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Vake is probably the most difficult race of snowkite that exists: through canyons and hills, icy lakes and rivers across this Arctic desert, whiteout assistance. Alex and Julien are lucky to be on the starting line in 2013. They share their race.
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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