Unstad (Norway) (AFP)
A little piece of paradise very polar hidden in the middle of majestic fjords and flooded with green lights of the aurora borealis: Unstad, located in the archipelago of the Lofoten Islands, is the atypical spot of surf, which allures more and more the soft crazy of sliding in extreme environment.
Indonesian surfer Edi Siswanto, wearing his full suit, is moving with agility on the waves. Equipped with an oar, he takes advantage of the magic of the luminous phenomena of the Arctic pole to offer himself an exceptional ride.
The sky is covered with sails dancing at a wild pace. Edi Siswanto evolves in complete peace. It's been four years since this thirty-year-old left the warmth of his country to settle in Norway, in search of an increasingly extreme surf.
He settled in Unstad Bay, which since 2007 has hosted a unique competition, the Lofoten Masters, the only surfing competition in the world located at the extreme north of the globe (68.9 ° latitude).
This year, on the archipelago of the Lofoten Islands, which fed Edgar Allan Poe or Jules Verne for some of their works, 29 athletes (8 girls and 21 boys) took part in the shortboard competition, which, this year, hosted for the first time a longboard men's event.
The Lofoten Masters is a creation of Thor Frantzen, Norwegian surf pioneer, now a happy spectator of a competition now managed by his daughter Marion Frantzen, the care with all the competitors came for some camper from Sweden in particular .
The appointment is sporty but also friendly for those surfers who do not fear the icy water. Some years, the water temperature barely reaches 5 degrees! In this month of September and for this year so scorching, the summer also stretched on the bay of Unstad: the temperature of the ocean turned around 10 degrees. A real heat bath for the snags of the polar surf!
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