Photos : Åse M. Bendiksen
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Day 1
Of the 30 persons that met in the summer to go through physical and psychical tests, 10 was selected to start the journey from Lindesnes to Nordkapp, the southernmost and the northernmost points of Norway.
The 5 boys and 5 girls have different background, personalities and physical premises, but shall now work, sleep and solve problems together.
Before they meet at Lindesnes, they have not been allowed to speak to each other. They are met by their host, Janne, who tells about the concept of the journey. The participants introduce themselves for each others and the viewers.
In the lighthouse all equipment they need for the journey is available. They can take whatever they want, but must remember that they have to carry everything themselves. They are ordered to bring first aid equipment, maps, two GPS, lavvo (big tent), and the travel funds. In two hours they shall choose the other equipment. As they don't know what challenges they will meet, it is difficult to find out what they need. Lars is skilled to outdoor life, and takes the lead. The group shall decide what equipment is necessary for the group, and each of them shall decide what they want as personal equipment. In addition they shall choose the food they need to carry.
Having packed their backpacks, the group sits down to discuss how the group shall work. Bjørn's suggestion about having a "chairman" is approved.
A possible contradiction in the group is that Gunnvor is a Christian and believes that homosexuality is a sin, whereas Knut is homosexual.
Day 2
In the morning they get their first mission. Within next morning 07.00 they shall sail to Skien in two boats. One person in the first boat arriving Skien will receive a free pass, giving that person immunity through the next removal.
They walk to the harbor, and are met by Janne and two experienced sailors. The group shall divide into two sailboats and each boat has one of the sailors as advisor. They can use as much time as they feel they need to learn how to sail the boat. When they start sailing, they can ask 10 questions to the advisor.
Annette suggests that they shall divide into a boat with boys and a boat with girls. As Tina is the only one against, they accept the suggestion. Well on board, the boys discuss their decision. And they expect to be the first boat to Skien.
The boys decide to go far south, whereas the girls go closer to the shore. The boys use one of their questions to take a phone to the girls, giving them advice.
In the afternoon, the girls almost reach up to the boys, but then the wind calms. The girls call the boys again. They discuss if they shall quit the sailing in Kristiansand and try to reach to Skien by car or bus within their time limit. By this nobody will get a free pass.
Day 3
They get free transport by minibus to Skien, and arrive at 02.40, well ahead of the time limit. They are met by Janne, who gives them their new "mission" : Tickets to the boat "Henrik Ibsen" up the Telemark channel to Dalen.
On the boat they have the first removal. They shall rank each other with numbers from 10 to 1. Each number can be used only once, and they can not rank themselves. The one with lowest ranking has to leave. Ranking : Knut, Tone Rose, Tina, Annette, Gunnar, Hege, Jon, Bjørn, Lars, and Gunnvor is the first one to leave the group.
After the ranking, they have a discussion about how the group works, and what they have to do to cooperate better. Many of them feel that Bjørn has taken the lead of the group, and Bjørn was also a little surprised that he was ranked so low.
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Day 3
When the boat arrives to Dalen, its final destination of the Telemark channel, the group gets their new mission. Tone Rose is now chairwoman and reads the text. They shall by their own get to Appelsinsvingen at Highway 37 before 02.00 the next morning. Then they shall light a distress flare at the factory at Vemork, and return to Appelsinsvingen within 06.00. The reward if they succeed is 2000 kroner.
They discuss how they shall get transport to Vemork. Bjørn has experience from negotiation, but dealing with a man with a minibus, they have to pay 1000 kroner and a bottle of aquavit for the ride. Bjørn dislike their decision, and thinks that they could have made it much cheaper.
They arrive to Appelsinsvingen in the evening, and get some sleep before the action begins.
Day 4
Vemork is a well known location from the World War II in Norway. The night between February 27th and 28th 1943, nine Norwegian saboteurs arrived to Vemork to blow up the production site of heavy water, preventing the Germans to be able to produce nuclear weapons. The 71° North team shall follow in their footprints, crossing the valley to the factory and back. When they have lit the flare, two commandoes from the navy will try to hit them by paintballs. In 1943 it took 3 minutes from the explosion to the alarm was released. Because of this, they expect that they now also will get a 3 minutes limit before the hunt starts. And they are right, a little more than 3 minutes after they lit the flare, the commandoes start shooting. Lars, with military experience, tries to distract the commandoes' attention, letting most of the others to get through. Gunnar, Hege and Anette are all hit. The others get the possibility for a free pass, and they draw lots. Knut is the one getting the free pass.
