Explore Sweden - Airborne Again

Rob / 25.01.2005

Explore Sweden is back for a second Airborne Expedition race this May and entries are now open.

This unique race got off to a great start last year, with a world class field, flying between the archipelago on Sweden’s Baltic coast and the icy heights of the Arctic Circle.

Nokia Adventure were impressive winners in an uncompromising race, deserving of it’s World Championship status. (As winners they won a free place in the AR World Champs in New Zealand in November.)

Race Directors Michael Nordstrom and Helena Lind are promising 3 exciting new Swedish destinations. “Every destination is unique in altitude and environment and never been explored before in an adventure race,” said Nordstrom. “The disciplines are carefully and delicately chosen to match the course design.”

“The course will be 460km over 4 days, and the same simple rules apply; if the teams haven’t reached the flight in time, they’ll miss the plane and are out of the race! Without giving too much away the course will include coasteering in a spectacular archipelago, canoeing on beautiful creeks and lakes, several rope stages, mountain biking, trekking, inline skating and a repeat of last year’s great success, the mountaineering section. This will be even better this year with a new mountain range, spectacular terrain and skiing for faster progress.”

There are only 25 places available for this unique race, which attracts teams from all over the world, and all the details are on the 2005 website at www.exploresweden.se. The race dates are May 15-20th and the entry fee is 4,500 Euros – flights included! There is a 25,000 Euro prize pool, and as a member of the AR World Series, postions will count towards qualification for the 2006 World Champs … wherever that might be! The winners will again claim a free place.

[You can see our live reports from last year’s race and some truly spectacular photo galleries here. Once you see the you’ll want to go this year!]