Fluid Kayaks Team

Thursday afternoon in Bergen Norway, sun was shining, the birds are singing and it was beginning to feel like spring. Of course I was stuck in the office, trying to finish up a few last things before I took off for a long weekend rally up North. The X-Creek race (part of the X2 festival) was taking place on Friday and I was hoping for some training runs to shake off the winter rust. This meant sneaking out of work early as it was a 5 ½ hour drive to Hellesylt from Bergen. When I got home the other Basso had packed the car and loaded the boats ....so we were off.

A beautiful and efficient drive meant passing everyone in their expensive Audi's that never see 5th gear. Finally we pulled up to the Byggdelva hidden at the end of one of Norway's most beautiful fjords. It is eight in the evening and the sun has dropped behind the mountains. The light is fading to greys and blues, the temperature is dropping and that hard to shake winter chill creeps back into the air. Mark is still keen so after quick walk along the river to scout a few rapids we get back to Norway whitewater.

A brief cold shock hits me when I seal launch into the river, time to wake up and get the muscles moving…this is only my second time in a kayak this year. The weather has been cold, it has been snowing instead of raining and the snow pack in the mountains this year is very low … all of this has led to a slow start to the paddling year. But it all comes back very quickly and I exult in the feeling of moving water beneath the boat. The surrounding mountain peaks rise sharply from the valley and tower menacingly over the river. Although they are still mostly covered with snow, cliff walls jut out like black chocolate chunks in vanilla ice cream. I breathe in deeply; the crisp clean air fills my lungs and clears my head. I put my paddle blade into the water and pull myself towards the first slide.

The Byggdelva race course is short but very sweet. A couple hundred meters of slides and boofs, finishing off with a small horseshoe waterfall. The water is low but this makes the run more technical and a real race for the time clock. To avoid hitting a few grabbing, rocks you had to maintain precise control of the kayak at all times. I come off the water with a big smile on my face, looking forward to racing the next day. Back down the road to tents and beer as the hardy Norwegians from all over the country start appearing late into the night.

Friday morning I wake up and something just doesn’t feel quite right, I stick my head outside and immediately decide that it is way too early and I need to go back sleep for a couple hours. Maybe what I saw will just be the remains of a half remembered nightmare. No such luck…the weather is horrific; fog and clouds cover the handsome peaks that greeted us last night, a combination of snow and rain is falling to the ground and the wind blows the warmth right out of you. I could feel the motivation draining out of me as I stared out of the tent.

A couple hours in the campsite, eating breakfast, drinking coffee and catching up with good friends managed to restore some of my motivation and I was further revitalized by the sun that broke through when we arrived at the put-in. As the afternoon progressed the mountains came out from the wall of clouds, blue skies were once again becoming visible and the sun warmed the river bed.

In the end the race went off with big smiles throughout, thanks to some great organizing and a better-late-than-never sun hovering high above the looming peaks. Two runs, best combined time wins. Below are some pictures from the race. I was happy with my runs and came in second in the women’s category. Good times had by all. Then it was off to Østra and to the bar for the prize ceremony and some sweet tunes.

Thanks to Joar Wæhle, Øyvind Festø and Torbjørn Sewati for putting together a great race. I will be back next year.

Mariann Sæther

Benjamin Hjort

Torkel Gjeraldstveit

Martin Vollen

Dag Sandvik

Mark skiing down to watch the freeski competition on Saturday