Red Bull Ragnarok 2016: Calgarian takes world snowkiting gold in Norway

Calgarian Marie-Eve Mayrand wongold in the Red Bull Ragnarok 2016 world snowkite race in Norway after some intense competition.

What some consider the world's toughest snowkite competition, the event draws 350 kiters from 30 countries.

"It was not easy," Mayrand said.

"The first lap took almost three hours. I started behind a lot of people and was downwind. It took me 15 minutes just to cross the start line. I made navigational errors and even got lost."

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This year the annual event was held on the icy mountain plains of Hardangervidda on April 1.

The goal was to complete five 20-kilometrelaps, which couldtake up to five hours in gruelling conditions like blizzards, extreme cold, challenging terrain and snow.

Mayrand completed her second lap in 54 minutes, believed to be the fastest time ever for a woman on a snowboard.

Lack of wind can change everything.

Mayrand ran the last few hundred metres to complete herthird and final lap.

In the snowboard category, only three women completed three laps while 11 finished only one lap this year.

Despite the challenges, Mayrand is feeling pretty good.

"It felt awesome to be the best in the world at snowboarding on that day among last year's winners and pro-riders that I admire and met there," she said.

Other Albertans take home medals

Peter Martel and Josh Barker, both of Red Deer, Alta.,won first and third place respectively in the men's snowboard category.

Barker, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease six years ago, said the decision to try kiteboarding completely changedhis life.

"Standing on the podium at the hardest snowkite race in the world, I feel blessed for my beautiful wife Alyssa who has stuck with me through thick and thin, my two perfect children, my parents, family and friends for their prayers and support," he said in a release.

Martel, whocame inthird in last year's edition of Red Bull Ragnarok, said he had todeal with reduced visibility caused by a storm moving in, a crash and a broken steering line in order tosnag gold.

"With my competition close on my heels, I had to react quickly. So I tied my steering line back together and continued," he said in a release.

Martel was happy to see his Canadian peersdo so well.

"It made this individual sport seem more like a team effort," he said.