the swim
1.9k through icy crystal waters, where silence reigns
The mountains rise like dark walls on every side, and the fjord lies deep and still between them. Fed by glaciers, the water is cold and sharp, less salty than the sea, crystal clear - almost drinkable. At times you glimpse the bottom far below, as if suspended in air. From Laguna Beach in Aurland you slip beneath the surface, embraced by the silence. Each stroke carries you deeper into its heart, and sometimes nise, the harbour porpoise, glides quietly at your side.
The first metres bring shadow and cold, the fjord vast and humbling. Every movement cuts through water that numbs the skin and steals the breath, yet the rhythm steadies. Time feels suspended as the dark cliffs rise above you and the water holds its quiet power. The immensity of the fjord surrounds you, unyielding, but also strangely calming.
Then comes the return. The horizon brightens, and the sun lifts over the peaks. The black water turns to silver, the silence stirs, and life returns. What began in darkness ends in light. What seemed unforgiving becomes unforgettable.
the bike
The climb of 98 kilometres. The burden of 3100 metres. Few return unchanged.
From Aurland, the road climbs into shadow, winding toward the formidable plateau of Aurlandsfjellet, 1320 metres above the sea. Early on you pass Stegastein, the infamous viewing platform that juts into nothingness, offering what many call the greatest view in Norway. Few pause to look. The climb does not allow it, each switchback demanding all that you bring.
Higher up, the air thins and the cold bites. Snow lingers even in summer, and the horizon is filled with glaciers and jagged peaks. The plateau offers no comfort, only a relentless rhythm of rises and falls. At last the road plunges into Erdal, where the fjord lies pressed between cliffs and shadow - a fleeting moment of relief before the true test begins.
The return climb is harder, each turn steeper, each gust of wind sharper. On the exposed plateau the struggle deepens, the gale often howling across the barren stone. And yet at the top lies Peak AXTRI, the highest point of the race, a marker hard earned, a summit claimed. From there the reward comes: the long descent to Aurland, speed as salvation, cliffs falling away, fjord opening wide. What began as punishment becomes endurance, and what carried you through the struggle is now transformed into belief. You will endure.
the run
Aurlandsdalen. The fairest of valleys, the most scenic of hikes. For you, the final trial.
From Vassbygdi, the first 2 kilometres are flat, a false comfort before the valley turns. The next 19 rise without mercy, climbing more than 1100 metres through shadow, stone, and ancient river paths, along narrow ledges carved into sheer cliffs. The valley closes around you, steep and unyielding, each step taking you higher into its heart.
The gorge is deep and narrow, sculpted by centuries of water and ice. Beside you the river runs clear and untamed, cascading like a silver thread through the dark ravine - a place of impossible beauty in the midst of trial. Yet the path is never gentle. It winds past the remains of mountain farms where people once clung to life, climbing near-vertical walls with nothing to protect them. Their endurance lingers in the stone, and you carry it forward.
And then, at last, the valley opens like a revelation - the long-awaited finish at Østerbø. No clock defines this moment, no stopwatch can measure it. The coloured finisher’s jersey is proof, but the real reward lies deeper: to have passed through fjord, mountain, and valley, and to have finished what few dare to begin. What began as suffering ends in light.
Hall of fame
Results and statistics
2024 - 2022 - 2021 - 2019 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010
How it all began
The idea was born during another legendary race in 2008. In Eidfjord.
Børge stood on the ferry in Eidfjord, ready for the long journey toward Gaustatoppen. It was a race like no other - iconic, raw, unforgettable. Yet the course was a journey of distance: from fjord to a faraway mountain, through tunnels, long flats, traffic, and the marks of human presence. He began to wonder if an even more spectacular landscape could be found - more compact, equally hard, yet wilder, more dramatic, with deeper silence and greater intensity. An even greater adventure?
Raised in the fjord village of Sogndal, Børge searched the mountains he knew best, the Hurrungane range in Jotunheimen, for the perfect course. But everywhere he found compromises: tunnels swallowing light, lakes numbed by ice, the mark of civilization, flat distances that broke the flow, or nature too tame. All except one place : the mountains above Aurland.
Here, the vision took form. A perfect fjord swim, with a run start from a half-moon laguna.
A Tour de France–worthy bike leg, with two brutal HC climbs, no tunnels. Just endless suffering in solitude.
And the crown jewel, the run. Hailed as Southern Norway’s most beautiful hike, from Østerbø down through Aurlandsdalen to Vassbygdi. For AXTRI, the route would be reversed. Not down. Up.
The planning began in 2009. While on paternal leave with one of his daughters, Børge used the time wisely to shape his vision, culminating in a simple website he shared with friends who soon became the still-active Team AXTRI. That November, the first test was undertaken by Børge and Michael, who had raced Norseman together the year before. The fjord was near frozen, the mountain passes already closing with snow, and the run leg lay buried under twenty centimetres of it. The short northern day faded quickly, and darkness fell before they reached a deserted Østerbø. Brutal. Perfect.
Word spread quietly, and in September 2010 the first unofficial test race was held with about 15 invited athletes. Most were triathletes from Bergen, but among the starters were Arild Mjøs Andersen, president of the Norwegian Triathlon Association, Hårek Stranheim of Norseman, Richard Merlid of Trollveggen Triathlon, and Gudmund Snilstveit - the Blummenfelt of his time. Names that carried weight in the triathlon world, all drawn by rumours of a brutal new course. The verdict was unanimous: by far the hardest middle-distance race they had ever faced, standing shoulder to shoulder with its great brother in the neighbouring fjord.
The test proved the concept. But AXTRI could not be built on athletes alone. In 2011, Team AXTRI joined forces with Bergen Triathlon Club and the local sports club in Aurland, led by the unstoppable Alf Sigurd Heimvik Strømsnes - whose energy still drives the race today. Around him gathered volunteers, the Red Cross, and local authorities. A ring of strength was forged, and with it, AXTRI became reality.
The first official AXTRI was held in August 2011, with 118 athletes from nine nations - and all times recorded manually by hand. Each year the field grew, and by 2015 every one of the 300 slots sold out within days. What began as a bold experiment in Aurland had become one of the most sought-after extreme triathlons in the world. Then came COVID, which nearly killed the race - a fate shared by countless sporting events across the globe. From being held annually, AXTRI was forced into a biannual rhythm, kept alive only by the determination of its volunteers, athletes, and the community around it.
What began as a vision sketched during paternal leave has grown into an international legend - one of beauty, brutality, and endurance. Over the years, AXTRI has welcomed athletes from nearly 30 nations, each drawn to the same test of fjord, mountain, and valley. The future is still to be written. But as long as the triathlon community hungers for challenge, and athletes continue to seek the adventure of a lifetime, AXTRI will endure. For while its founder and friends may grow older, the race itself remains young. Demanding. Alive. Legendary.