Tromsø Skyrace Experience
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Ruairí Long | Aug 10 2018, 2:43pm | Hi Everyone, A group of us from UCDAC headed to Tromsø to run the Tromsø Skyrace, and I thought a race/ experience report would be welcome here. Enjoy. I'd love for this report to be spread around as this event is something special. Trying to describe the Tromsø Skyrace without using words like “insane”, “incredible” and “intense” is tricky, as the scale and sheer madness of the event is frankly unbelievable. However, it is an event that is defined by understatement. The men and women who take part don’t think too highly of themselves, despite levels of fitness, experience and confidence that one cannot but aspire to. Furthermore, the Tromsø Skyrace is the brainchild of the king of understatement, Kilian Jornet. The man who has run up and down Everest in 26 hours and smashed every Fastest Known Time (FKT) from the Bob Graham Round to Denali even admits that parts of his race require care. Tromsø itself is the spiritual home of Skyrunning, a discipline that blends alpinism and mountain running into a racing format. A Skyrace, as defined by the Skyrunning World Series, is a solo, unsupported running race that requires a minimum of 2000m of vertical climb over a minimum of 20 km. These very loose requirements have led to spin off events, like Vertical Kilometres (VKs), and Sky Ultras. These races require mountains and trails of a size and rawness available in only small corners of the world. For the group of UCD Athletics runners, good friends, I joined in Tromsø; the hills south of Dublin seemed far away. Tromsø Skyrace is the title of not just one event but a series of races that take place over the same weekend in the city far into the north of fabulous Norway. After pouring over videos and articles about the weekend, we decided the big event; the Hamperokken 55k Skyrace, with its long, exposed ridge was not for first timers and instead entered the Tromdalstind 33k. Little did we know that the not so short “short” race would still be plenty to chew, taking in casual peaks higher than Carrauntoohil. Throughout the race, what is ever present is the scenery. Tromsø seems to cling onto existence on an island dwarfed by the mountains and fjords that surround it. Constantly visible are peaks that rise straight out of deep, clear fjords, great mounds of rock and ice carved by glaciers which appear to have disappeared only yesterday. It was inspiring; clichés are the only ways left to grasp the backdrop. Despite oxygen deficiency, muscle cramps and misty cloud, I couldn’t help but allow the feeling of pure ecstasy take over. Never have I felt so alive while actively competing, realising that the mountains were allowing us to sample their best, but also most grim gifts. It’s clear the experience was remarkable, but what of the racing itself? The entire event is permeated by a general sense of friendliness, an understating that everyone is there out of passion for mountains and running and self-discovery. This seems romantic until one sees the images of the winners sharing smiles instead of elbows. Everyone is so supportive. Moving up the first steep climb out of Tromsø itself, the group urged each other on, with effort being quickly rewarded by praise over the steep but runnable trails. As we emerged onto the open mountainside, the route of the race revealed itself rock by rock, metre by metre. Steep climbs were rewarded by flowing traverses, and at one point a beautifully fast descent down winding trails. Suddenly, the main peak of our race, Tromdalstind, loomed, cloud covered, a mass of scree. Glancing around at the few in my group that remained around, we began what would be a long march into the clouds, towards what I would find to be the toughest section of the race. In retrospect, the clouds and mist that covered Tromdalstind were a god send, as the constant supply of false tops and slick rock that waited above would have shook any newcomer. But for me, the top was not the watershed moment of the race. Usually the top of a mountain race means a fun, fast descent to the end. But the wet, endless, steep rock that lingered below found my comfort zone and smashed it. I simply couldn’t handle it, partly due to almost an hour and a half of tough uphill. It was a hellish fifteen minutes of cursing, crawling and cowering. However, as I eventually got past the rocks, having been passed by at least 15 runners, the clouds opened up, and the vista that revealed itself brought me back into it. The final kilometre off Tromdalstind itself dropped with a decline steeper than anything before, with the only way being corners carved into the hill. Strava tells me it was 262 metres of down over one kilometre, simply eye watering stuff. With my eyes firmly set on the last runner who went skimming past, I was about to hit the finest five kilometres I have ever run. The traverse along the slopes of the mountain was heavenly. The trail was soft, disrupted occasionally by cold, clear river crossings. A gradual downhill allowed the legs to open up, and the pure joy and freedom of mountain running never felt as close. An absolute highlight. The remainder of the race once this joyous downhill traverse is a slight blur. The final climb back to the aid station was long, but I still felt fine. Tough was the final 350m of downhill back into Tromsø, nothing too crazy after Tromdalstind, but hard on the quads. I was happy to finish in 22nd on my Skyrunning debut, about 35 mins down on the leaders. I have to give a special mention to the fantastic group who ran or supported alongside me, as well as to all the volunteers who kept us safe and on the right path. I’m looking forward to continuing my mountain running journey, even if local IMRA races will feel slightly like a parkrun. |
| Keith Mulvey | Aug 11 2018, 8:21pm | Well done Ruairi and co. Great write-up and you summed up Trimdalstind perfectly. I was there in 2016 and attempted the long race but DNF’d at the checkpoint after Hamperooken having been running for 12 hours! Despite that it was still the best (and white-knuckled) mountain running experience that I have ever had. Completely beaten up and shredded by the two climbs. Brutal but beautiful! |
| Alan Ayling | Aug 11 2018, 11:04pm | Cracking report Ruairi! Thanks for putting that up. You even managed to get the forum to handle that little dash through the o thingy in Tromso... :-) |
