Living in Bavaria means a lot of lake riding in light wind, which is why, when the opportunity to explore somewhere new comes up, it's impossible to resist! Join Alina Kornelli and photographer Lukas Stiller as they hit the road in their vans to explore the Danish seaside. Find out what happened On the Road with Alina!

Living in Bavaria in the south of Germany means a lot of lake riding and light wind. My home spot is a beautiful lake called Walchensee, with thick forest on one side and mountains on the other. Walchensee is a deep alpine lake with clear blue water that is ice cold. Summer brings thermal winds, but rarely enough for anything more than foiling. This is why, when the opportunity to explore somewhere new comes up, it's impossible to resist!

My good friend Lukas Stiller is a talented photographer and happened to be up for a visit to our neighbour to the north, Denmark. While neither of us had been to the Danish seaside, we had heard of incredible spots like Cold Hawaii, Hvide Sande, Klitmøller, Hanstholm, Spot X or Nordskov on the eastern island of Fyn. The forecast looked promising, so we packed up our vans with enough gear to combat any conditions the Danish waters could throw at us!

The best way to do a road trip is in a van, and luckily I have a Volkswagen T6.1 California Beach. While it's a normal-sized van with the added luxury of a built-in kitchenette, there's still plenty of space for all of my kiting gear at the back and a pop-up roof where I put my mattress. Lukas has a van of his own, so we set off in our houses on wheels in our two-person convoy to follow the wind!

Since Denmark is only 12% of the landmass of Germany, it is super easy to get around. You'll never be more than 32 miles from the sea, and it only takes a few hours to go from north to south or east to west. Since we had only planned a short trip, this suited us perfectly, but we still ran into some hurdles! As a kiteboarder, you know it's never guaranteed that you'll find the right kite spot... and one with wind! The wind forecast was changing quickly, so we searched the Windy app for the windiest zones on the peninsula of Jutland.    

Starting at the southern flat water fjords, we got to see foggy Hvide Sande, with super lovely flat water conditions. Excited to be by the seaside, we headed north in search of waves. We drove past numerous kite spots on our way along the west coast, so we decided to stop halfway at a parking spot near Krik, next to another fjord. Alas, all we got as a welcome was 12 knots, muddy water, and clouds overhead! While we weren't so lucky with the wind, it was clear that you could discover the whole fjord with your kite in the right conditions.

Continuing along the coast, through the Thy National Park, we arrived at a well-known wave spot called Hanstholm, located at a pretty beach next to giant windmills and a harbour that reeked of fish! We arrived to see some familiar faces; It seems all the wave kiters in Denmark had heard about the forecast! However, compared to the packed lagoons in Brazil that we experienced last year, this was calm and empty.

We parked our vans and tucked in for the night with high hopes that the wind would arrive by morning. We were up for sunrise with the telephoto lens, and I was happy to have my first session in the fresh Danish water! A midday underwater housing strapless session followed that. It was a productive day on the water until the wind died completely!

Coming off the surprisingly cold water, I couldn't help but check the highest average temperate you can get in Denmark, which is only 20 degrees in July! It wasn't exactly the summer weather we had pictured, but those expectations were soon forgotten when we saw the fantastic Danish scenery. We doubled up with two spring wetsuits, one over the other, and settled into that Danish kite feeling. It was the kind of trip we hadn't done before, and that's what we were secretly searching for. 

Here in Denmark, you're blessed with perfect freestyle or wave spots around almost every corner. Between Agger and Hanstholm, along the Thy National Park on the western side, there is a coast of around 35 miles with 29 registered kiteboarding and surfing spots. Of all the spots we explored, the best session of the trip was in Vorupør, a tiny fishing village with only 800 inhabitants. 

Once we arrived at the beach, I pumped up my kite between the huge fishing boats, hurrying to capture the sunset session. Walking around in a fishing boat museum with my kite in the air and foil under my arm was a little nerve-wracking! The conditions were tricky because there was a big sandbank on one side and huge stones from the pier on the other side, which I nearly hit with my foil. Nevertheless, it felt great to be kiting on that special beach and foiling in waves, as it was completely different to what I'm used to at my home spot. 

Sixteen hours of daylight, fresh air, driving, kiteboarding, and taking pictures are fun, but it's hard if you don't have the conditions you're hoping for. So, after three days on the road and a lot of communication with local surfers, we tried to take every hour of wind we could get. For the last two days of our trip, the wind forecast led us across the central part of Denmark; After heading from north to south, we were now traversing the country from east to west.

Before we began the trip, we had heard about a long road that crossed through the water. Not only did it sound incredibly photogenic, but it could potentially be a perfect flatwater kite spot if the winds were in our favour! So, off we went to the island of Fyn.

Arriving at this spot was unreal and completely surpassed my expectations. It is probably the prettiest road our two vans have ever driven on. But unfortunately, there wasn't a whiff of wind in the forecast. So with one hour left until dark, we launched the drone to see the view from above. It's always hard standing in front of one of the most epic kite spots with no wind! At least we had the opportunity to discover the spot, and I hope to one day return for a proper session here. 

As our Danish adventure drew to a close, all was not lost! There was still some wind blowing on the other side of this small island, so we headed northeast to a kite spot called Nordskov. The conditions in this spot change with the direction of the wind. With the easterly wind, we had gusty conditions due to houses and trees. It wasn't the best, but still rideable! 

We had arrived at the last morning of our shooting period and knew this was the last chance we had to get some shots. Once again, we woke at sunrise. Lukas had everything prepared, and my kite was already rigged. I rode in a small but picturesque bay with a harbour, and we were able to get some incredible action shots with a pretty backdrop. We were happy to have finished our work and sad at the same time to leave the Danish scenery behind.

Looking back on this "summer week" in August, it wasn't the windy week we had hoped for, but we made the most of everything else that this country had to offer. Everything we had seen in photos is just how it was in reality. There were Danish "Dannebrog" flags everywhere, tiny cosy homes, a rough coastline, unique landscapes, and a massive variety of kite spots for every kind of discipline. 

The spontaneous road trip with our two vans was an unforgettable adventure. In the end, we made our trip feel like summer, but a Danish summer!

 

By Alina Kornelli

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