They immediately get their new mission. They shall get to the disused railway station in Rjukan, where they will find their means of transport to Tinnsjøen. From here they shall get to Haugastøl, to find new means of transport.
At Rjukan they discover that they shall use rail tricycles. At 10.00 they arrive at Tinnsjøen, and have to find how they shall get to Haugastøl. Bjørn uses the phone, and get transport by minibus for 1000 kroner.
From Haugastøl to Finse they shall use bikes. The distance is about 28 km. They have a little trouble arranging their baggage at the bikes. Knut's bike has a puncture, and has to mend it. The rest of the group is uncertain about what happens, and Bjørn cycles back to look for him. In spite of the troubles, they reach Finse at 22.30, 1.5 hours before their time limit. They get the reward of 2000 kroner, and set up the camp before the removal.
Except for Knut, having the free pass, all the others are uncertain about the removal. Lars has changed attitude from the first leg, and is now well accepted in the group.
Ranking : Tina - Gunnar - Lars - Knut - Hege - Anette - Tone Rose - Jon, and Bjørn is the next to be removed.
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Day 5
The group has spent the night at Finse. In the morning they shall continue biking down Rallarveien to Flåm, a distance of 60 km, and reach there within 11.00. They will meet some people there to help them further, and they shall camp at Lodalskåpa at the glacier Jostedalsbreen before midnight.
Hege is not feeling well, but first doesn't tell the others that she has problems. Tone Rose also has trouble with her heavy backpack, and Lars helps her by carrying her backpack too. From being too selfish in the beginning of the journey, some of the others now feel that Lars tries to do things like that just to score points at the rankings. It also seems that Lars has a crush on Tone Rose, and that it might be mutual.
At Flåm they are met by two glacier guides, who accompanies them on the boat transporting them out Aurlandsfjorden and crossing Sognefjorden to Sogndal.
Before leaving the sea, they have to reconsider which equipment they want to carry up to the glacier. And they have a long discussion about which food they shall carry. Anette is very focused on reducing the weight as much as possible.
A bus transports them up against the glacier, but they have to find out where they are themselves. The clock is 19.00 before they start walking, and they have long way to go before their designated camp site. At 23.00 they would still have 4 hours to go to Lodalskåpa, and they resign the mission and the reward of 4000 kroner. However they get a free pass, but they postpone the decision of who that shall have it.
Next task is to go to Bødalssætra before 20.00 next evening. The reward is 2000 kroner.
Day 6
At 08.30 they start on the 21 km hike crossing the glacier. They shall up to 1900 meters above sea level, before it is downhill to Bødalssætra. When getting up to the glacier they have to walk in rope, to avoid the risk of falling down into cracks in the ice.
It is steep downhill, and this is tough for their knees. Gunnar has some problems. Again they are a little late for the time limit, and when they arrive Bødalssætra, there is no reward for them. They are all tired and have to stretch out the muscles.
They draw lots for the free pass, and this time Tina is the lucky one.
Sitting around the camp fire in the evening, it is time for removal again. The ranking is : Knut - Tina - Hege - Gunnar - Lars - Anette - Jon, and Tone Rose is removed. Lars is disappointed of the result.
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Day 7
The group has spent the night at Bødalsætra. At 08.00 Janne gives them their new mission. They shall get to Horgheim in Romsdalen. They will be met by a man named Tore at the old coach office at 16.00.
They walk to Loen, and at Hotel Alexandra, they are offered transport by minibus to Horgheim. Lars was not happy with the removal yesterday. He walks alone, ahead of the rest of the group, and when the others get a bath in the hotel's swimming pool, he doesn't join them. Instead of helping the group, he will now take more care of himself.
The journey to Horgheim also includes crossing the fjord by ferry. And Anette is allowed to steer the ferry.
At Horgheim, they are met by Tore Klokk, a well experienced mountaineer who has been on several expeditions to Himalaya. They shall now get a short course in climbing at the mountain Hornaksla. They shall first rappel down a rock face, and second climb up again. For some of them this is very totally new and exciting.
