A land of rugged beauty with stunning seascapes and mountains, the beauty of Norway’s Lofoten Islands drew freestylers Adam Sims and Oda Johanne Brødholt north to explore its windsurfing. Adam and Oda report back on their adventures.
Adam Sims - “Heading back to Lofoten was something I promised myself to do the moment I left the place two years earlier. It’s one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever visited on this planet. Before I knew it all the planning had come together for a return visit and I was heading north in the company of Riccardo Marca, cameraman Jaanus Ree and my girlfriend Alina Shalin. We planned to use a few forecast apps and my limited local knowledge to see what we could find both on the island and the road up there. Here is the results of our expedition!”
FACT FILE
Location – Northwestern coast of Norway to Lofoten
Season - March/April are ok from what we heard, but September/October are the best months for wind.
How it works - It runs very much on the same weather systems that strike Western Europe. As the fronts get squeezed north by the jet stream, Norway picks up the remaining swell or the ones that skipped off north Scotland. What to bring – It’s definitely a cold destination, so pack appropriately.
We had our 5/6 mm Quiksilver/Roxy wetsuits with built in hoods, 3 mm booties and gloves (closed, not open palm mitts). Windsurfing was warm enough with all this gear and surfing was actually really warm with it some days. If you go in earlier September you can have warm calm days where you might walk around in just shorts and t-shirt for a few hours. Generally be prepared for the cold. Phone signal is great up there so you have everything you need in terms of maps and forecasts. Sail wise, you could be using anything, we were stacked on 4.0 and 4.4’s in the beginning and pumping around on 5.2’s at the end of the trip.
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