Jokkmokk / First 100km of Nordenskioldsloppet (2018)

This was a "did not finish". I stopped in the 100km control. Full race is 220km.

Snowed slightly and wax skis lacked grip (wrong skis for weight) so it was a long session at a very slow speeds.

This was the slowest of the three Nordenskioldsloppet editions so far. It snowed sligthly pretty much all day, but enough to slow down the skis. Furthermore, for the courageous souls (not me) who moved into the night the temperature dropped to a low of minus 17

The course is pretty (if sky is clear) as this area of Sweden is hilly with lakes.

Possible mistakes I made were

1) not to leave enough rest time (just 8 rest days, but with preparations and long flights included) between finishing fully the Rajalta Rajalle RR2 2018 and the Nordenskioldsloppet
2) use 15 year old skis what were meant for when I was 7kg heavier, and thus struggle to grip
3) possibly not having trained a little at night and with colder temperatures (my coldest training was during the Rajalta at -13) which contributed to lack of confidence to face a long cold night.

Lessons learned on Nordenskioldsloppet to follow

Lesson 1. The compounding of distance and weather. In a short event, less than perfect weather matter a lot less. In a long event, particularly when tracks are not being regroomed even a small amount of snow fall will build up quickly or slow you down hours.

Lesson 2. Broadly three types of participants. The ultra committed skiers who will do it quickly and have limited or no night time. The "stubborn have-a-go types", and then people in between.

Lesson 3. If days are clear it is perfectly possible to have a 10 degree drop in temperature between day and night. If daytime temperature is minus 10, ok, but you could start with daytime temperatures at minus 15 and then the night will be fairly cold. By the same token, you could start with plus degrees, and have re-icing of tracks and faster tracks. It´s a climatological lottery.

Lesson 4. Do not count on being able to stop for prolongued periods on warm tents as a part of your strategy. Whilst some warm tents exist, they are not large and they may crowd up. You should plan on doing event in non stop manner.

Lesson 5. Get into warm clothes BEFORE you feel cold. You will be given 3 plastic bags where you can leave dry clothes in key parts of the event.

Generally speaking there are sufficient controls (spaced out every 10 to 15 kilometres), with some calories and drink so no need to really worry about bringing extra drink-food (though you can have some treats in the transportation bags).