Backpacker / Extreme sports

Backpacker / Extreme sports on a surf trip to Jæren

A cold breeze ruffles our hair as we carry the surfboards down towards the pearly white beach that faces a royal blue sea. Can life get better?

Surfing on white waves

The class's first surf trip goes to the southwest country, specifically Jæren. After many hours of driving in a minibus through different parts of the country and with varying landscapes, we finally arrive at green fields with stone fences and blue sea visible on the horizon. We are in Jæren and now it's time to surf!

Every day we travel to the beach with the best waves so that the learning outcomes are the greatest possible. We dry train pop ups, get information about safety and technique, feel the currents in the water and run around in the sand to warm up. A good mix of play and fun and at the same time a lot of learning.

Surf theory

On Tuesday evenings we have a theory course on equipment, surfing etiquette, swells, waves, wind, swell, tides and currents. In this way, we can put what we have learned during the day into a system and our understanding of surfing increases.

Videoanalysis

To advance the surfing technique one more notch, the instructors film the students while they are surfing, and then have a video analysis the next day. Seeing yourself on film is often an aha experience for many and you suddenly realize what you need to practice more in order to make progress. It was fun to see that all the students managed to catch a white wave and that some got so good that they could join the instructors out paddling the green waves.

The community in the class

Boretunet provides a fantastic surf house located close to Borestranda and with space for the whole class. Here we dance to good music while we cook in the kitchen, we eat communal dinners at the long table, sing along to guitar playing in the communal living room and have communal activities in the evenings. A good social community does not come by itself, but these facilities make good arrangements for one.

Some of the evenings, the students were given the responsibility of creating a pleasant evening activity that everyone could join in on. Chess tournament, Mario kart and 15 Gjelder came away with the victory this time. The latter happened at dusk down by the beach where we ran into the sand and hid in the reeds, to the frustration of the person counting.

Enjoy the little things, because one day you may look back and discover that they were the big ones

Robert brault

Environment

With a focus on the environment in the backpack, we do the following:

  • The students are divided into food groups where they are given the task of shopping based on what is already in the fridge, so that we use up what we have and do not throw any food away
  • We make sure to have at least one vegetarian dinner during the week
  • Everyone takes responsibility for eating one shell each
  • We eat the leftovers from the day before
  • We make sure that the lunch box and drink bottle are listed on the packing list
  • We pack a packed lunch that we take with us to the beach
  • We drive a minibus instead of flying
  • We stay in the same place for several days and use the same towel all week

We had a fantastic trip to Jæren, both in terms of the surfing and the social community. Now we are already looking forward to the continuation of the surfing adventure in Klitmøller after the autumn holidays!