Stories

The past week I have been focusing on studying and training slalom in the Olympic course in Augsburg, Germany. Slalomtraining is ideal to improve your technique and fitness, so I have teamed up with Arnd Schaeftlein and his friend Jakobus to get some real german structure into my paddling..  It is challenging of course, but also very exciting as I am improving every day.

Needless to say, the upstream gates are a challenge, and it is fascinating to watch the real good paddlers gracefully make their boats turn on a dime, never loosing focus on the next gate. One day I will get there as well!

This weekend is the german team-trials here in Augsburg, so there are many good people training on the course. Once in a while a freestyler plays in the Washing maschine as well, but honestly, I am having more fun in my slalomboat than getting trashed in the hole. In the end it is all good fun though, and I like that there are more than me that switch between the freestyle and slalom.

Yesterday was the warmest day of the season so far for me, with 25 degrees and a real german BBQ at the whitewater stadium. The sessions were followed by a photoshoot with Jens Klatt on a nearby lake, and good times with trying a stand up board for the first time. I don´t think it will ever be my main hobby, but it sure was entertaining.

Thanks to the Norwegian Paddling Federation which is supporting my slalomtraining, and also Sandline who is sponsoring me with slalom gear!

 

Mariann

 

The X2 compeititon being held in Volda/Ørsta on the westcoast of Norway is a multisport festival with extreme kayaking, skiing and mountainbiking.The kayakers were up first in the extremerace in Bygdelva, on Flemming Schmidts old backyard run. The waterleve was low, and despite fighting off a blizzard in the morning, thirty people showed up to race down to the finish line. Five women competed, which was awesome, since only one participated last year.

The course was low volume, and consisted of slides, technical rapids and a clean boof at the end. Not hard to get down, but definitely challenging to be racing on as it was hard to keep the lines clean through many of the rapids. Benjamin Hjort came out on top in the mens, followed by Martin Vollen and Dag Sandvik. Mark Basso from Canada raced into a fourth place, with Andy Philips close behind.

In the womens I snatched the lead in the first round, but messed up the bottom drop and lost a lot of seconds. Determined to improve by a lot I raced 7 seconds faster in second run, which combined put me in 6th place in the Men´s category. My second time was only 4 seconds behind Benjamin, so I was quite stoked on that. Michelle Basso paddled to second place, and Nini Bondhus snatched the third. Well done girls!

 

Highlight of the day was probably listening to the guy playing the fiddle on the side of the river while we paddled, and eating a local dish called “Balls in a bucket”… Yeah, don´t ask…

With low water in the area most kayakers got on their skiis on Saturday. This area of Norway is known as the “Alps of Norway”, and the scenery is notthing short of breathtaking. With the best skiers in Norway lining up for start on Saturday on a big face, we headed up for a good dose of pure entertainment. The finals were spectacular, with cliffs being hucked left and right. Two local heroes from my neck of the woods skiied to victory in Men´s alpine and Men´s telemark class; Torgrim Vole and Ove Nestvold. Nice one!

 

The party on Saturday night was pretty much unforgettable, and I can not wait to get back to this awesome festival next year. I might even try and do some competing in the skiing division, though only for pure fun.

 

info: www.x2ski.no

 

 

 

It has been a cold winter this year, and the spring is following in the same tracks. Last weekend we saw fresh powder in Voss again, hopefully for the last time this spring. All of last week I spent in my slalomboat, training on my home river Otta. Saturday it was time for a little adventure though, and eventhough the snow was in the air I put on Seljestadjuvet outside of Odda. I was spending the weekend with good friends at Norways biggest Freeride competition, and this sweet little class four canyon is tucked nicely in between the steep valleys half an hour away from the ski center. A good little outing. From saturday to sunday it dumped almost half a meter of powder in the mountains, so I opted out of kayaking and  I got on my skiis instead. The highlight was definitely trying to do my first sideflip (ending in awesome crashlanding and harsh laughter from the boys), and getting around on that 360. Yeah. 

The spring is slowly arriving, and after a week of kayaking in Voss I will be heading to the Ørsta X2 competition this weekend, a combined kayak and skifestival with a class four creek race to get busy on.

See you on the water!

Mariann

 

A few days into my Uganda trip I am thrilled to be in warm water and sunshine. Life is good, but almost time to head back home to spring time Norway for some excellent spring paddling. Oh yeah, and my exams…. See you on the water!