The free pass free pass event implies spending the night in a tent hanging in the middle of the rock face. Two of them shall do this, and one of them gets the free pass. All of them, except Jon, draw lots, and Knut and Gunnar are the two that shall sleep in unusual surroundings. They rappel down to the tent.
Day 8
Both Gunnar and Knut managed to spend the night in the tent, and again draw lots for the free pass. Knut is the winner.
Next they shall travel by train, and well on board in a cart they get their task. At Dombås they shall take in supplies for four days, and then continue with train to Hjerkin. They shall raise the camp at Gravbekkli within 21.00. The reward if they reach this is 2000 kroner.
Reaching Dombås Lars stays at the railway station watching their baggage, while the others buy food.
At Hjerkin they meet Martin Ekre, who takes them to Hjerkin Riding Centre. They shall ride the horses to Gravbekkli. Waiting for things to happen, Tina and Lars play a little fight. Accidentally Tina is hit by a kick in her arm. The others have to help her bandage it.
Martin gives them instructions about riding and taking care of the horses. Tina is an experienced rider, but now has some trouble using her arm. And at full gallop she also falls off the horse and hurts her back too. During the evening she gets worse, and she is worried that the others will vote her off as she might slow down the group.
They reach Gravbekkli well ahead of the time limit, and get the 2000 kroner.
The results of the 4th ranking is : Knut - Tina - Gunnar - Anette - Hege - Jon, and Lars is removed. He hasn't detailed plans for what to do when he gets home, except that he will phone "someone"…
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Day 9
Waking up at Gravbekkli, fortunately Tina's back is much better than yesterday.
Their new mission : To ride to the milk stand at Borkhus, where they will meet Per Erik at 12.00. Next get through Gråura, and be at Liahjell at Sunndalsøra within 14.00 tomorrow. Reward 4000 kroner if they reach Liahjell within the time limit.
Per Erik meets them at Borkhus, with a car and a raft on a trailer. They drive to Oppdal, where they buy food and, even though the travel funds are low, Gunnar buys a Playboy magazine. Tina is not happy with that.
They get instructions for the rafting event. They shall raft a distance of 20 km, in two legs. After the first leg, they get another challenge. They shall jump into the river from a 10 meter high bridge. After a straight jump from Knut and a more spectacular one from Gunnar, Jon is next. But he is frightened, and has to move back on the bridge. Tina is also frightened, but after a short time she jumps. After Hege has jumped too, Jon tries again and this time he takes the plunge. Anette completes the jumping.
Day 10 (In episode given as day 9)
They are ready for leg 2 of the rafting, ending at the top of Gråura. When they get there, they have to carry the rafts up to the road. They are all cold.
Next they shall get to Liahjell by the way of Holberget. On the way they meet a man with car, and he drives them to Holberget. Even though they are getting short of time, they can't resist the offer from Sivert for coffee and waffles. Finally they call for a minibus taxi. But they are 7 minutes late, and don't get the reward. Jon is the only one annoying about this.
A helicopter is waiting for them, and this carries them to Frøya. The flight takes about 1.5 hours. In the harbor they meet Bent in a "fembøring", an old fashioned boat for rowing and sailing. They shall sail to Trondheim, and if they get good wind, it is a 10 hour trip.
But in the evening the wind calms, and they have to row.
Day 11 (In episode given as day 10)
They wake up in the boat, and while the others are still sleepy, Gunnar starts with the day with a bath, first naked and then in Anette's swim suit. The others join in afterwards.
After 26 hours at sea, they end up in the river Nidelva, just outside the restaurant "Bryggen" in Trondheim. They should have been there at 18.00 to get the contribution to the travel funds, but are again 3 hours late.
They are offered a three course meal at the restaurant. However, there is a catch, they have to get a suitable outfit to be allowed to enter the restaurant. And the first one showing up with accepted clothes wins the free pass.
Jon is smart, and gets his suit from an employed at the restaurant. Hege follows close behind, and they follow one by one. Anette has spent time in the shower too.
The night shall be spent at the old fortification, Kristiansten. But
before they can go to sleep, the group of 6 shall be reduced to 5.
