Bergebyløpet N70 2022 - Qualifying for Finnmarksløpet

Rune, Ida-Helene and the team at Checkpoint Nyborg. Photo: Brynjar Skartland Media

Corona was peaking in Norway in the months after Christmas. Several races were cancelled or run as homerun races. We were very uncertain about beeing able to qualify for Finnmarksløpet with both our local race, Troms Quest, and also Beaskádas (outside Alta) cancelled this year. Bergebyløpet N70 was our only chance to make Ida-Helene´s dream of entering Finnmarksløpet come through. 

Bergebyløpet N70 is a long-distance sled dog race in the North of Varanger in Finnmark Norway. The race is organized by mushers for mushers with a history back to 2003. It runs from Masjok in the west to Krampenes in the east, via Tana, Nesseby and Vadsø. This is the only sled-dog race in the world run entirely above 70 degrees north on a par with the Bering Strait and Nome in Alaska. 

I had teaching at work during the week of the race and could not go - so my husband Rune stepped in on short notice and drove the long way up to Varanger on a 5-day expedition Feb 8-13 with Ida-Helene to help out with the race. 

Ida-Helene completed the 240 km with all eight dogs and came in as number 12 out of 16 starting teams - two of them scratching the race. In our team was our Siberian huskies (Skádja, Nova, Lala and Chloe) and four Alaskans from Gisle Mjaatvedt (Zelda, Luna, Lakris and Rafael). Total time on the trail including rest on checkpoints was about 30 hours. 

Ida-Helene did an amazing job and completed with all 8 dogs in the team. The nature was simply breathtaking, and they experienced everything between snow storms, northern lights, moonlight, extreme cold temperatures (-30 degrees Celsius), sun and blue sky.

From START (Isveien) to Nyborg 1 (92 km)

Dept Feb 11 in the evening 20:50 

Arr at CP Nyborg 1 Feb 04:54

Time on trail 8 h 4 min

Average speed 11.4 km/h

Stop at CP for 5 h 34 min

The teams started out last of all the teams under the northern lights. The dogs kept a good speed and evening turned to night. Climbing the technically advanced Masjok-round trail, Ida-Helene got immensely tired and fought to stay awake, falling asleep several times on the sled. Weather turned into a snow blizzard with heavy winds on the mountain. All she could see in the light from her headlight was the snow and barely the trail. She lost the trail at some point, fell off the trail sideways with the sled and face down in the snow, standing in snow to her hip. She managed to flip the heavy sled up again and continue, but lost the balance due to ice on the trails and the steep downhills - and hit some trees on the way resulting in several bruises. The trail continued on the Tana River, over the mountain Seidafjellet and she got in to checkpoint Nyborg 1 early in the morning where she took a rest and got 2 hours of of sleep sitting in the car. 

There are rearly any photos of the support team - but here he is: Ida-Helenes one and only superhandler during Bergebyløpet. This was Rune’s first time as a handler on a long distance sleddog race - he totally nailed it (of course !) - and is considering a part time job as a handler in the future. Photo: Bergebyløpet N70.

From Nyborg 1 to Nyborg 2 (55 km)

Dept from Nyborg 1 Feb 12 in the morning 10:28

Arr at Nyborg 2 Feb mid day 14:31

Time on trail 4 h 21 min

Average speed 13.6 km/h

Stop at CP for 3 h 51 min

Ida-Helene woke up to sun and a beautiful weather after a short nap, leaving checkpoint at 10:28 with temperatures having dropped to around minus 20 degrees Celsius and a truly winter wonderland. The dogs kept good speed speed at around 14,4 km/h according to her GPS. But due to snacking the dogs and removing some booties average speed on the trail was a bit below this. 

Ida-Helene with Skádja and Nova just before leaving CP Nyborg 2

They met lots of dog teams on the trail greeting them with high fives and “happy trails”, motivating her as well as the dogs. She switched leaders parts of the trail, to give the dogs some extra boost as they really succeeded and did so well passing the other teams. Our team - with several young dogs - has had some bad experiences meeting tourist teams at home, so she was glad to see that they had overcome these previous experiences, and were building confidence in the meeting with other teams on the trail.

They went much faster than planned,  despite hitting the breaks all the way. The dogs had good appetite, good spirit and did not have time to stop enjoying the race and having such a good time. They passed some happy skiers and cabin owners that stopped and waved at them and shouted “Good luck and have fun!”

From Nyborg 2 to Tana Hotel / the finish line (89 km)

Dept from Nyborg 2 Feb 12 in the afternoon 18:22

Arr at Tana Hotel Feb 13 just past midnight 01:23 

Time on trail 7 h 21 min

Average speed 12.7 km/h

Ida-Helene ate some dried reindeer meat before getting about half an hours sleep in the car. Leaving checkpoint in the early morning in wonderful moonlight and northern lights, so much she did not have to use her headlight for the first 20 km. It was totally epic and the dogs were so excited, trotting at about 14 km/h. They were really motivated and it was such a blessing standing on the sled with them listening to beautiful songs from her Spotify playlist. 

