The plan of the adventurous Hardanger man Anders Kråkevik (43) was as simple as it was challenging: To fly the length of Norway – from Nordkapp to Lindesnes – with a motorized paraglider.
Along the way, he would visit a number of places and get to know the people who live there. He had a video camera with him to document the trip for a travel film for TV 2.
But he didn’t get far.
When he stopped over in Kautokeino on Finnmarksvidda, he met the reindeer-herding Sami Mathis Oskal. They quickly developed a solid and close friendship. Kråkevik was so fascinated by Oskal that he canceled the rest of the long trip and stayed in Kautokeino with the reindeer herders for four years.
The years at Finnmarksvidda have resulted in the new TV 2 series Søringen & samen.
FRIENDS FOR LIFE: Mathis Oskal and Anders Kråkevik became very good friends during the latter’s four years at Finnmarksvidda. Photo: TV 2
Has become a father figure
– There is something about Mathis, says Kråkevik.
– I don’t know if I can call him a soulmate – it might sound strange – but at least I have one connection with him. It feels like I’ve known him all my life. We understand each other. I’ve only had that feeling once before, and that was with Grandma.
Kråkevik had a somewhat turbulent childhood in Hardanger. His parents had alcohol problems, so from the age of six or seven he lived with his grandparents. They ran an orchard, and hoped that their grandson would take it over one day.
But Kråkevik had no interest in fruit. He would rather ride a motorcycle and an excavator, water ski and fly a paraglider. He was allowed to do that.
– Grandma didn’t set any boundaries for me. I got to do exactly what I wanted, he says.
SPEED AND EXCITEMENT: Anders Kråkevik has always been interested in everything that moves. Here he is in his teens on a quad bike. Photo: TV 2
The grandmother took good care of the grandson and they had a close relationship. She died when Kråkevik was with the Sami in the north.
– After she died, it’s like Mathis has taken over that baton. He calls all the time and wonders where I am and how I’m doing. I have developed a very close and special relationship with him. I am very grateful that I have been allowed to experience that in my life, says Kråkevik about the man who has become a father figure to him.
He can’t quite put his finger on exactly what makes Oskal so special, but believes there is something to the security he exudes.
– He has extreme self-confidence and security. And then I think: “Where does that security come from? How can I get that security?”. So I try to think about it a bit.
SECURITY: Anders Kråkevik particularly admires the self-confidence and security that Mathis Oskal exudes. Photo: TV 2
Fight the cold
In Kautokeino, Kråkevik got to experience what it’s like to work with reindeer herding. He was surprised by the way the Sami work and live, because it gradually dawned on him that he knew very little about them before.
– I had been told a little through the media, and I had an idea of what it was like, but the reality was completely different. Everything I have seen and learned is new to me. I feel very lucky to have experienced it. Living with Mathis and the Sami has changed my life forever.
What wasn’t quite so much fun was the extreme cold.
– I can’t boast that I got used to the cold. I think it’s something you have to get in as a child, because the are used to it. They never wear a Finnish cap or scarf when they drive a snowmobile in minus 30-40 degrees, while I can drive ten meters and get frostbite. It’s pretty crazy.
COLD: Anders Kråkevik was never able to get used to the extreme cold in the north. Photo: TV 2
Got lost on the plain: – I panicked
The most dramatic thing Kråkevik experienced was when they transported reindeer over the mountain. Some reindeer had wandered away from the herd, and Oskal tasked him with bringing them back. Kråkevik drove off on the snowmobile.
– I never thought Mathis would send me out on his own, but he did that all the time. So, they don’t educate their children up there; they just throw them into it so they learn themselves. And I noticed that.
Kråkevik drove so far and for so long to find the lost reindeer that he suddenly had no idea where he was. Without a compass and with a flat phone battery, he was far out on the Finnmarksvidda Mutters alone. He had no idea which direction to drive.
– I panicked! It is so difficult and cold, and we had been driving for two or three days in the middle of no man’s land. I drove around looking for an hour or two. I drove up to peaks and looked, but I neither saw nor heard animals or people, says Kråkevik, before he comes to the happy ending:
– After a while I heard sounds in the distance, but it was difficult to know which direction the sounds were coming from. So I had to drive a few hundred meters, stop the snowmobile, and hear if the sounds were further from me or closer to me. And then I thought: “No, now I’ll just take a chance”, and then I went full throttle for ten minutes in the hope that I would meet Mathis and the others. And I did, luckily. It was an experience of a lifetime, so to speak, he says, laughing.
HELFRELST: Anders Kråkevik took his paraglider certificate as a 15-year-old. Photo: TV 2
– I have crashed a couple of times
However, it is not the first time that Kråkevik has found itself in a dangerous situation.
He has never been afraid to challenge fate, and developed an interest in flying as early as 14-15 years old, after seeing his first paraglider.
There was something very attractive about soaring above the ground like a bird. Already at the age of 15, he took a paragliding certificate.
Kråkevik shared his interest in flying with his equally adventurous friend, Fridtjof Konglevoll from Bergen. Konglevoll called him shortly after they had obtained their paragliding certificate to say that he had seen some airplanes paragliding with propellers.
– We were absolutely in one hundred, both of us! We were so happy to see that propeller engine.
Kråkevik and Konglevoll then participated in a number of paragliding competitions all over the world. As a 22-year-old, he competed at Ekstremsportveko in Voss. It didn’t end well.
– I was going to push myself a bit, and then a gust of wind came that I hadn’t calculated on. I crashed into the ground and broke my back.
– There have been a few bumps and falls over the years, but it happened when I was younger and doing quite extreme acrobatic flying. I have crashed a couple of times, but it was my own fault. I was young and didn’t think. I notice that the way of thinking has changed a lot now, says the 43-year-old.
SOAR LIKE A BIRD: Anders Kråkevik has been interested in flying since he saw his first paraglider as a 14-15-year-old. Photo: TV 2
Death changed Norway’s long-term plan
At the beginning of the 2000s, Kråkevik suggested to Konglevoll that they should embark on an extensive long-distance trip: the length of Norway, from Nordkapp to Lindesnes. Konglevoll loved the idea, and they started planning.
But in January 2007, the unthinkable happened. During a flight in Bergen with a motorized hang glider, Fridtjof Konglevoll crashed and died.
– The Norway long-term plan ended with him. And then many years passed where I almost forgot about the travel project. But then I decided it was time to implement this. Alone.
And it was on the solo trip that Kråkevik landed in Kautokeino and stayed for four years. Now he hopes to complete the Nordkapp to Lindesnes trip during 2023.
– I plan to buy a sailboat, and then I will sail north to continue my flying adventure.
Still good friends
In addition to Norway on the long-distance tour, Kråkevik has many irons in the fire. To earn a living, he works, among other things, on a research ship where he controls underwater drones. He also gets paid diving and paragliding assignments.
– So there will be a lot of travelling. I move around and keep going.
GOT A TRIAL: Mathis Oskal has been allowed to join Anders Kråkevik’s paraglider on a flight. Photo: TV 2
He still has good contact with his close friend Mathis Osdal.
– I have just been with him for two weeks. And I have to help work when I visit him. There is no such thing as “dear mother”, says Anders Kråkevik with a laugh.
You can watch the documentary series Søringen & samen on TV 2 Direct Mondays at 20:00, or TV 2 Play when you want.
