2001, I got my chance. I traveled to northern Norway to compete in the arctic sea kayak races - or ASKR. ASKR is an annual event (2001 was the eleventh running) organized by a kayaking group based in Sortland Norway. While its called the “Arctic Sea Kayak Race”, it is much more than a race. In addition to the race, there is a five-day instructional-camp for novice paddlers and a 4-day “ramble” for experienced kayakers sane enough to avoid the race.

ASKR is billed as one of the most challenging open-ocean kayak races in the world. After competing in the race, I’d have to agree with that description. The length for ASKR is impressive (around 200 km in four days of racing), but there are longer kayak races. What makes this race so uniquely challenging is the combination of long distances with extreme winds and waves.

This note is my feeble attempt to capture the ASKR experience online.

THE LOCATION.
Lets start with the geography. The race took place in the Vesteralen islands of arctic Norway. These Islands are just north of the more famous Lofoton islands and 175 miles above the artic circle.

The sweeping vista's and rugged beauty of the Vesteralen Islands are hard to capture on film. Imagine plush green, tundra covered mountains plunging down to slate-gray seas with turquoise blue waters on white sandy beaches. The Vesteralen Islands have a rugged beauty that defies description. It’s a beauty that can only be grasped by direct experience.

Skipnes: ASKR base camp.    Tinden: General store near Skipnes.     Nyksund: Desination for Day 3 race.

THE TRIP.
After saving my pennies to fund the trip and training hard all year, I made it to Sortland Norway; the kick-off point for ASKR. From Sortland, transportation-challenged kayakers were bussed to Krakberget where we registered for ASKR.

Getting my own boat to Norway wasn’t practical. Therefore, I made arrangements to rent a boat from the race organizers. The boat they had for me was a long sleek racing kayak called the “Sibir Interceptor”. It was extremely tippy, but real fast. I later found out that the other racers renting boats had looked at the Interceptor and rejected it. It was too long for the rough seas we were expecting and the low volume in the bow caused the boat to dig into every wave. Unfortunately, I was the last renting-racer to show up, so I had no other boats to choose from.

After getting our boats and gathering our luggage, the racers (all 17 of us) and the campers (around 15 or so) climbed into a boat packed with our luggage and a pile of kayaks. We then cruised to Skipnes - the base camp for the race and the camp. The ramblers (numbering around 90) stayed in Krakberget and split into two groups. They would paddle their way around the islands camping each night and meet up with the rest of us in Skipnes on Wednesday night.

We arrived in Skipnes around 10 PM, but given the arctic “midnight sun”, we had plenty of daylight to explore the area. Skipnes is an old fishing station now used as a tourist lodge. The racers were housed 6 paddlers to a room. The lodging was a bit on the rustic side, but it was dry and included hot showers. Everyone else (ramblers and campers alike) had a bluff behind the lodge where they could setup their tents. Given that we had high winds and rain on most days, I was thrilled to have a real roof over my head. Note: This picture was taken a bit before midnight from the deck at Skipnes.

THE RACE BEGINS
The next morning, we adjusted the weights of our boats so they all weighed at least 30 kilograms (I had to add a bunch of rocks to my light Kevlar boat). Then it was into the water for our first day of racing. I have tons of notes about each race day, but I’m not sure anyone other than me would want to read them. Here are the key points:

Day 1: 37 km total distance.
We paddled out to some off shore rocks called Floholman. Then returned going around the group of island (in order) Barkestad (the island Skipnes is on), Boroy, Dyroya, Naeroya and back to Barkestad. The weather was sunny, but the offshore seas were rough with 2-3 meter breaking seas at Floholman. Once we returned to the Islands, the conditions calmed down considerably.

My boat was terrible in the rough seas. Furthermore, the rudder-system on the boat was seriously screwed up. Given that this is a rudder dependent boat and racing strokes depend on the rudder, a poorly designed rudder system is a real problem. By the end of the day, I officially renamed my boat “the garbage boat”. On top of all my boat problems, I made some navigation errors and screwed up my left elbow (swollen tendon on the inside of the arm just above the elbow).

The pattern that emerged on this race-day would repeat itself throughout the week. Jim Morrissey (a member of the Irish National marathon kayak team) would blast out in the lead with a few fast racers mostly keeping up but eventually falling off. A ways back you'd have the main pack drafting and working together (as good marathon racers should). Then you have four or five slaggards picking up the rear behind the pack. I was consistently in the slaggard group.

My time for the first day was 3 hours and 48 minutes (third from last place and 48 minutes behind first place). Given my elbow problems and my navigation errors, this time wasn't so bad. I wonder -- if I had my own boat with a rudder that works and reasonable performance in the waves, I could have stayed in pack.

Casualties: One paddler capsized twice at the turning point and gave up on the race. The double kayak team from Latvia finished the day’s race, but decided they had no business paddling in such conditions and bailed on the rest of the race.

Day 2: Three legs of 22, 20, and 22 kilometers.
We left Skipnes and went around the north and west shores of the Arch1pelago to an amazing beach just west of Husvag. This is the most incredible beach I've ever seen. The white sand made the water an deep shade of Turquoise. Behind the beach was a steep tundra covered mountain. Off to the side were nesting artic terns who attacked anyone who dared to came near. It was a beautiful place.

We rested, ate hot soup and snacks, and then charged off on the second leg. We were going to head to the south side of the islands, but due to the high winds, we cut things short and just paddled out and back to some off-shore rocks for a total distance of 20 Kilometers. Then, after another rest, we retraced our first leg to return to Skipnes.

