Northern Norway!

So the final part in the brilliant Summer we all had this Summer was a fantastic trip up North to the Arctic Circle with Finn, Tom, Nick, Jasper, Tebb and Sarah. This is my third season in Norway and I have been planning on making this trip happen for some time.

Sizing up a drop on the Susna, Photo Sarah Tebb (ST)

We had heard stories of and read about amazing regions as good and better than all of the southern regions. But a trip to the north doesn't come easy. It's a very long way! First stop was Hatfjeldal, a beautiful region with some spectacular rivers, one that stands out as a real treat was the Susna, a run comparable to the Rauma with clean, big, fun drops around every bend!

Put in rapid on the Susna (ST)

After paddling a few other rivers in the area and camping in some of the most amazing places I have ever seen we decided to move on, further North. We paddled some nice runs on our way, the names of which escape me now but were largely top quality grade 4 joy rides.

Dusj Boof on the Susna - one of the most fun drops in the whole of Norway! Photo Finn Burrows

Finn sending Dusj Boof!

We decided to do a little exploring and moved to a region called Beiarn. The river Beiarn is extremely famous for its salmon fishing but little is known about the area's paddling potential. We can safely say that it is a fantastic area to explore. There is a huge mix of paddling in a very small area. We paddled a few runs in the area, some of which could have done with different water levels, the Beiarn in particular is a very committing run that requires low flows. The Tverorga was a stunning narrow gorge with classic Norwegian slides, and we clocked the first run down it!

Finn enters the big slide on the Tverorga

Tom Parker on the same slide, this really is big, and faster than you might think!

The exit of the Tverorga gorge, through a small crack in the cliff... paddle towards the light!

Checking out the maps - the search begins (ST)

There's never a bad view in Norway! (ST)

Setting up camp... (ST)

A spectacular boat - no problems all season and the plastic is still going strong after a lot of abuse!

On the Drive home, myself, Finn and Jasper  stopped off at the Lundselva for a run down what has to be one of the best runs I've ever paddled. A gripping section with a variety of drops ranging from tricky boulder gardens to huge slides!

One of the last few drops on the Lundselva.

Moving further south we stopped for a cheeky huck on the famous tourist attraction Laksforsen (salmon falls). This fall is unique, the lead in is a 150m long grade 4/5 rapid followed by a sizable 10m drop at the end. There were no takers for the main line and the whole lead in so I took a nice chicken line on the left where the fall is steepest, What a way to finish off an amazing Summer of boating!

My run down laksforsen -this waterfall is a true feat of nature! photo from video still - Jasper Polak

Well that's all the updates from my summer, stay tuned for the video:

http://vimeo.com/27763643

Thanks to: Zet Kayaks