Getting Arctic in Norway
Tamok Dalen, Norway – It took us four days of traveling in order to get to this remote location about 440 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. We are in an area called the Tomok, Valley to meet an international group from nine different nations to compete in the second Arctix event. Last year I was here with people from seventeen different nations, as the only North American, for the first event ever to take place in this area. The event is unique in many ways give the people involved, however the format of the event is what makes it special.
Using a helicopter to access mountains in an area where helicopters have never been flown due to government regulations, we are not only competing in an area that has never seen helicopter activity, aside from herding reindeer, but most the lines have never been skied. This year however things are different, with a few circumstances last year leading to the loss of a few major sponsors, organizer (Jarkko Hinttonin, from Finland) has been forced to slim the group to a select few.
The adventure is just now beginning, but for my brother Onie and I, getting here was half the battle. After flying from Denver to New Jersey and then N.J. to Oslo, we took a pit stop after flying for a crazy fun filled night. It was a Wednesday so our expectations for entertainment were low, but we managed to have a great time and experience the best of Oslo. Aside from the late night walking sex buffet, as we came to find out Oslo has a slightly uncontrolled prostitution problem, we experienced Oslo after meeting a group of locals while sitting at a coffee shop having a twelve dollar beer. Other than the small bureaucratic issues of high costs and prostitution, Oslo is a city with a lot to offer and we found it to be very beautiful. The locals say it’s a bad representation of what Norway has to offer, however if you’re looking for a plethora of 7-Eleven corner stores and a Burger King on every block then this is your place.
Meanwhile, the art and history mixed in with modern architecture makes it very unique city even from a yanks perspective. Complacently set against a water front location and filled with parks displaying elaborate nude statues, Oslo is a place I would recommend to anyone in the summer, but with the rainy weather we encountered it was a challenge to our optimism. From Oslo we flew to the northern town of Tromso. To put it into perspective the northern most banks of Alaska are around 60? north, where Tromso at around 71? north. One would assume being this far north it would entail extremely low temperatures, however much like last year, the weather is seemingly extreme but consistently above freezing. This is due to strong ocean currents that carry worm water from the Gulf, as well as a jet stream convergence above its coastal range location. Some call it the Paris of the north with ample shopping and more pubs, bars, and coffee shops then a frat could crawl to even on the best of weekend benders. After spending the night and catching up on some sleep and re-acclimating ourselves to the time change, we met Aadne who was our local guide for the week. We drove east with him and his wife to the Tamok Valley. Located far above Iceland and most of Greenland, we knew we were in a unique place after meeting Aadne’s father who has lived here his whole life. The 73-year-old man took our pictures and had us sign them, as we are the first Americans he has seen in the Valley. He told us stories of his childhood in the valley having to make laps skiing from one side to the other picking up mail. He made the 18-hour trip twice a week until the 1940’s when a road was added in order to access trade routes previously only accessible by water way. It was a surreal experience to hear him say we were the first Americans to this area, as I had been here last year which means I was the first American ever. However, this year, to be pioneering a location like this with a great group and having my brother here made it pretty cool. After going for a hike with Aadne, his son Jusi, and a couple local guys from the army, we found the conditions to be a lot like getting kicked in the balls. The views made up for variable snow, but it was great to be outside and enjoying this uncharted territory. As the group started to arrive throughout the evening we congregated in the local community building where we were all staying. All 24 of us in this large rec room/community center looked like it would be a junk show at first, but with Christmas carols playing in the background as we cooked our first meal my worries were alleviated. Tomorrow the helicopter arrives in the morning and the fun begins…
Tamok, Norway, - March 19th, 2008- Due to adverse conditions, the helicopter arrived yesterday a day late and brought the bad weather with it. For those of you who know how a helicopter works, then you understand they do not work when there is bad visibility, high winds, or any other adverse factors. Therefore, much of the helicopter skiing experience is spent waiting for the optimum conditions to appear like kids waiting for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. Many of us have spent our mornings glued to the windows watching the clouds pass and others have just sat and drank coffee talking about the weather.
Anyway, the week here in Norway has been anything but uneventful. With the amazing local crew ready for adventures on snowmobiles or ready to go skinning anywhere, there has been a lot of activity to say the least. The typical day has started with breakfast around 7:30, although I got up around 8:30 because there has been plenty of food and the coffee has been flowing all day. When people were done studying maps of the area and coming up with speculated answers on where we are allowed to go and where we all thought snow would be best, people have been splitting into groups to go on adventures looking for the best snow, ice climbing, building jumps, or whatever else our child-like imaginations could muster. My brother Onie and I made friends with the right crew, so the locals have been bringing us on small missions to explore areas far beyond the distance accessible with only the use of skins. Therefore we have had the local tour of an area that has never been explored from a freeskiers perspective. With so many unknown variables in such large terrain it is very comforting to have a gentleman who has lived and played in these mountains as a hunter and snowmobiler for his whole life. “Thank you Leif-Arne and the whole HUAS crew.”
Yesterday we did have the opportunity to pop Onie’s cherry in the helicopter. Yesterday we were able to get lifted to the top of one of the mountains above our camp and ski something that took us five hours of skinning the other day took six minutes in the heli. I have concluded, “Walking is over rated.” The best part of the day however was watching Onie’s face as the helicopter took off and the nose dropped forward. It was his first time in a helicopter so smiles full of effervescent elation filled his n use face. The feeling of taking off in a helicopter is rather unexplainable, but Onie’s face would be a good marketing took to any helicopter company. Otherwise we are expecting great weather the next few days so things are looking great. The crew we are here with are all amazing people, although the Finish language is impossible to understand or even harder to try and speak. Therefore we do not know what is being said around us most of the time, but none-the-less we are having a great time and the next few days should be all time.