Ranking
is : Gunnar - Knut - Tina - Jon - Hege, and Anette is removed. She thinks some
of the others might have considered her as a strong competitor as she is quite
strong. Tina comments that the group consistently has removed all the
authoritarian members.
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Day 12
Outside the fortification, they get their next mission. They shall take the Coastal Express "Nordkapp" northwards to Bodø. On board they shall look up the chief steward.
To achieve a nice dinner in the evening, they have to make entertainment for the rest of the passengers. They sit down and have a brainstorming to make a suitable program. Hege is educated as dancer, and a dancing number is obvious. She also teaches the others in dancing. Jon will perform a drinking song.
Beginning the show, they first have some problems getting the music started. But a swinging dance number opens the program. Then Hege and Jon do a part from "Peer Gynt". And the show goes on, to the public's applause. The steward is well satisfied, and they get their dinner. On the way to the dining room, they have a stop in the playroom.
Day 13
Having slept under the stairway at the Coastal Express, the group arrives to Bodø in the morning. On board they are met by a group of marine commandoes. They enter a raft, and are soon being picked up of a "Stridsbåt 90". They change to uniforms, and at the naval base at Ramsund they shall perform some of the exercises that the marine commandoes do.
They are transported out into the sea, and shall swim together back to land, pulling the raft after them. The marine commandoes normally use a little less then 15 minutes for a distance of 400 meters. These participants however, use a little more - about three times as long.
Especially Jon is exhausted after the event.
Afterwards they shall have a free pass event. Individually they shall walk through a shooting range. First they have 6 fixed targets on the beach. Next they follow a river, and it is 6 more targets placed various places in the area.
Both Gunnar and Hege do 8 hits of 12 possible. Tina hits on 11 shots, but she didn't see the first target up the river. Knut hits all 12, and as Jon has several misses, Knut is the winner of the free pass.
Jon is getting tired, and Hege has trouble cooperating with him. He has
been ranked low during the whole journey, and this time it is him that has to
leave.
The ranking is Knut - Gunnar - Tina - Hege - Jon.
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Day 14 (In episode given as day 13)
After yesterday's ranking, the participants where transported by car westwards to Nyksund, at 69° north. But they selves don't know where they are. Tina guesses that they are in Vesterålen. They try to get some sleep, but after about an hour, Janne wakes them up again, and tells where they are.
The new task implies lots of water, and hopefully some large surprises. The are going on a whale safari !
First they have to learn how to paddle sea kayak, and the free pass will be the reward to the one getting closest to a whale by use of kayak.
Jonathan, their kayak instructor, first helps them getting breakfast at a small café. He also instructs them how to act if they really get the opportunity to get close to a whale.
Having trained to paddle in the dock, they start for the trip to Stø. But when they get out in the open sea, they are surprised by bad weather. Hege has trouble with her right arm.
They get onboard to the boat Strønstad, heading for the whales. Again, Jonathan gives them precautions to avoid injuries. Hege and Tina both feel that they need the free pass.
They get a view of a whale, and enter the kayaks. Soon after the crew sees another whale, and the competition has started. But the whale returns to the deep, and when the time limit is out, none of them has been close to a whale. Naturally, they see another whale as soon as they are onboard to Strønstad again.
They now enter the ship Senjahav, and are carried to Tromsø.
Day 15 (In episode given as day 14)
In the morning they arrive to Tromsø, and are met by Janne who immediately gives them their new task. They shall get to Robukta at the southern point of the island, and pick up the bottles in Robukta. They shall reach a plane to Alta at 14.00.
First they enter the SAS hotel, and as Knut also is employed by SAS, he asks for possibilities for having a free breakfast. And the answer is positive. The hotel also fixes transport for them, and because of this they can have some minutes sleep too.
A minibus from the hotel drives them to Tromsø diving center. First they need some theory about diving. Tina has diving license, and Gunnar has also dived before. For Hege and Knut, it is their first time.
They shall pick up some bottles in the sea. There is a total of 14 bottles, containing 10000 kroner and four plane tickets to Alta. If they don't find all the tickets, they have to spend money of the travel funds. And as this at the moment is only 1350 kroner, they need to find as many bottles as possible.
Hege finds diving a little scary. She doesn't like to be under water, but nevertheless continues the diving.
