No Wolf Mountain Challenge In An Olympic Year — It’s Too Tough

FasterSkier · May 22, 2005

Source: Langrenn.com — Translated by Torbjorn Karlsen

Last years two-person marathon mountain challenge up Ulvskollen/Wolf Mountain in Skien, Norway became an extreme physical strain for Erling Jevne, Odd-Bjorn Hjelmset, Anders Aukland and the other racers. The race will not be run this summer, it’s an Olympic year. But the organizers have a new interesting concept planned for the summer of 2006.

To read about last years race see Fasterskier.com archive articles:
Top Skiers In Summer Challenge At Wolf Mountain http://www.fasterskier.com/racing1104.html
Hjelmeset and Aukland Favorites To Win Wolf Mountain Double Marathon http://www.fasterskier.com/racing1239.html
Aukland And Hjelmeset Win On Wolf Mountain http://www.fasterskier.com/racing1240.html
Wolf Mountain Nightmare For Swedes http://www.fasterskier.com/racing1244.html

The race was originally about seeing how many times you could run up and down the mountain in a 24-hour period. Each trip is three kilometers up and three down for a total of six kilometers.
Last years challenge was a two-person, skiers-only challenge where each athlete ran the length of a full marathon with tag-offs after each trip to the top. The total vertical was 2500 meter for each athlete.

– It became too tough for them; several were not able to train the following week and had to skip other things as well. Some of them could only kayak for a while. Going up is tough, but it’s going down that gets you, says the organizer and the man that has run to the top 1000 times in one year, Tore Hansen.

His idea for next years race to let teams of three skiers run against one man. He is not revealing who this man will be, but it’s supposed to be a top international runner. He is however saying that he knows the outcome of the race.

– The skier will have no chance against this man, says Hansen

Editors note: three against one in terrain including up and downhills. Our money will be on the skiers.