The weather was great. Sunny and cool, but still comfortable. The winds were high and created tough conditions on the way back as we battled head winds the whole way. My times on each leg show the story: 2:57, then 2:35, and 3:10. This compares to Jim Morrisey's times of 2:21, 1:59 and 2:18. That guy is fast!

Note: this picture is of "the ramblers" not "the racers". Its also a different beach than the one we used. I include this picture here, though, since it comes pretty close to what our day-2 beach looked like.

My times should have been better, but my injuries really slowed me down. Due to my elbow tendonitis, I couldn’t paddle with my arms. For recreational paddling, this wouldn’t be a big deal. For racing, however, this means you can’t extend the stroke by straightening the lower arm. Hence, my stroke was short and my pace much slower than I’d like. I finished the day second from last place with minor blisters on my hands and tendon problems in both elbows. Casualty: one kayaker quit half way through the day due to exhaustion.

Day 3: Two legs of 22 km each -- paddling from Skipnes to Nyksund and back.
Rough, a-beam seas and rain on the first leg, horrendous headwinds on the second leg. I did really well on the first leg 2:25 - just 19 minutes behind first place. I like my water rough. I capsized once due to the scenery. The view was just too stunning to ignore. As I was watching the view, a wave broke from the side and smashed me over. Thank god for rolling.

The trip back was awful (4:17 compared to Jim's 2:44). My hands were so swollen that I couldn’t use my gloves. The blisters on my bare hands grew rapidly. My arms hurt and my hands were bleeding from the open wounds I had worn in my right palm and left middle-finger.

As the day wore on, the headwinds picked up. After the race, the other racers commented that the winds steadily increased as the day progressed making things much tougher on the slaggards (like me). Near the end, I ran into gusts that would push me backwards against my best efforts. I only finished at all by cutting over to the island and using the shoreline to break-up the wind a bit.

I finished the day with bloody, swollen hands and the second slowest time for the day.

Party night.
The Ramblers arrived at Skipnes while we were out racing. The population of our little community swelled to over 120. That night, we all got together for a long dinner-party. Many languages and a wide range of cultures were represented - but we all shared a love for kayaking and had a great time. Our Norwegian hosts served barbequed whale for dinner. I think Norwegians take a perverse pleasure in serving whale to foreigners.

Day 4: Our official rest day.
I spent the day paddling at a leisurely pace heading from Skipnes to Tinden. My hands would have preferred the day off, but my muscles needed the gentle paddling to stretch them out. The ASKR campers were hanging out at a beach next to Tinden for rolling instruction. I helped some people with their rolls, and then headed up to the Tinden general store to warm up.

Note: This photo was taken shortly after leaving Tinden on the way back to Skipnes.

The general store at Tinden is a must-see stop for anyone traveling in this part of the Vesteralen Islands. Its an old fashioned general store combined with a museum of Norwegian popular culture. They served warm waffles with fresh jam to us cold shivering paddlers. Later, the owner of the store gathered us all together on the front deck to show off his pets: A frozen seal and a frozen sea eagle that he stores in a special freezer over by the waffle irons.

For dinner that night, we had deep fried Cod-tongue. It was strange, but once you got used to it, it was OK.

Day 5: 42 kilometer Marathon.
We started out the same as on day 3, but rather than cross Prestfjorden to Nyksund, we turned east around the north shore of Skogsoya. We continued down the east coast of Skogsoya and snaked our way through the islands to Krakberget.

The conditions were rough with moderate winds and big swells along the exposed portion of the route. After we turned at Prestfjorden and headed in between the islands, the seas flattened. Rough, beam seas for the first third, gentle waters for the last two thirds.

Note: in the picture, that's an 18 foot kayak hidden in those swells. Also note that the picture was taken well above the water from a chase boat. This is what the conditions looked like on day 3 and on the first third of the day 5 marathon.

The biggest problem was my hands. They were beyond trashed. Extra juicy blisters popped up. By the end of the day, I had a total of 13 blisters on my poor swollen hands. Given that it was the last day, however, I punched through the pain and had a pretty good showing for the day (forth from last place with a total time of 5:14 -- a depressing 1:07 behind Jim Morrissay).

Day 5: Closing party.
We then all returned to Sortland for the closing night party (where they served whale stroganoff). It was a great party, but at the same time, I found it a bit sad. Afterall, the next morning, I would start my long journey homeward and in all likelihood, would never see these people again.

The people I met at ASKR were great. Kayaking attracts good people; people with a sense of adventure tempered by an intelligent love of the outdoors. The fact they came from all over Europe was an added bonus for an isolated American like me.

Note: this is a group photo of the racers. It was taken right before the Day-5 Marathon (notice how eager we all look to paddle).

That's it for my little trip-report about my ASKR experience. Overall, this is one of the peak experiences of my kayaking career. I will do it again some day (though I will do a few things differently). The beauty of this place is impossible to convey by words or picture. If at all possible, you need to travel to Artic Norway and see the Vesteralen islands.

Extra pictures and picture credits.

Most of the pictures in this report were taken by the author. Here are a couple that I took that didn't make it into the body of the report. One is a shot of the deck at Skipnes with the race headquarters off to the right side. The other photo was taken from my kayak a ways out from the deck at skipnes.

When you're racing, you don't have the time to take pictures. Fortunately, the organizers of ASKR provided me with some photos and gave me permission to use them here. This includes the photos for day-1, day-2, and day-5. The pictures of the racers and the ramblers were also provided by the ASKR organizers as was the following picture:

Finally, the Norway map is a composite made from a couple maps from the Norwegian tourist board. The aerial photo of Nyksund was borrowed from a Vesterelen tourist board web site.