RØLDAL (Daily newspaper): – You come across so many situations that sometimes I just stand there and gape.
It is late in the evening when we meet Thord Paulsen (51) at the workshop in Røldal. We go in and sit in the living room, past the office and a small room with two beds. If it gets late, he sometimes sleeps here.
With 20 tow trucks, 35 employees and workshops in Odda, Røldal and Geilo, Thord Paulsen has become a local hero in Hardangervidda. Not least, seven seasons of the National Geographic series “Heroes of the Winter Road” have made him a celebrity.
Many visitors
– In the summer, at least five families come to say hello every day. People come from all over the world, from China and Africa – all kinds of things pop up at our workshop. I get at least 250 calls every day in the summer. An older lady came in and had knitted socks for everyone, with our name on them – you were a bit moved by that, says Thord.
“Heroes of the Winter Road” was broadcast for the first time in 2015. Seven seasons have been shown on National Geographic TV. The filming of the eighth season is now underway. The Norwegian car rescuers, who in addition to Thord consist of Bjørn Lægreid in Eidfjord and Jo Roger Blengsli and Ole Henrik Blengsli in Overhalla, have become international heroes with 150 million viewers in 170 countries.
– I never thought it would become as big as it has become. Maybe I’m a weirdo. People wonder why you bother crawling around in minus 20.
– Why do you bother?
– I really enjoy it. It’s bitter and awful on the mountain and there is zero visibility when you drive, but when you get things done – it gives a feeling of mastery. And then you get to know an incredible number of people. There are quite a few you save in the course of a year.
Speaks English
With the TV crew in tow, Thord has to speak English. After seven seasons, the English skills have improved.
– In the beginning it was completely crazy – I didn’t make myself understood at all. It was like my English teacher said at school – there was one person in the class for whom there was no hope and that was me. But I met her this summer and then she said “I have to say sorry, now I think you’ve become good at English”.
DRIVES HIMSELF: Although Thord Paulsen has many employees, he is involved in most of the recovery missions himself – and all the big jobs.
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If you get stuck on national highway 7 over Hardangervidda or E134 over Haukelifjell, it may well be Thord Paulsen who will come and save you.
He does salvage missions for both NAF, Viking and Falck. And for foreign drivers who block the way for winter tourists on their way to the cabin.
– I’ve never thought “whoops, now the phone is ringing again” – it doesn’t matter to me. I got home at five in the morning, just took off my clothes and then the phone rang again.
And just as he says that, the phone rings – it’s his station at Geilo.
– A mobile home in Valdres, yes, says Thord and agrees what they will need to come and rescue that car.
Even if the phone rings in the middle of the night, Thord is awake straight away.
– If it snows tonight, there will be action, he says.
– The cutest
With three workshops, a car shop, a hardware store and several properties, the working day is filled up. But there is no doubt about which is the favourite.
– Car towing is the coolest thing I do. You help a lot of people and so many strange things happen.
Once someone called and asked if Thord could take a rental car with him. Her car had been stolen. When Thord arrived with the rental car, he discovered some rare tracks across the road – and on the other side, down in the ditch, was the car.
– It had rolled 200 meters – she had forgotten to put the handbrake on. “I don’t think you need a rental car, I’ve found your car,” I said then.
And then it was she who drove in a tight left turn on a day when the winter sun was low. She drove up onto the guardrail and followed the guardrail all the way around the bend, on two wheels. When Thord arrived, the car was “completely at half past seven”.
– It was a work of art in itself – both wheels on top of the guardrail. The car was standing and about to tip over – but there wasn’t a single scratch on the car, says Thord.
GLATT: Snow and slippery roads mean work for Thord Paulsen. This week, this was the sight that awaited him when he was called to work. Photo: Private
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Many foreign
Many of the trailers that need Thord’s help are foreign trucks.
– Many don’t even know how to put the chains on. Some come out in crocs, without socks, in a full blizzard. They have no idea.
When we leave the workshop to drive home, there is snow in the air.
– We can bet on it snowing tonight. Then there will be action, says Thord Paulsen.
“Vinterveiens helter”, or “Ice Road Rescue” in English, has been translated into 33 different languages.
Anders Askestad, producer for “Vinterveiens helter” in ITV Studios Norway, believes that the background to the series’ success is that people like hero stories.
– The combination of Norwegian, spectacular winter and working people who cope with extreme stress probably feels very exotic to viewers in, for example, Africa. I think people like looking at big machines and they like heroic stories. These heroes don’t have Superman suits, but they do have dirty overalls. When there are 40 tonnes in the ditch, they come and save the day, says Askestad.
Silent Night
It will be a quiet night – one truck driver called a little after midnight and was stuck on a hill. But before Thord had put on his trousers, the plow truck had come to the rescue and salted the road. It worked this time.
The next day there are light snow showers in the air on the mountain, but down in the center of Odda the sun is shining. At the Odda Bilberging head office, the employees are working in the workshop. Thord is to help the fire brigade set up a salvage exercise, and empties a car wreck of petrol.
Across the road is an old gas station. It was there that Thord started his career 27 years ago. Then he started a car workshop and car dealership. In 2004, he also started with car salvage. Thord Paulsen AS has an annual turnover of around NOK 70 million. Recently, he has also bought into the local hardware store.
– Be prepared
For those who are going out on the road or from the winter holidays and want to avoid being picked up by the rescue truck, Thord Paulsen has some tips.
– It’s no use driving in jeans and a T-shirt when you’re going to drive over the mountain.
– You must have good tyres, a full tank or fully charged with electricity, and then you must have warm clothes and calculate that you can stay on the mountain for a long time. Then you might not have to meet me, says Thord.
And if there is a convoy, you should make sure you have good windscreen wipers and remember to have cold air on the windscreen – because with warm air, it freezes easily.
WORKING HANDS: – People wonder why I don’t wear gloves. I’ve tried a few times when I pull out the wire, because I get so many pieces of iron in my hand, but I can’t work with it, says Thord Paulsen and specifies that the hand is freshly washed.
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Things don’t always end well on Norwegian roads. Thord has seen many fatal accidents. It makes an impression.
– It is a dangerous profession, being on the road is life-threatening, he says.
Fortunately, he is screwed together so that he can put it away when he leaves the scene of the accident.
Thord Paulsen has an endless series of stories. After we have switched off the recorder, he tells more stories – on his way out the door. Like her with the motorhome, who was only going out to pee in the morning and was only in her panties when the door slammed shut behind her. Then Thord agreed that she could hide behind a rock, then they would whistle when they had opened the door.
CALLS CONSTANTLY: Winter is a little quieter on the phone, but in summer fans from all over the world are calling – usually 250 a day.
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