The Tromso Hamperokken Skyline had been a target of mine ever since completing the Glencoe Skyline back in September 2016. Extreme mountain racing? Running over knife edge ridges? Trashing your quads over thousands of meters of ascent and decent? All up inside the arctic circle in Norway? Who wouldn’t want that? The only little hurdle I faced would be registering for this event. With only 200 spaces available for the main Hamperokken skyrace, competition would be fierce so I would have to be quick off the mark when completing the online registration when it opened in Nov.
A view of the Arctic Cathedral
“Extreme mountain racing? Running over knife edge ridges? Trashing your quads over thousands of meters of ascent and decent? All up inside the arctic circle in Norway? Who wouldn’t want that?”
As it was I wasn’t quick enough… I was online as soon as the registration page opened but just couldn’t get through the process, presumably because of sheer volume of people trying to get a place. In the end, 10mins after registration opened I called the team and was told that all the slots had been taken for Hamperokken but that there were still spaces for the shorter, Tromsdalstind race. Still being really keen to go and experience Tromso and the wild country up at the tippy top of Norway I signed up for this race.
Looking up the fjord from the middle of the bridge
Getting to Tromso
Fast forward to Friday August 4th and I was on a Norwegian Airways flight from Gatwick out to Oslo to get a connection to Tromso. I left my place around 9am and was in Tromso around 3pm. The scenery flying into Tromso was stunning, high snow capped peaks and vast fjords stretching inland, it felt a bit like I was being led by valkyries into Asgard to meet with the gods of the North!
With no sign of Odin or Freya at the airport I got a taxi to The Edge hotel in Tromso and checked in. A smart looking modern glass fronted hotel right on the redeveloped dockside in Tromso, this was a perfect base to explore from. The hotel also served as basecamp for the race organisers. The registration area was set up in one of the large conference rooms and the start finish line to both races was literally right outside the front doors.
Heading up Tromsdalstinden
Quick Run Around Tromso
After registration that evening I went out for a little run to take in the views along the fjord. The main bridge that crosses the fjord and links both sides of Tromso dominates the area. For such a small town the bridge is huge, designed to accommodate the many tourist cruise ships and artic research vessels that pass under it on a daily basis.
On a clear day like I had that Friday, the views from the middle of the bridge were stunning. On one side the Arctic cathedral dominates, its modern triangular design reflecting the the shape of the towering mountains rising beyond. On the other side, the Tromso Domkirke sits atop the hill in the main town, all brick and brutal. You couldn’t get two more architecturally different cathedrals in such close proximity.
The Tromsdalstind Race
The Tromsdalstind race didn’t kick off till 11am on the Saturday morning so I had time for a leisurely breakfast while I watched the Hamperokken race start at 8am. As race director, Killian Jornet was there pacing around like an expectant father chatting to some of the runners and generally doing what race directors need to do just before their race kicks off.
The Tromsdalstind race follows the route of the Hamperokken up to the top of Tromsdalstinden at 1300m at which point the routes split. Our race comes back down the mountain and into the valley while the Hamperokken heads off and up to the knife edge ridges across the Hamperokken mountain range and then back again eventually joining with our route back to Tromso.
Once over the bridge and past the Artic cathedral the path jacks up significantly into a real steep ascent. You move up through a wooded area and then, leaving the woods behind, onto the cable car station and the first little summit where the first of 2 feed stations are located. From here its up again, over some really nice runnable single tracks then onto the steep ascent of Tromsdalstinden. Crossing a couple of snowfields and then onto a huge boulder field the path becomes a little more technical, the running stops, for us mere mortals anyway, and we all hike up to the summit. The weather at this stage seems to be on our side, it was cloudy but we were all rewarded with some stunning views down to Tromso and the surrounding area.
At the start line
Approaching the summit the weather did close in a little and it started to rain. This made the rocks pretty slippy so it was very much a case of gingerly skipping across some of these huge boulders in an effort not to end up slipping over and twisting an ankle. The rain also made the steep decent across this boulder field pretty spicy. Past the boulders the obvious track appeared again snaking down the lush green valley. It was a really good fast decent, crossing streams and through bog land which felt very much like running in the Lakes or the Dales back home. By this point, probably 25ks in I was suffering pretty bad from hamstring cramps having run out of water and any gels. I fuelled up at one of the streams and a kind chap took pity on me and gave me a couple of his electrolyte tabs. This gave me the boost I needed to get to the second and final food point at the cable car station. Here I grabbed a few sweets and half a banana and took off down the hill through the forest with a second wind pushing me on. Picking off as many people I could It was now a straight sprint down the hill, along the road past the Artic cathedral, up over the bridge and then back along the fjord to the hotel.
I crossed the finish line in bright warm sunshine absolutely shattered but very happy. This race is advertised as a 26k race but is more like 33k. And with 1300m of mean ascent, and a short stretch of technical downhill, it packs quite a punch.
If you aren’t lucky enough to get a place on the start line of the Hamperokken race then I would thoroughly recommend the Tromsdalstind. Its a cracking, well organised little race that is a great intro into Skyrunning and a great introduction into what Tromso and the surrounding area has to offer.
Certainly one of the most rewarding aspects of running that I have found over the last few years is its ability to get you out, off the beaten track and into some very wild and remote places in a short condensed travel timeframe. This was only a flying visit to Tromso but, through the racing, I managed to cover such a huge area and see some stunning places. Stripped back, in its raw state, this is one of the things i really love about running.