SNOW WINDSURF IN ICELAND
Eric Durand (Savoyard from Aix Les Bains) 29 years old is among the best international snow surfers and one of the most wellkown snow windsurfer.
Eric was funboard instructor at the Club Mediterrannée for about 8 years. He Has also been for several years a teacher and a monitor of ski. He now organises Surf courses "Kebra Surfing" at Tignes a ski resort. Eric works for 4 years on the "Snowindsurf".
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EENGLISH TEXT
The front lights of our car try in vain to pierce the blizzard and the snow-storm. It's not worth it because the windscreen wipers are useless for long.
It's 2 am, Adde our guide drives his vehicle carefully. We are in the nature in South Iceland when the snow storm takes us by surprise. The Loran navigator guides us on the way points perfectly because he has done the trip before with a good weather and our two cars avoid the traps and the crevasses. The deflated tyres are specials and grip the snow much better. Slightly deflated, their contact surface with the ground is x5 times more than usual. So it is as if we had 20 wheels and we can drive on a one meter depth powdery snow as on a normal road.
We are just at 3 hours flight from Paris but the bewilder is total. Adde talks with Philippe on the radio from a car to another. Suddenly he stops. Astonished, we watch him getting out of the car and undress completely. A white naked shape from the back passes us and disappear with Adde in the Blizzard . The other guide ... they are completely crazy those Icelandic ! Outside, it is snowing, it is -30¯ C and they go for a walk naked... we cannot see further than 50 cm . Bundled up in our expedition polar equipments we get out and walk in the powdery snow following the voices.
"HoÇ Adde, where are you ?"
"Here, what are you waiting, come and have a bath !"
Crazier and crazier, a bath with -30¯ C ! ...
We take one step forward hearing a water noise. However, it is true, they are bathing .... a river runs and the water is as warm as the one I use for my bath at home.
"Do you come or what ? "
We look like Adam all naked, the cold is bitter and we quickly drive in a water smelling the sulphur. Few meters from each other, the lights of the cars help us to see the snow on the head's guides and on ours as well.
It is definitely unusual to have a midnight bath with -30¯ under the snow and with a volcano at our feet ! ...
Our expedition begins well. We came here to take pictures of a snowindsurf and of a motorised parachute manoeuvring in Iceland.
We are not here to realise an exploit or to beat a speed or a crossing record ... all the records of the world would be easily beaten because none of them is officially recognized. No, our exploit, is simply the passion of everyone in his own field. It is daily a small spark of creative madness that makes things move, change and that makes our life of sportings and adventurers intense.
Why Iceland ? Because the snowindsurf as it says is practised in the snow... and also because we always think that the grass is greener somewhere else; so we went in Iceland where the views are wonderful... and snowy of course. Our guide tell us that we are not far from Lanmanalaugar refuge, target of our first stage. Indeed, after this midnight bath we move into a warm refuge heated with geothermic energy like 95% of the houses of this country.
We are going to stay so in the blizzard. No pictures, no motorised parachute, no snowindsurf and of course no helicopter.
Iceland seems to show us that it is it which order. One morning, a beautiful sun comes up in the Lanmanalaugar Valley. We enter a world where the nature has a wild beauty. Our refuge is built at the bottom of a lava flow very near the warm river where we bathed the first day.
A a prisoner who would be set free, Eric jumps in his shoes, jumps on his surf and with 2 or 3 pumpings take the wind which brings him at the bottom of the valley in an amazing run. While I film the stage with my 280mm telephoto lens, the other Eric makes his motorised parachute ready. Once more, Iceland orders and our motorised parachute will only fly twice during our stay. Turbulences and the wind are too strong.
Eric the surfer starts a serial of surprising manoeuvres that leave you breathless, and comes back toward us executing a wonderful jump which would make the best hawaãan funboarder jealous.
With the skidoo we decide to go up a slope on which it is possible to pass killer loops ? Confirmed funboarder, I can't believe it. Nevertheless like a good photographer, I make myself ready ...
