Bjorn Daehlie To Compete in 160 km Arctic Circle Race

The landscape of Sisimiut
No doubt that spectacular Arctic landscape makes Arctic Circle Race unique. The high mountains, the deep fjords, the naked landscape without trees, the changes in temperatures from pleasant warmness in the sun during daytime to sometimes down to minus 30 Celsius degrees in the night; and the unpredictable.

It is the unpredictable Greenlandic weather which they last two years have given the paople behind ACR grey hear. After having perfect weather before and during the race for 4 years in a row from 1999-2002, the preparations for the last two years have been very difficult as a consequence of the weather. Last year the camp had to be moved because of the lack of snow and ice. However, during the race the sun shinned from a cloudless sky.

This year Arctic Circle Race hopes for a repetition, since the preparations for this year have been as problematic as last year. Again it is the weather which teases ACR. Warm weather and a huge rainfall in end of February followed by stabile frost has made the snow very hard.

First that meant that ACR had to place the camp the same place as last year, since the fjord didn’t freeze. Secondly the hard snow has meant that the preparation machines have had several break-downs. The ski center of the municipality of Sisimiut which takes care of heavy transport and track making fights a fierce battle right now to get ready in time. The fight is taking place 24 hours a day.

The exiting tracks
The tracks for the first and second day for this year’s race are basically ready, but there are still some problems with the second day. After having the same tracks for the first 4 years Arctic Circle Race has since 2001 always changed the tracks every year. Partly because of the weather, partly as a wish to give the participants new experiences of the Greenlandic landscape, since many come back year after year.

This year the first racing day will give the participants the opportunity to see to two new areas which they haven’t been able to see with skis during ACR. From Sisimiut town the track goes out to the future of Sisimiut: the coming Akia. Here after the tracks take the racers up to the viewpoint over the Amerdloq-fjord, where there also is a spectacular view down on the now closed village of Assagutaq before the racers get to the camp. This day the racers will get an extraordinary experience of the present, future and past of Sisimiut.

Development
It is not only the tracks which change in ACR. Or the names of the participants for that matter. In 2001 MIKI ACR came along, and since then the children has had the possibility to get a feeling of the real ACR-atmosphere by participating in the MIKI ACR. This year Sander and Sivert Dæhlie are participating when the start goes on Saturday at 2 PM.

Another newcomer came in 2002 with the ½ACR — a race of 80 km — which this year has become ACR-100 — a race of … 100 km. This means that racers can participate in ACR in all age groups and this year the youngest is 15 and the oldest 70 years old.

This year ACR has in cooperation with Air Greenland and local tourist operators given the participants another possibility. Now it is possible to come a week before ACR or stay a week longer to experience the wonders of Sisimiut and Greenland. 3 Englishmen are right now up on the Aqqutikitsoq-glacier, where they do some randonnée ski. 

The volunteers 
The 3 Englishmen are not the only participants who arrived in Sisimiut a week before the ACR-week. Klaus Jeckel of Germany has arrived a week before to help building the camp. Klaus is participating for the 5th time in ACR, and he loves the feeling among the volunteers that he just had to come and be part of that.

No doubt that the volunteers are the soul of the race. Again this year around 150 volunteers have worked hard to make it possible, and all 150 will be ready when the start takes place on Friday. They are making Arctic Circle Race “the best ski race in the world” — to cite Klaus Jeckel. 

http://www.greenland-guide.gl/acr/default.htm

Source: Arctic Circle Race website