Red Bull Ragnarok 2016

[m.klinge]

It's time again (soon) to sign up next years Red Bull Ragnarok :-)

http://www.redbull.com/no/no/snow/stories/1331760114646/prepare-to-be-blown-away

Oh look my Peter Lynn Charger is in the frame :-D

My video from this years event:
https://vimeo.com/135031204

//M

[jhn.holgate]

350 Snowkiters??  Yeeoowzers!  Would we have 350 land kiters in the entire country?

[m.klinge]

Haha we for sure don't have it here in Denmark - perhaps 50-60 being a bit optimistic :-)

There was 350 spots this year as well - required a bit of concentration to navigate (As you might see in my video) :-D

//M

Edited November 18, 2015 by m.klinge

[windstruck]

That picture (and the whole event really) just blows me away!  I just don't see how there don't end up being kite wraps with each other every once in a while.  I see in my imagination two kites getting twisted up and going into some 500 spin dual death spiral until their lines are completely intertwined!

[m.klinge]

That picture (and the whole event really) just blows me away!  I just don't see how there don't end up being kite wraps with each other every once in a while.  I see in my imagination two kites getting twisted up and going into some 500 spin dual death spiral until their lines are completely intertwined!

Haha well that kinda happens as well :-)

As you can see in my video another kiter dropped his right in my lines going up the first hill :-)

//M 

[m.klinge]

I'm two days time I'll be leaving for Norway to take part in Ragnarok once more :-) 

This time around I'll be bringing my Flysurfer Speed 4 15 meter and Speed 5 9 meter and determination to complete all the laps.

This must be the year!

//M

[SoutherlyBuster]

Woo hoo. Good luck //MM! You have a great quiver, take it you will not be lending them out this time? Keep the cam rolling. Did you get a chance to get some practice in with the snow boarding? Ha ha, it will be my time to learning snow boarding this year, now that I live 1.5 hours away from the snow fields.

[m.klinge]

10 hours ago, SoutherlyBuster said:

Woo hoo. Good luck //MM! You have a great quiver, take it you will not be lending them out this time? Keep the cam rolling. Did you get a chance to get some practice in with the snow boarding? Ha ha, it will be my time to learning snow boarding this year, now that I live 1.5 hours away from the snow fields.

Haha yea I'm planning in keeping them to myself this time around :-) 

I will be filming the event using the stuntmancameramounts, most properly mounted in the hip, video to come. If you're really eager to follow me pop by my Facebook page (facebook.com/powerkiterdotdk) :-) 

Haven't really had much snow this winter, so I'll just do it in the (very scarce) routine - not unlike the other years :-D

//M

[plummet]

Well? how'd you go?

[m.klinge]

11 hours ago, plummet said:

Well? how'd you go?

It was some really hard conditions this year. We had everything from 0 (Yes completely zero) knots to 20-ish knots. Sunshine and whiteout as well.

I had a bit of trouble with trimming my speed 4 15 meter after replacing the depower strap on the beach before leaving for the race. As such the kite wasn't perfect for the conditions to say the least, but I made it work.

I managed to finish 2 laps and 3 gates (Out of 5) - so basically half the entire race. Which landed me at a position 91 out of 131 in mens skies class. Once more my lack of skiing abillities was a drawback for me, but I'm getting better every year :-)

I've attached a few pictures to show the mood prior to racestart :-)

All in all I'm quite happy with my result, I'm by no measure a race kiter let alone a snowkiter, so it's not about the placement for me. Though I wuld like to finish all 5 laps next year :-D

//M

[plummet]

Sounds challenging.

This is one of the things I have on my bucket list to do. To be honest I doubt I will ever do it. Simply because the logistics and cost is overwhelmingly prohibitive. Perhaps when my  kids have left home in 10+ years and I have some spare funds to spuriously travel around the world it could be considered as part of an existing holiday.

Side note. Being a landboarder wouldn't a snowboard be a closer representation of the landboard?  Why snow kite on a snowboard?

 

 

[m.klinge]

5 minutes ago, plummet said:

Sounds challenging.

This is one of the things I have on my bucket list to do. To be honest I doubt I will ever do it. Simply because the logistics and cost is overwhelmingly prohibitive. Perhaps when my  kids have left home in 10+ years and I have some spare funds to spuriously travel around the world it could be considered as part of an existing holiday.

Side note. Being a landboarder wouldn't a snowboard be a closer representation of the landboard?  Why snow kite on a snowboard?

 

 

Heh yeah I can see why that would be quite expensive for you down there :-)

Being both a kiteboarder and landboarder snowboard would seem like the best choice - but the snow is often very icy (No chance of finde much powder and the track) and the wind is often very light, so snowboards are actually more complicated to ride compared to skies. They're also much harder on the knees due to the conditions - but if the conditions was ideal I would go for a snowboard.

Actually I did go out on the snowboard the day after the race :-)

This year 22 out of 350 kiters did the 5 laps within the cutoff time - so yeah quite challanging :-)

 

//M

 

 

[bakersdozen]

Good on you and we love to read about your adventures. Next year you will do better and the year after better again 

[windstruck]

10 minutes ago, bakersdozen said:

Good on you and we love to read about your adventures. Next year you will do better and the year after better again 

I'm going to second this emotion, good on ya!  Just entering this event is a heck of a feat unto itself. I've done a couple of weeks of Nordic skiing in remote high alpine terrain in Norway and can attest to the extreme conditions you can face up there. But what a space!  I did this skiing nearly 40 years ago and would love to return for some Snowkiting, that would be a dream come true. 

[igeighty]

a few photos from the ragnarok, these are from google images.

amazing to see so many kites in such an event.

 

 

[jhn.holgate]

Seeing that many kites anywhere is just mind boggling.

[m.klinge]

Thanks guys :-) 

There's more official pictures in www.redbullragnarok.com :-) 

//M

[andy666]

Looks epic.

everyone seems to spread out soon after the start, how big is the course?

[SoutherlyBuster]

Thanks for sharing the story and buzz //M .(I'm taking notes regarding skiis versus snowboard )

[m.klinge]

8 hours ago, andy666 said:

Looks epic.

everyone seems to spread out soon after the start, how big is the course?

The field it's made of people with very little snowkite experience to top snowkiters add in freestyle kites and light wind - yeah within a 15 minutes from starr the 350 kiters are scattered all over the course :-) 

It's usually a 20 km roundtrip in a direct line between the gates. This year the course was crossing itself making it seem (and feel) even more chaotic :-) 

//M

[plummet]

Man. I think its busy when we race 10 buggies. If all the moons of Saturn and Jupiter align one day I may attend as one of "very little snowkite experience" guys.

[m.klinge]

3 minutes ago, plummet said:

Man. I think its busy when we race 10 buggies. If all the moons of Saturn and Jupiter align one day I may attend as one of "very little snowkite experience" guys.

Haha yeah it kinda puts things a bit in perspective :-) 

If you do, don't worry last year there was a few participants without any kiting experience just a week prior to the race :-D

It's like even if you feel you're doing bad you most properly still have like 10-15 guys and girls behind you - as long as you cross the start line :-) 

//M

[jhn.holgate]