With all speed, Eric roll on the track. A little noise of the snow under the board mingles with the whistle of the wind in the sail. A trail of powdery snow illuminate a moment with the sun and we can follow the surf with our eyes in the air. At the end of the looping, Eric helps himself with the sail to deaden the fall and leave straight on in the track accelerating with all speed. The light on the mountain at the back ground makes the scenery looking like a gigantic wave...
My Leicas record the stage, 4 pictures per second, when an helicopter noise like in "apocalypse Now" blared in the valley. The Jet Ranger that we rent appears as a big dragonfly, calms down and lands not far away in a powdery snow cloud. We embark and take off immediately. At this time, when the horizon moves back to leave the place at the aerial vision, the photography seems to be powerless to describe this view which doesn't end. Here and there "sulphatars" spit steam jets, small white and fleecy pillars which go up to 30 meters and vanish in the atmosphere.
We fly over a unknown planet. We are in a space ship flying a lunar and mineral world. The volcanic magic of Iceland landscapes stretches itself on. The country is astride the tectonic plates of the American and European continents. The radio sizzles in the intercom. On the ground, the motorised parachute tries in vain to take off. It will stay pined down because of the turbulences.
We drop Eric on a summit and we put ourself in the right position with the helicopter not far from the track.
I give some instruction to the pilot. After making himself ready, Eric dashes forward on the track with such a speed that the pilot can't follow him any more and Eric shuts himself up in an infernal spiral... the surf disappear from my view-finder. We take a turning facing the slope so tight that the centrifuge force squashes us on our seats... the ground defiles at high speed a few metres under our feet. Suddenly the surf is back in my view-finder, everything calms down and becomes normal again. Eric understand he was going too fast and so he waits for us. I set a 180mm on a R5 and I sign to him to start ... clac clac, quietly this time I can take wonderful pictures.
In the evening at the refuge we talk about the events of the day. Eric the Jet Pocket's pilot is uncosolable. Our Icelandic friends cook a traditional meal which was the Viking feast : sheep balls pickled in curdled milk and shark's flippers with vodka. All this with the most awful taste to us but looking something like a very delicious meal for our friends. They eat without shivering and drink vodka with everything. The shark has been hung for months in a sauce with horses urine and it tastes of amoniac. We eat without pleasure and do not take another plate of this dish, saying that it is delicious but we are not really hungry ... Magnous and Adde laugh about their joke. What a job ! after eating snakes or rat in China, I am now eating spoilt shark made like the Viking way in Iceland. It would certainly deserve a test article in the Gault et Millau...
The day after, low clouds cover all the area. On the snow, no relief, no shape, no more shadow and light's games, everything is white. Mountaineers call it a white day and we won't take any pictures today. In Iceland, we can't make a plan they say. We follow the nature choice and we take the opportunity of the first opening in the cloud to take everybody in the helicopter toward the South coast. Car will join us latter. The weather forecast promises for tomorrow a splendid day.
Early morning, we take off again. The air is so pure that the visibility "stretches itself" on several hundred kilometres. At the background, the Vatnajokull glacier shimmers in the rising sun.
We all are exited by the idea of a splendid day shooting pictures. After having examined the horizon, we choose a volcano summit with the ideal slope profile to organize another cession of surf killer loop to shoot the film.
Just landed, I inspect the location with Eric. Here in altitude, a light cold wind blows from the North. We go back to the helicopter. The nose down in my bag, I prepare my cameras and do not realise that we are suddenly among the clouds. No more visibility, no more light, white day, nothing ! Dash. What a damned country !
We will stay so for the whole day without taking off.
I had an idea about what was happening and it has been confirmed on the radio by a plane flying over us :
- "Iceland is very sunny today, there is just a big cloud upon the Hekla Volcano" (1.491m)
... and that is where we are .
Hang glider pilot I analyse the phenomenon : a cold wind blows as I said from the North. At an inferior level, a warm wind comes from the South, from the sea and goes up in a dynamic lift against the volcano's slope where we are. This warm air coming from the sea condenses when it comes into contact with cold air and makes this cloud which stops us.
Although we are sure to see this phenomena disappear at the end of the day, we could not stop thinking that we'll have to spend the night there....
