Here’s one to get under a warm blanket for… Desperate to score some adventure time and seek out some empty waves, KOLD’s Mario Rodwald and a few friends leaped across the Danish border at the first opportunity, and went wind and wave hunting, enveloped in suitably thick neoprene…
Words: Mario Rodwald
Photos: Lauritz Kuntscher & Linus Kriwat
If you book a cabin on a 5-star cruise ship or an all-in vacation in Spain, you'll want to find the pool area and drinks just like you do in the Insta ads. No nasty surprises, everything five-star comfort. Relaxation is virtually guaranteed.
A road trip up north, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. When wind and waves are your compass, you usually won't find any relaxation. There's rarely even time for an extensive breakfast… A good coffee and a banana are the ultimate in luxury before getting back into that wet neoprene. And despite the inconveniences, uncertainties and exhaustion in the evening, every day holds adventure. Unforgettable moments that we would never exchange for 14 days of ultimate relaxation on a cruise.
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We, myself and two KOLD team riders, Jan Mühlenberg and Jonathan Arndt, and the surfing photographers Lauritz and Linus, have been waiting for a year for the border into Scandinavia to open. The longing for the endless dunes in the Thy National Park and real waves was so great that we were most likely the first five surfers passing over the border. Only the seals were there to witness our unforgettable sessions. Maybe the loneliest waves we’ve ever surfed are up there.
While in sunny Hamburg the thermometer rose above 20 degrees, the west coast around Agger greeted us with 9°C and lashing rain. Horizontal raindrops from the southeast, and a wind direction that was unthinkable for any kind of wind sport just two years ago. But for wing foiling, it is a paradise. Perhaps like a perfectly mixed Piña Colada at the pool bar for our all-inclusive tourists on the cruise ship.
The south-easterly wind and the low-hanging rain clouds held for two days and with every wave ride Jan and I gained trust in our skills to make tighter turns. On the third day the fine raindrops from the southeast were replaced by heavy downpours from the west.
Even though the grey spray of the clean waves against the near-black sky fits well with KOLD shapes, we were all very happy when the sun came out on the last evening. After putting our new smaller sizes of the NØRDLAND through its paces for hours, we still couldn't get enough. Even long after the last rays of the sun fell on the crests of the dunes, you could still find our wings on the horizon. The highlight of the trip? A gang of large bottlenose dolphins surfed the last waves amongst us. While the dolphins continued to look for their evening meal at the head of the pier, we stood on the beach in our winter jackets for a long time and reflected on the recent waves…
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