Two hundred kilometers, 23 hours and 21 seconds after start Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet once again became part of the history books as the last skier crossed the finish line at 5am on Monday morning. 330 participants made it to start – a nice mix of world cup elite, competitive skiers in hunt of new challenges and amateurs hungry for adventure. Together they stood for an enormous achievement when they skied from Purkijaur outside of Jokkmokk to the turning point in Granudden and then back to Jokkmokks skidstadium. Most of them from early morning to late evening, some almost for a full 24h’s.
Fastest in the race was John Kristian Dahl who managed the amazing feat of skiing 200km’s in 8 hours, 35 minutes and 17 seconds. Almost as big of a feat was performed by Mats Morell. Only one month before his 80th birthday he fought his way trough the track with a time of 23 hours, 0 minutes and 21 seconds. An impressive physical feat considering he skied constantly trough daylight and darkness, three times as long as the winner! He passed the finish line shortly after 5am on monday morning. On the women’s side we got to see fantastic achievements by Lina Korsgren and Britta Johansson Norgren who kept up with the men’s speed for 100km’s and then fought head to head over the finish line. Lina Korsgren pulled the longest straw and managed to win with 10 seconds to spare when she crossed the finish line with a time of 9 hours, 23 minutes and 55 seconds.
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Another amazing achievement was performed by Paralympics- and WC-winner Anders Olsson. He did the race with a sitski at a time of 16 hours and 11 minutes. The participation was the result of his son celebrating him turning 50 (whom also joined the race). When asked what the race was like, Anders replied ”It was awful. The absolute worst I’ve ever done. I can understand why you call it the toughest ski race in the world” with a tired smile after finishing.
Along the track the skiers met 450 officials who handed out 3,500 bananas and 2’300 liters of fluid to the frisky, tired, fast and slow skiers in the track. Some 10 broken poles were exchanged and approximately 180 pair of skis where waxed on average 2-3 times. When night came fires were lit and tired skiers could exhale for a while wile changing their socks and warming up. At the finish in Jokkmokk persevering spectators and staff waited until 5am in the morning to meet the contestants when they passed the 200km mark. Between the first and the last finisher 14 hours and 25 minutes had passed. The amount of cheers and applauds during that time is far to great for us to even guess on.
Of the 330 who made it to start, 321 participants managed to ski the race under 20 hours and got to go home with Pavva-Lasses medal. Only 6 had to cancel, a fantastically low number given the tough distance. Some 50 skiers didn’t make it to start due to injurys and sickness. Perhaps some overslept the early start. The good news is they get another chance when the Red Bull Nordenskiöldsloppet race return next year!
That the race could be held at all was of great relief to both the organisation and the skiers. As shortly as nine days before the start conditions looked grim. The mildest weather in 70 years had made it impossible to run the track over the ice of the Luleälven lakes and the entire track had to be adjusted. An incredible engagement made it possible despite a lack of time and entirely new conditions. Where the new track lost length, it gained height in the form of 550 extra height meters and many participants found the new track to be at least as interesting as the original. Perhaps even better?
The organizer behind the race, Wolfgang Mehl, is excited after the weekends race and sends a huge thank you to all the officials and partners. He is immensely proud over the effort pulled of by the entire Jokkmokk region and thought it was really cool to see the last skiers fight their way trough the tracks of Talvati in the middle of the night.
The race’s sports manager, Daniel Tynell, was also happy with the race.
“I’m so impressed about how the skiers took on this challenge. That the leading pack would ski so fast I never imagined. And for the women to keep up with the men’s speed for 100km’s! Amazing! To top it off, nearly all skiers made it to the finish. All hours before the maximum time. What amazing achievements! As the sportive manager I’m also happy the track and snow conditions held up so well” says Daniel.
With the race back in the history books after 132 years of resting, everyone is excited for next year. With all the amazing experiences from the track still fresh in the memory the interest for the 2017 registration is big. The registration will open shortly, and soon we will publish a full photo gallery and a recap video from the race. So make sure to visit this page again soon to not miss out!