We had to break the ice on the helicopter rotor blades with a piolet before being able to take off in the evening... the day was ruined. Nevertheless, we rested and we take advantage of a wonderful sunset light to shoot some pictures of sulphatars and snow windsurf. The light won't last. While I shoot a lot of pictures very quickly, I make a sign to Jean Philippe to ask him to call the pilot of the helicopter in order to embark us on board. The work is done, I embark and then I feel a small shake, the helicopter plunge slightly. One, two, three, four persons get in and each time we feel the same thing. Suddenly, when the pilot who was on the ground climbs in, we plunge for about 20 centimetres and stop. Adde try to open the door to escape. My hand on his shoulder, I catch him and block on time. He has very good reflex having already jumped from his cars once or twice as they disappear fro ever in crevasses. But this time, if one of us gets down before another one, the risk to unbalance the helicopter could be fatal for all of us.
"Be quiet, we are getting out all together !"
Except the pilot, we all leave the helicopter at the same time and we walk as if we were on eggs.
The pilot alone now starts his engine. Everything is allright and we are pleased to see the helicopter taking off and landing a few meters away. We were close to the catastrophe if the snow bridge where we were had collapsed. At best we could have been prisoners, at worth, we could have disappear in a crevasse without leaving any trace...
We fly toward the south. From volcano to hills, from plains to mountains or to glaciers, a landscape pure and wild is under our feet. The last glimmers of the day fall and turn red on the horizon. The summits light up with a last light ray. The ground finds again its white colour, cold and mineral.
Iceland is a country where the nature doesn't make concession. You mustn't make any mistake. Adde is telling us in the intercom about a tourist who had a bath in the warm river next to the refuge of Lanmanalaugar. In order to amaze his friends, naked he got out of the water to ride a skidoo and get up in a few minutes to the top of a near mountain. The engine had a failure and wouldn't start again. Coming back on foot naked in powdery snow takes the eternity ...
Time for Adde to get properly dressed, to run to the refuge, to jump in his car, to find the other skidoo which was at the end of the valley, to come back full speed and to fetch the imprudent fellow half dead, half hidden in the snow...
Iceland can offer to patient people moments of great intensity and of rare beauty. The country will hold breathless during all our stay giving drop by drop the short moments where we were able to work and to make our report.
As I said before our departure during an icelandic TV interview : "if things are too easy, you get bore and anyway life is more interesting when you have to fight to do what you want to do".
Our return to France is without any problem and the habit of the cold gives us the impression that it is summertime in Paris but it is only the end of the winter.
Alain Guillou
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photos : Copyright Alain Guillou/Leica.
CRUISING ON A SNOWWINDSURF IN ICELAND
French adventurers find new excitement in Iceland
Windsurdfing on snow ? Eric Durand, one of the world's best snow surgers, joins forces with french photographer Alain Guillou in the highlands of Iceland to produce a stunning photographic feature shot on the summit of the Hecla volcano.
Windscreen wipers shuffle back and forth to no avail as the two four-wheeldrives proceed slowly through the blizzard, their powerful headlights failing to pierce the white veil that engulfs them. It is 2 am, and the snowstorm has strick by surprise. But the group had expected as much. Zero visibility is no obstacle to the Loran-charted way. Tyre pressure has been reduced to enable the vehicles to float over the loose and drifting snow, their contact sirface five times greater than otherwise.
To the biwilderment of Alain Guillou , Jean Philippe Roger, Eric Durand and Eric Sauzed, the two Icelandic drivers suddenly bring the vehicles to a complete stop, leap out, and undress completely. It is -30¯C, hardly the weather for a midnight streak. They dissapear into the blizzard, shouting something about a bath. The Frenchmen follow their faint voices, and withingh metres find themselves standing on the edge of a wide and warm brook, calmly flowing from the multitude of hot and cold springs nearby. Definitely not an everyday experience, a warm bath in a snowstorm at Landmanalaugar, South Iceland, not far from the volcano Kekla.
Weather aside, the expedition has started well. Landmanalaugar refuge - heated with geothermal energy - is not far off, where the group stays until the snowstorm has blown over. Its purpose is to take pictures of windsurfing on the snow-covered slopes and desertic fields of Iceland, as well as of a motorized parachute soaring through its clear-blue skies - shoul they ever become visible.
