Sorry for the delay in communication but it seems the only thing not perfect about Sweden right now is access to the Internet. Oh and the weather, but more about that later. I’m here reporting for Spoke on the Scandinavian Photo Challenge in Åre, Sweden. It’s day two of three that the photogs and their teams have to shoot all the content for a five minute slideshow that will be shown on Friday night to a crowd of, well I’m told 500+, which is terrifying because as head judge I’m expected to make a speech. I am frantically trying to brush up on my Swedish. Here is a little behind the scenes of the last few days of Swedish language learning.
Mattias Fredriksson is the local hero and international legend of photography. I'm sure he's been planning his challenge but at the same time he's been busy helping to organise the events.
Grant Robinson, formerly of Canada and now of the UK but soon to be formerly of the UK and now of Canada again (there should be a heap more commas in there but you get the point). He looks serious but I'm sure he'll have a rather witty show come friday. This shot is deliberately blurry because that's how Grant shoots, not because he was moving too fast for my wimpy camera to deal with.
Obligitary old bike meets new fashion photo.
For all you knee dropping ladyboys down South, read this and weep. And in case you were wondering, it is true, there is not a bad looking lady in the whole of Åre. I'm taking this sample to mean every Swedish lady is beautiful.
God means good. So that means God is good or just god is good?
The view is good when the cloud goes away. Bikes are taking a beating with wet, rocky super long descents and regular hosing. The bike park is like three parks in one, all with a very distinct style and vibe to them. The top stuff on the open exposed rock is by far the most stunning riding. Moto whooped, rocky hell for ages and ages.
'Fika' roughly translates to 'coffee break'. It can be taken at any time and for however long, just as long as it's with friends and cake is involved. Talking of which, I'm off to eat cake and report back on my favourite later. Also look out for Fika around Interbike time.