Arctic surf-expedition workshop

Arrival in Kirkenes or Vadsø airport with transfer to our already established camp in the arctic tundra. The fire is roaring, the lavvo is warm and the stew is simmering on the fire. We talk around the fire about the “Varanger Vibe” that sets this place apart from any other surf destination in the world. As with any night, if we’re lucky we’ll get a Northern Lights explosion right over our heads.

You wake up to the sound of our hooting. We surf a lot in the dark, so we may be out in the lineup long before the sun comes up. Once you’re surfed out, you’ll come back to camp to some warm porridge. We set up the lavvo like a classroom and start our course focusing first on learning the basics of emergency medical response in remote, resource-limited locations. When the tide is right, we go out for another surf - given that there’s usually a few spots in walking distance, everyone gets a wave to their pleasing. In the afternoon-evening, we simulate some surf-specific emergencies. We practice in the water, introducing some rescue techniques. Our local-expert notices some signs through the evening that the low-pressure system isn’t acting quite like forecasted. He prepares us for an early wake-up.

The waves are thumping, but the wind isn’t quite right. We need to move. Team effort makes the pack-down go quick. At the same time, our guide is coordinating transport. We take the van to the closest harbor, where a local captain is idling in his motorboat. Within the hour we’re boating up to an entirely new landscape on the opposite side of the fjord. Our medic is the first to lose his mind when he sees the right cranking down the point. After a marathon session, the tide gets a little full. We use this opportunity to teach the wilderness survival element of our course: we build a roaring fire, collect water and set up the lavvos and tarps - in no time we’re living in comfort with a view of a wave that’s never been surfed before us. Our guide has brought some maps with him and explains some hard-earned tricks he’s learned for swell forecasting up here, specifically explaining the factors that went into his decision-making today.

We spend the entire day in our newfound arctic paradise. Between surfs, we hold different workshops, diving deeper into some skills essential to surf exploring. We practice more skills essential to surviving a true arctic storm, we talk in-depth about the common sports-injuries related to surfing and we run scenarios to drill bleeding-control, wound-closure and bandaging. In the evening, our instructors trade-off telling stories from a life of surf-travel, sharing lessons learned the hard way in Central America, Africa and South-East Asia.

We split into 2 groups, most staying to surf the still-fun waves at camp, while a few of us pack up to explore what’s around the next point. A check around the first corner, leads to a further search around the next one, which leads to… well, you know the drill. That crew comes back later than expected, but the timing still lines up with our boatman who shows up flat on the minute we agreed upon, in true Norwegian style. On the boat ride back, we make some plans: we coordinate rides for the guys going back to the airport and we make sleeping arrangements for the guys who cancelled their flights and called-in sick. We’ll see where the low-pressures take us tomorrow.