After a few months of cold temperatures and short days, April is finally bringing the best of what snow kiting can offer to the Norwegian mountains. The days are longer, the sun is finally giving away some heat again – and hundreds of kiters can be seen daily along the Hardangervidda mountain plateau along R7 highway between Oslo and Bergen , the two major Norwegian cities. Mid April is also the peak season for snow kiting competitions, and the most prestigious of them all is the Red Bull Ragnarok.
For kite surfers Camilla Ringvold and Linn Jorstad, the winter is great practice for their summer season. “Tricks are a bit harder to pull off dressed in winter clothes, the snow is heavier than water and so is our snowboard and skis”, says Camilla
The girls won each of their class in this year Red Bull Ragnarok, where 250 snowkiters compete in one big battle – 5 laps of 10km, in difficult terrain and various wind conditions. The race lasts for 5 hours, and if you haven’t finished by then, your laps and checkpoints will count. Just finishing this race is a win in itself, and less than half of the competitors do just that.
This year, the conditions wore really light – and some of the worlds best kiters on water really struggled in the snow in the light winds.
“I think it’s the first and only time I will beat Nick Jacobsen, Kevin Langeree and Steph Bridge in any competition – but it was a lot of fun! I think I had some advantages coming from the Enable Passion HTC Atlantic Kite Challenge in December – www.enablepassion.com – we had a lot of light winds across the Atlantic which for sure gained me some good experience that I could use during this competition!”
This race is really not about winning, just participating is a great experience. It’s so cool to have kiters from all over the world come here to compete and party.
Even though there is a girl’s class – we all compete on the same level. One start, which is the most exciting of it all – and we race around until we can hardly stand on our feet anymore.
Camilla Ringvold placed 21 in total of the 250 competitors, finishing all 5 laps in 3 hours and 40 minutes. Linn Jorstad placed 42 in total, finishing 4 laps and 5 gates after 5 hours.
Author: Camilla Ringvold
Photos: Håkon Mæland