In just a blink of an eye they had crossed the mountain and was at the Tana River under the most spectacular northern lights heading towards Masjok in an effortless trot and ready to do the second round in the mountain - just the opposite way. 

They met lots of other dog teams heads on that were heading for the finish line, passing them on super narrow trails in the forest. They also met some moose and Ida-Helene was happy that the other mushers stopped to tell her if there was danger further up the trail, such as moose or other things to be aware of.

The dogs got more and more tired as they slowly climbed the mountain in Masjok. Ida-Helene had to run and push the sled to help, snacking the dogs more frequently, encouraging them and praised them a lot, and taking short breaks every now and then until they reached the top. The northern lights followed the team and lighted up the starry night. It felt like a never ending way as she was starting to get tired and it was still around -30 degrees Celsius and winds. 

After some difficult downhills from the mountain on narrow trails in the forest, they got back onto the river again. Ida-Helene has a terrible moose anxiety and felt the dark creeping up on her, so tired she started to hallucinate. She decided that music wasn’t enough and started talking to the moose, to let them know she and the dogs were there. 

The river had lots of curves and it was impossible to get a good overview of the trail ahead. They saw lots of fresh tracks and the dogs had a nice effortless speed and slid through the landscape.

 
Back down at the Tana River she snacked the dogs and they really surprised her with their motivation and slowly got closer to another team. Getting closer to “No Man’s Land” she figured that if the dogs had energy to canter they could try to pass the other team - and so they did!! They cantered for 800 meters and then slowed down to a nice and easy trot, continuing into the finish line at 1:23 AM with happy dogs and one very happy musher having completed her first official long distance race. 

She got so many comments on how good the team was looking, and even though they are medium sized dogs, they were such pocket rockets literally running their socks off!

Ida-Helene and the team just crossed the finish line and have completed Bergebyløpet! Happy tears!

Thanks from Ida-Helene

• A BIG thanks to Gisle Mjaatvedt for being a mentor, as well as lending me 4 of your Alaskan Huskies Luna, Zelda, Lakris & Rafael to complete my 8 dog team this season. 
• A special thanks to Rune who stepped in as a handler on Bergebyløpet and really nailed it. It is always good to have a handler that knows you well both in good and bad days, and you have helped me a lot with the dogs and driving the days ahead and after the race. It means a lot that you wanted to come with me to the race. Me and the dogs appreciate it a lot! 
• Mailin Jerijervi for being just a phone call away 24/7 and answering all my weird questions about everything. It has been really helpful and I appreciate it SO much. 
• Tore Albrigtsen for being a mentor, as well and for lending me some neat equipment for the race. 
• Karin Bergbjørn for always answering my questions and giving some handy tips about mushing. 
• Henriette Karlsen Brenna for lending me some wrist warmers for the dogs if needed on the checkpoints. 
• Jan Ivvár Smuk for giving me some amazing snacking for the race. dried reindeer meat from the area. It was perfect for gaining energy on the sled/ checkpoint. 
• Anneli Lauknes/ Optimal Hund for always checking our dogs if necessary with a proper massage or laser. 
• Renate Strugstad Paulsen / Pets Tromsø Dyrebutikk for giving me good tips about mushing as well as for super quick and fast delivery on meat ordered from Vom & Hundemat to the dogs. 
• DogVitality for an amazing cooperation and the best supplementary feed for the dogs including digestive- intestinal support powder and omega 3 and B- vitamins oils which the dogs get every day in their meals. They have healthy paws - only using booties when necessary, good fur, and and no dogs had diarrhea at the race.
• Virbac Veterinary HPM the best kibbles and we are so happy to have you on team with us. 
• Simon In-Albon/ BEWE Sleds for quick delivery with necessary sled equipment for a successful race, as I needed the space which the extra sled bags provided. 
• Diplom-Is for giving me plastic ice cream boxes which I needed for the meat soup at checkpoints. 
• Vigdis Børset Rædergård and co at AniCura Dyresykehuset Tromsø for the best service, for always being there to squeeze in our dogs on a short notice if something happens. 
• Vet Sleddog Sergio Maffi / Racevets for always being available at the race to check the dogs if i have noticed a change in movement or mood. It’s so safe to know that there are experienced race dog veterinarians on the checkpoint to examine the dogs, as dog mushing is all about dog welfare. 
• Thanks to my mum Unni and stepfather Jan Eirik, my grandmother and grandfather for always believing in me. 
• Thank you to all of you who has bought a SHusky headband handmade by Monica to support my journey towards reaching my Finnmarksløpet goal, as all the income from the headbands goes straight to race fees.
• Thank you to everyone else who has followed along on the journey, from our autumn training until today. It means a lot with all the support, comments, messages and kind words. It’s much appreciated and I’m very grateful.
• Last but not least, a big thank you to the race organizers and the crew at N70 Trekkhundklubb for organizing a fun and technical dog race in a spectacular nature. We will be back!