The Norwegian flag is planted in the middle of one of the largest annual snow kiting races in the world, the Ragnarok. The race is so long that athletes use the flag of the host country to orient themselves.
Mats Grimsæth/Red Bull Content
The race takes place on Hardangervidda, a Norwegian national park devoid of power lines and tall buildings, ideal for the sport.
Kyle Meyr/Red Bull Content Pool
The race's mass start makes for a beautiful panorama, like a flock of DayGlo gulls against a near all white background, with huge cloud shadows floating across the course.
Daniel Tengs/Red Bull Content Pool
For the Ragnarok, all kite types and harnesses are accepted, though kites can't be switched out mid-race. If you have a mechanical malfunction, you're done.
David Allen/CNN
The race is so difficult that of this year's 350 athletes, only eight finished.
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The race is named after a Norse legend about the final battle between the gods of good and evil, in which few survived to the end.
Mats Grimsæth/Red Bull Content Pool
The the opening of "The Empire Strikes Back" was filmed nearby, on the edges of Hardangervidda.
David Allen/CNN
Snow kiting is harder than it looks. The skills required are highly technical, the gear is complicated, you need to be very fit to be competitive, and it can only be done in certain regions of the world.
Mats Grimsæth/Red Bull Content
Of the 350 snow kiters this year, more than 200 were on skis, the rest on snowboards. More than 60% were from 29 countries outside Norway.