Mariann Saether's Page

I am finally established as a "Vossing", the norwegian, official term for a person living in Voss, the hucking capital of Norway. At least temporarily. There are a few people from around the world that has chosen this little place tucked in between fjords, mountains and waterfalls as their home: Allan Ellard and Mikey Abbot, Lizz Bell, Mark and Michelle Basso, Andy Philips, Benjamin Hjort, Eirik Øvreide... Some extremely solid names from the top end of the kayaking hucking/expedition world, and… Continue

After my rides in finals in Thun, for the freestyle worlds, Valerie Bertrand and myself loaded up the van and drove to Seu d`´Urgell in Spain. We were both competing for Norway at the Worldchampionships in Slalom, and had three practice days scheduled before we competed that following thursday.



Both of us just started doing slalom this past summer, and with the preperation for freestyle Worlds and work, we hadnt gotten to paddle gates as much as preferred before such a big event...… Continue

What an exciting two weeks! The wave was not easy, as it kept changing from session to session. Sometimes nice and steep with a good foampile, sometimes flat without any speed and hard to stick moves. I definitely had some ups and downs in trainingsessions, but on overall felt pretty good about my paddling, as I was fairly consistent all the time.



My last training session I had somewhat of a break through, throwing a ride consisting of both airblunts, backstab, airscrew, helix left,… Continue

When you take away the obvious differences in strength between men and women, I have found that the biggest difference betwen us as paddlers, is the ability to let go. For many women, it seems very hard to come to terms with this simple fact: Sometimes you have to let go and push yourself out of that eddy to allow yourself to grow as a kayaker. It is ok to have somebody (like the boyfriend :-)) to hold your hand for a while, helping you to reach descisions on the river as to which rapids to run… Continue

There is of course not a set receipe to become a better paddler, and I can only speak out of my own experiences. However, I hope this might be helpful, or inspiring, to some of you out there.



The worst thing anyone can tell me is "you can not do this, you should focus on just one thing". This is something I have heard a lot over the years, and usually when I have not made the podium in freestyle. And everytime, I shake my head, and I do not agree. Too me, to become a better paddler,… Continue