Adventure sports, also known as "extreme sports," is a relatively young sport, covering a group of endurance competitions where the participants are not necessarily aware of the course and the disciplines of the race in advance. The disciplines of the race can be any non-motorized way of moving in nature, such as running, orienteering, cycling, mountainbiking, climbing, mountaineering, abseiling, jumar climbing, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, caving, horseback riding, swimming and skiing. The races are physically extremely demanding, but in addition to technical skills and the outstanding physical shape of the individuals, seamless teamwork is essential for success; only the team performance is ranked, not individual achievements. The entire team has to arrive at the finish in order to win.
"The two world leaders have come together in this sponsorship agreement. The members of the Nokia Adventure team have demonstrated their strength and wit in the previous races, and we are excited to see how the team will now work together in this year's tough events; they are clearly the best in the world. The team members have shown strong commitment to the Nokia values and teamwork. We are delighted that the team has selected Nokia as their partner and the Nokia 6250 as their personal mobile phones. The Nokia 6250 has been designed not to be any less in endurance than the team, and I am confident that the Nokia 6250 will be their perfect companion during the world tournee," said Hannu Huttunen, Vice President, Special Products, Nokia Mobile Phones.
The Nokia Adventure team members are: Petri Forsman, Pasi Ikonen, Mika Hirvinen, Jukka Pinola, Merja Kuusisto, Kaisa Varis, Dominick Arduin and Annmari Hakola. The length of the races range from a few hours up to several days. The big competitions usually last from 5 to 11 days; the time runs without breaks from start to finish. Most competitions have classes for men, women, and mixed teams. The competition in the mixed team class is usually toughest, and therefore the Nokia Adventure team will be participating in that class whenever possible.
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. The company is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, Nokia's net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 55 000 people.