Gunnar finds one bottle with ticket. Knut brings in one more, and Tina has got the final two. And they also find all the money.
Well onboard to the plane, Knut, who is steward at SAS, assists the other stewards with the safety demonstration.
Janne meets them at the airport in Alta, and after they have picked up their luggage, they meet in the cafeteria for the next removal. All of them think a lot about tactics, and consider to make alliances, but it seems that none of them really make agreements.
The ranking is Knut - Gunnar - Tina, and Hege is removed. The final three is those who have been ranked highest during the whole journey.
When Hege has left the group, Janne informs them that the rules of the game now are changed. Now it is all against all.
They shall first go out to the parking place, to meet Josef Henry Buljo, who will carry them into Finnmarksvidda. They will get to Stabbursdalen next day, where they will get a new task that they have to solve individually.
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Day 15
By car, the three finalists are carried into Finnmarksvidda, and then have to walk about 20 km further to Stabbursdalen. It has been raining, and the terrain is very wet. They also have to cross a river. Luckily, they get help from a friend of their chauffeur, Mattis, who has a small 4WD vehicle. Because of the high water level, the responsible for safety, Jan Fasting, also follows them.
On the other side of the river, four anglers are stranded, not able to cross the river. But Jan Fasting helps two of them to the other side, and the other two will be carried by the 4WD vehicle, when the group has crossed.
They continue eastwards, and sleep over in a cottage that they have found on the map. They have not walked more than 5 km since they left the car.
Day 16
They continue walking. Gunnar has still some troubles with his knee. They don't reach Stabbursdalen before 20.00, and they are tired.
But Janne has a new task for them. Stabburselva is one of the best salmon rivers in Norway. They get fishing equipment, and the two getting most fish before midnight go to the final event.
Tina gets help to begin from some anglers. And an hour before the time runs out, she asks for more assistance, and joins the anglers on their boat. They have already got a salmon.
Gunnar and Knut return to Janne, without any catch. Then Tina arrives, with a large salmon. She confesses that she has not fished it herself, but stresses that the mission was "to get fish". But as she has only got it on loan from the anglers, it is not accepted.
As none of them has got fish, they need another way to select the two finalists. They shall each build a fire and the first two to get half a litre water to boil are the finalists.
After all of them have got fire, they have to catch water from the river. Tina is the first to fill water in the kettle. But the kettle isn't stable over the fire, and the kettle tip over. Her fire is not put out, but she needs to get more water. And then the kettle tip over for the second time.
Knut is the first to get boiling water, and is qualified for the final. And Gunnar is next, so Tina is beaten. She feels that her womanly cunning and charm has helped her to get so far, but it could not help her with this event.
Before Knut and Gunnar go to sleep, Janne tells them about what will happen next. At 10.00 the next day, they shall paddle an inflatable canoe to Stabbursnes.
Day 17
After the canoe trip, they are met by Janne. From now, they shall not use any of their equipment. All they get is some maps and GPS. They will be driven by car to a point at Magerøya. In the car they will be blindfolded. When the blindfolds are removed, they will be standing next to a means of transport, which they can use or not. They can not use motorized transport. They shall get to the North Cape plateau, and the first to start the car with the key is the winner.
When they take of the blindfolds, they don't know where they are. And they carriers are bikes, which they have to assemble.
Gunnar thinks that he knows where he is and cycles to the main road, whereas Knut has to ask some people. When he also decides to take the main road, he is 6 minutes behind Gunnar. But during the cycling, he gets closer.
Gunnar is the first to reach the car, with Knut 4 minutes behind. But there is no key in the car, just one tin to each of them, containing a floppy disk. At the North Cape Centre Gunnar borrows a PC, and get the text from the disk. It is written in 5 different languages. The translation is that the key is located under the arms of the cross in the height of the dove in the chapel. Gunnar gets help from some people in the area, and runs to the chapel. He doesn't notice the cross in the ceiling, and is not aware of the meaning of "La Paloma" = the dove.
While Gunnar is looking, Knut also gets the text on the PC. By help of some tourists in the chapel, Gunnar gets the explanation of "La Paloma", and they also help him searching for the key. Before Knut reaches the chapel, Gunnar runs out and starts the car. He is the winner !