Julien Turin, Eric Deguil, Nouria Newman, Guillaume Hasson, Tomas Neime, and Jonas Le Morvan left France early on Friday, June 25th, for a road trip to the far north of Europe, aiming to arrive in the Nordic region by Sunday, June 27th. The first part of the expedition began simply enough, passing through Switzerland and Germany before taking a ferry to Sweden. After a quick stop in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, they continued north to Swedish Lapland, where over 200 km of yet-to-be-explored whitewater awaits. The first part of the trip ahead will focus on descending two rivers, the Sarjasjahka and Stalojahka, with complex, if shorter, portages and rapids. The second part, the Vuojatadno River, is more scenic with even more rapids to explore, but they don't know this yet.
It begins with a road trip punctuated by nights under the stars and stops in the river to test equipment before heading into the great unknown. 2,900 km later, on July 11th, the team arrives in Sulitjelma, a small town on the Norwegian border and the starting point for their deep and icy crossing. The past week of travel has begun to turn this group of friends into something more: they feel connected, in tune with each other, and ready for whatever is to come. Anticipation is high, the excitement building as they inched their way north river by river. “The first rivers were already incredible, and the deeper we went into this wilderness, the more spectacular it became," says Eric Deguil. Ahead lies 11 days in the heart of
