Henrik Bøe takes a sip of the coffee while he watches the sun rise over Synnfjellet. It is 12 to 12 degrees below zero on the mountain between Gausdal and Lillehammer. Frost smoke spews from his mouth. It is six in the morning, and the 48-year-old has climbed out of the tiny cabin he has rented for the winter. The cabin has no running water, but there is electricity. A bulb lights up in the ceiling. The body aches. He’s tired. But he doesn’t want to be anywhere else. Around him bark 15 huskies. They are starving and ready for the first meal of the day. MUST GET FOOD: 15 huskies must be fed every day at Synnfjellet. Here from a quieter time. Photo: Private Henrik Bøe distributes the food. And the dogs gnaw at the food, for a few minutes there is peace around the food. Another training day awaits in the icy landscape. Hour after hour behind the dog team on the slopes. Right up until he falls into bed in the evening. The goal is clear. Finnmarksløpet 2024. Why is he there? We turn back time. DOG YARD: Right next to the hut he lives in is the dog yard. There tends to be more life here than this. Photo: Private Out on a trip alone When his father died suddenly in October last year, recognition came. – I didn’t want to end up like a dad who never did anything about his dreams. We were quite similar and had the same interests. – He liked going on nature trips like me, but there was not enough time. He didn’t get things done, says Henrik Bøe. The time after his father died is like a fog for him. He was through funerals and inheritance. Right up until he decided he wanted to go on a trip – alone. SIMPLE STANDARD: Koia på Synnfjellet does not advertise with five stars. But it is more than enough for Henrik Bøe. Photo: Privat He got the thumbs up from the family. He has two children with his wife Elisabeth. She realized that her husband had to be set free. For three weeks he went through three national parks. With skis on and tent in tow, he went through Langsua, Jotunheimen and Skarvheimen, starting in Gausdal and finishing in Øvre Ål. – I thought about what I wanted to spend my time on. I had to do something before it was too late. And that’s when I got the idea. I was going to run the Finnmark race, says Bøe, who decided to go “all-in” on the project. First he had to get permission from his family. The answer was once again yes. – I think it’s fun. And I think it is very right for him. It is unusual, eccentric and vigorous, says his wife Elisabeth Gade. – It is very generous and I am eternally grateful. She supports one hundred percent. And she is used to me coming up with a lot of strange things. But she knows that I have dreamed about this for many years, says Bøe. The wife says it has always been in the background since they met. – For the last 10-15 years, from January to March, he has been lying on the sofa and watching the Finnmark race and the Iditarod. He has listened to all the podcasts and read all the books on dog sledding. It’s a dream, and then I can’t be so upset about a wife who says no, laughs Elisabeth. Collaboration After his father’s death, he inherited approximately NOK 750,000. Now he uses almost the entire inheritance on the project. – Many would perhaps rather go to Hawaii than sit in a bunk with 15 huskies. But this is in a way my Hawaii trip. He has received half a year’s leave from his job as a firefighter in the Oslo Fire and Rescue Service. He has worked there as a smoke diver for 12 years. FOR: Large quantities of dog food must be transported to the mountains. The next step was to contact Norway’s most famous female dog handler, Inger-Marie Haaland. She was the first woman to win the Finnmark race back in 2012. Now they have started a collaboration. It is Haaland who has bred the dogs they use. – I think it is very wonderful and brave. And it’s about taking hold of life as we live it. I cheer for everyone who does it. I thought that we have to get this done as a team, says Inger-Marie Haaland to news. While he will run the Finnmarksløpet, he will compete in the Gausdal Marathon in January and the Femundløpet the first weekend in February. COLLABORATION: Inger-Marie Haaland won the Finnmark race in 2012. Now she collaborates with Henrik Bøe. Photo: Allan Klo / news That’s why they change the dogs every week. She took over when he went back to his family in Kolbotn. This means that he is a week on the mountain – and a week with his family. This is how life will be until the competition in March. – When I am at home, I am fully focused on the family. Then they get me completely since I have leave from work, says Bøe. – He also worked in rotation as a fireman. Then he was away every other weekend, so this is a slightly different rotation arrangement. It’s just a slightly tougher turn. But when he is at home, he is at home all the time, says his wife Elisabeth. THE DREAM: This is what Henrik Bøe dreams about: the Finnmark race. Here, Swede Petter Karlsson drives to the finish line in Alta as the winner of the Finnmarksløpet 2023. Photo: Jan Langhaug / NTB Tough year At Synnfjellet, the dogs have finished their meal. 15 top-trimmed huskies trip with a lap track and are super ready for today’s session over the mountain range. Henrik Bøe has also had his breakfast. He fastened the dogs to the sled. – In periods I can be away from the cabin for a day. – I drive for five hours and rest for five hours along the track, he says. Sometimes the dogs have to go through heavy snow. He has to fight his way through the landscape. SLEDGE JOB: Henrik Bøe behind the sled at Synnfjellet. Photo: Privat It is a bloodbath for both two-legged and four-legged. And it is important to have plenty of bags and food along the way. – It is also a championship in dog welfare. It is important that potatoes and their bodies are injury-free. A large part of the art is looking after the dogs, he says. While he drives, he takes in the nature around him. He thinks about how far he will drive before he takes a break. He thinks about the training schedule. He assesses the technical part of the trail that he has to overcome. Sometimes he thinks about his father. – I think dad is rooting for me. He supported the dog sled since I started as a 12-year-old. I think he appreciated that I realized my dreams, he never got to do that, says Bøe. KRYPINN: Henrik Bøe does not struggle with sleep after miles of dog sledding. Photo: Private High breaking percentage Back in the hut in the evening, he is exhausted, but close. It’s just getting enough food and sleep. And that’s how the day goes. Toil, eat, sleep. The goal ahead is always in the back of your mind, – The big goal is, of course, to complete the Finnmark race. I will drive in the eight-seater class in a lot of weather, wind and cold. – But I bet so fiercely that I want to be part of the “competition”. There are a “million” things that need to happen. – You are dealing with dogs and not machines. The breaking percentage in Finnmarksløpet is sky high. Some years, half don’t make it to the finish line, he says. Inger-Marie Haaland has faith. – I think he has a chance to be in the top ten. As a first-time driver, it’s very good, says Inger-Marie Haaland. Because this is what he is going to do now. What the father never realized. There was never time. That is exactly what Henrik Bøe wants to do something about.
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Henrik (48) should never make the same mistake as his father – he made a drastic choice
