Explore Sweden is Back!

Rob Howard / 19.02.2008

The only Adventure Racing World Series race in Sweden and all of Northern Europe – Explore Sweden – is back. Explore Sweden 2008 will build on the successful formula and overwhelmingly positive feedback from AR World Series organiser Geoff Hunt and competitors from the Adventure Racing World Championship 2006 in Sweden/Norway.

The race will be held between September 5-10th in the High Coast Area and will be a 3-5 day non-stop race. Explore Sweden organisers Mikael & Helena Lindnord promise to bring strong race organization experience, an intense and exciting course, and great hospitality to Explore Sweden 2008.

The first Explore Sweden race was held in 2004 and was the first ever airborne race, where the racers were flown between three different destinations. The 2005 edition was a cold and blustery affair in the ski resort of Kittelfjäll. Teams carried crampons, ice axes, and skis and conquered frozen lakes and challenging conditions.

The following year, 2006, Explore Sweden was upgraded to the Adventure Racing World Championship. No teams have forgotten this memorable race: ARWC 2006 contained everything an adventure racer could dream of: kayak paddling in the North Atlantic alongside whales, glacier trekking with crampons on some of the biggest glaciers in Europe, challenging navigation, and some wet-and-wild canyoneering. The USA’s Team Nike were champions with Team Finland coming in second place.

Over 100 volunteers will be involved in Explore Sweden 2008 in the High Coast, helping to welcome foreign and Swedish teams and to direct the extensive media coverage. The local towns of Örnsköldsvik and Kramfors have also extended a warm welcome to all racers! The race will be 500 km with the following disciplines: orienteering/trekking, swimming, mountain bike, ropes, paddling, island traversing, coasteering, and inlines.

The entry fee is 25.000 SEK per team. Race director Mikael Lindnord has this to say about the race: “This will be a comeback for us since ARWC 2006. Although we have arranged, among others, the Swedish National Championship in Multisport, our efforts for Explore Sweden 2008 will be extremely demanding in order to ensure a high-calibre event. It has taken us some time to reload our batteries since ARWC 2006, but now we are excited to take on this massive planning effort.