A STOCKSFIELD man achieved a long term dream when he competed in an international cross-country ski race.

Tomas Coulter finished the hair-raising 54km race over mountains and valleys in Norway, from Rena to Lillehammer, as he competed in the World Cup race known as Birkebeiner.

Coulter learned to cross-country ski at the age of 12, and spent three consecutive holidays from 2001 to 2003 in the Norwegian mountains where he first saw the race unfold.

From 2004, he took up downhill skiing and didn’t attempt cross-country again until this year. In between, he played football both in the UK for Stocksfield, and in the USA for a college soccer team.

Safety measures are of the highest priority in the race as almost two thirds of the race is over barren mountains, and the course can only be reached by road at three points.

As a result, skiers have to carry a pack weighing a minimum of 3.5 kilos to make sure suitable equipment are brought for severe mountain weather.

The Birkebeiner is deemed the most demanding of the World Cup races because of the terrain and the number of climbs.

The last 14km of the race are perhaps the most exciting, yet daunting, due to the narrowing of the track between trees, and a lack of control together with the volume of competitors can lead to accidents.

Coulter, himself, crashed at this point and broke a competitor’s ski poles, but he regained his composure to finish the race in a time of four hours and 30 minutes.