The elements have shown who rules in Iceland. But one morningn, the snowstorm clears, and the group is greeted by a bright and beautifull sun, exposing the valley's wilderness. The refuge is situated at the end of a lava flow, not far from the brook where the group had bathed when it first arrived during that cold and snowy night.
Unfettered by the change in weather, one Eric geard up and is off on his surfboard, making full use of prevailing winds. An amazing run brings him to the bottom of the valley, all caught on film by and laert Alain. Meanwhile the other Eric prepares his motorized parachute. He is to fly only twice during the group's stay, hindered by strong winds and turbulence. Eric the surfer is unrestrained, however, starting a series of breathtaking manoeuvres that would make even the best Hawaiian fun-boarder jealous.
With the help of the snowmobile, he is soon at the top of a neaby slope - ideal for a killer loop, he says. The noise of the snow under his board fuses with the whisteling wind in his sail as he accelerates down the slope - and executes a magnificent loop. His sail helps deaden the fall, and the transition from inverted flight to smooth sailing is made effortlessly. In the background, the snow-covered mountains look like a gigantic wave, caught in the pure and brillant light. The sound of a helicopter echoes through the valley. The Jet Ranger rented by the group has arrived, and lands in a powdery cloud of snow. It soon takes off again, this time with the group on board. Alain finds photography, powerless to capture the view now seen, exposing what resembles a lunar landscape; Here and there, solfatars spit steam jets into the air, pillars that vanish into the atmosphere.
Eric locates a suitable summit for snowsurfing, and the helicopter touches down briefly. Alain is able to take some magnificent pictures from the air, where he can barely keep up with Eric as he manoeuvres down the mountainslope at a blurring speed.
Low clouds cover the area the following day, snow and sky merging into one. Mountaineers would call this a white day, and there are no pictures to be taken as the group waits for the weather to clear. The first opportunity to fly the helicopter is seized, and the group heads towards the south coast. The Icelandic drivers are left behind - they will malke the journey by land.
Early next morning, the weather is excellent, and the group takes off again to complete its journey. The air is so pure that visibility seems boundless. In the distance the Vatnajîkull ice cap shimmers in the rising sun. The summit of the volcano Hekla is chosen for another session of breathtaking snowsurfing, and the helicopter lands on the soft snow.
But as Alain prepares his Leica cameras, clouds embrace the summit, near erasing all traves of light. An aircraft flying overhead transmits details on the weather. "Iceland is very sunny today, there is just a big cloud over the volcano Hekla". Which is, of course, where the group is situated, at over 1,400 metres. Cold winds from the North and, at a lower level, warms winds from the south are clashing on the volcano slopes, creating the cloud that ruins the group's day.
The phenomena has dissapeared by evening, and the light of a wonderfull sunset is used to capture solfataras and snowsurfing on film. Ice has to be broken off the helicopter's rotor blades as the group prepares to take off. When everybody has barded the helicopter shakes - and sinks about 20 centimetres. Careful not to unbalance the helicopter, the group gets out and walks away from the snow bridge over the crevasse on which the machine has landed. Only the pilot remains, and sighs of relief are heard when he successfully takes off and lands a few metres away.
Their mission completed, the French-men board and head for the South. Hills and mountains, volcanoes and glaciers are conquered without effort, as the last glimmers of day fade into the burning horizon. A land of rare beauty disppears into the dark.
Alain Guillou
The team was
Alain Guillou : Photographer and organiser of the expedition
Eric Durand : Surfer
Eric Sauzed : Motorised parapente Pilot
Jean Philippe Roger : Assistant
Eric Durand (Savoyard from Aix Les Bains) 29 years old is among the best international snow surfers and one of the most wellkown snow windsurfer.
Eric was funboard instructor at the Club MediterrannÇe for about 8 years. He Has also been for several years a teacher and a monitor of ski. He now organises Surf courses "Kebra Surfing" at Tignes a ski resort. Eric works for 4 years on the "Snowindsurf".
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