SAMAYA x FELIX RAUPACH

 

 

Dive into the adventure of Felix Raupach and Nici Burk, two friends who spent 10 days in total autonomy in the most remote and wildest mountains of Norway. For Samaya, they recount their epic journey between skiing, mountaineering, paragliding, and bivouacking.

 

Felix: We started scouting for places where it would be possible to set up our base camp, on flat ground away from potential avalanches, while being close to beautiful faces to ski. We discovered Jotunheimen in Norway, an isolated, wild, and technical place. We found an area near Uranostinden, in the heart of one of the most remote and wildest mountain ranges that Norway has to offer.

 

Nici: There wasn't much information on ski touring in that area. All our friends and the local residents warned us that the trip would likely fail because of the weather and snow. Usually, these two factors make such a trip impossible so early in the spring season. However, when we left on March 2nd, we were pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by mild weather.

 

Felix: We began crossing the frozen lake, pulling our 40-kilogram pulkas without any trouble. For the first two days, we couldn't see a thing. The weather was very cloudy; there was a sort of large white veil that we had to get through. At the end of the first day, we quickly set up our Samaya ASSAUT2 ULTRA, in which we spent a comfortable and restful first night. The second day, things got tough: the visibility was poor, and I ended up tumbling over a one-meter cornice with the pulka. It wasn't deep or dangerous, but it added a little spice to the adventure. Later that day, less than a kilometer from our base camp, the terrain became steeper and suddenly, my pulka slid, twisting itself up ahead of me at the end. I couldn't move anymore and had to wait for Nici to help me get out of there.

 

Nici: I reached Felix, staying calm and trying to resolve the situation by ensuring that neither Felix nor the pulka would start sliding. We rappelled the pulkas down to flatter ground using a snow anchor made with our skis. We finally reached our base camp, leveled the ground to set up our bivouac, and after putting up the tent in stormy weather, we were happy to settle into what would be our home for the next 10 days. We made some food and sleep quickly took over.

 

Felix: A few days later, we had the surprise of seeing a perfectly blue sky for the first time, sticking our heads out of the tent one morning.

 

Nici: We found ourselves completely stunned by the environment that surrounded us and that we could truly see for the first time. It was love at first sight.

 

Felix: That day, we headed towards Uranostinden S1, with the fog slowly reappearing as we crossed the ridgeline. Then, the fog cleared to let us enjoy a breathtaking view of the entire massif. We couldn't believe our eyes. The landscape was so beautiful, so isolated. Everywhere we looked, there was only pure and raw nature nestled in a totally wild environment. We unclipped our skis and started climbing steeper sections of rock in the frozen snow typical of Norway. Close to the summit, snowdrifts loomed over us, preventing us from crossing the final meters. The rock under our feet was unstable, making it impossible to secure more committing pitches. We turned back and enjoyed a beautiful ski descent in the powder down to the glacier. We didn't want to leave it at that and reached the summit of Langeskalvtinden, standing at 2014 meters, offering a striking panoramic view. After enjoying these unique moments, we skied the face under the flamboyant colors of the sunset. To properly celebrate this day, we prepared a 3-course meal, warm in our 5-star tent.

 

Nici: Between these big outings, we enjoyed rest days—if you can call them that, as we were always on our skis and on the move. On the sixth day, after an excellent breakfast, we set off on a ski tour, with an idea that had been playing in the back of our minds since our arrival: taking off in a paraglider from these virgin summits. Upon arriving at the summit, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Optimistic and patient, we took the time to take a break and observe the situation's evolution. Not far from the summit, we found a good spot to take off, and as we were preparing, the wind shifted and started blowing in a perfect direction, at an ideal speed.

 

Felix: I took off. In an instant, my skis were no longer touching the snow; I was light, sucked into the ambient air. The view of the surrounding mountains was indescribable. I was breathless. It was one of the best moments of my life. Seeing the mountains at sunset, so far from any civilization, was of incredible beauty. The fact that it was reality was and still is hard to believe. I landed on the frozen lake we had crossed on the first day, and Nici quickly joined me. We packed up our paragliders in the last rays of sun and returned to base camp. While we were cooking, I recognized a green light on the horizon: an aurora borealis was beginning to form. They intensified to transform into a grandiose spectacle lasting nearly two hours. The aurora borealis surrounded Uranostinden, joined by the clear night sky and the Milky Way, making the experience even more spectacular.

 

Nici: After this superb and soothing night, we tried to find a way to reach the summit of Falketind, one of the most remarkable mountains in the whole region. A little further south, there was a steep rock and snow wall where we envisioned a route. We would need to use ice axes, and some sections would involve dry tooling.

 

Felix: Routefinding was tricky on this immense face. The snow was quite crumbly and made our progress difficult. We moved slowly but surely until we were blocked by a huge rock. I tried to go around it, but the ice was barely frozen onto the rock and would break every time I tried to place my ice axes. We couldn't find any opportunity to secure a pitch, so we made the decision to turn back and downclimb the entire face. Once we reached the glacier, we were able to put our skis back on and enjoy the descent with the magnificent west face of Falketind at our backs.

 

Nici: The next day, we made another attempt. We reached the summit of Stølsnostinden at 2074 meters and continued along the narrow ridgeline toward Falketind. The visibility quickly degraded and late afternoon was approaching: the descent looked like it would be difficult. We decided not to aim for the summit. We descended to the glacier again, put on our skis, and navigated through thick white fog. Happy to be out of this inhospitable terrain and to find more light, we began our return to base camp, still a 2-hour walk away.

 

Felix: We took a rest day, then we started running out of gas. So, we made the decision to return to civilization, sad to leave behind these landscapes, the experiences we had, and the emotions we shared, but happy and grateful to have been so lucky with the weather, the good times spent together, and all the lessons we were able to learn from it.