Remember the post One Chick. One Wheel. One Great Divide?
Well, I checked in at Divideby1.com and was stoked to see that they are currently in Montana and look like they are having a great time. They are on their way to becoming the first to ever unicycle the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a challenging off road mountain bike route put together by the Adventure Cycling Association.

A lot of personality riding around on those unicycles, Matt & Gracie offer entertaining posts with photos and videos that are definitely worth checking out. Here is a brief vignette of their travels so far:

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You may remember the story we did on Jordan Romero last year within the pages of Adventure World (he was also on the cover). Jordan is a 13-year old that has set out to climb the highest peak on every continent. He has already achieved the highest peak on 5 of the 8 (some consider Australia the continent and others consider all of Oceania as the continent…therefore, there are 8 total). His achievements thus far include Kilimanjaro (Africa), Kosciuszko (Australia), Mount McKinley (Alaska), Aconcagua (South America) and Elbrus (Europe). After they were thwarted from their most recent quest to conquer No. 6 due to political unrest in Indonesia, Jordan and team went to Mount Rainier (Washington) for a little practice for the upcoming season ahead. Below is a report from Paul Romero:

A last minute postponement of the planned climbing trip to Indonesia (Summit #6) & amp; we found ourselves instead at the Summer Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City then direct from the show to Washington state, home of one of North America’s prominent mountains, Mt. Rainier. Civil unrest in Indonesia near Carstensz Pyramid has temporarily halted all climbing in the area.

At 14,400ft., Jordan yells over the howling wind “3 down, 47 to go!” Jordan’s referring to his next mission to high-point the U.S. (standing on the highest point in each of the 50 states).

Jordan’s standing on top of Rainier, the massive free-standing mountain that commands tremendous respect and has claimed the lives of many who tried to reach it’s peak. So, though Jordan still sees it as training for the 7 Summits, he’s now bagged three of the U.S. High-Points; Washington’s Rainier, California’s Mt. Whitney and Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

The Rainier team consisted of Jordan, 13, soon to be in 8th grade at Big Bear Middle School, Karen Lundgren, team Mom and videographer, and Paul Romero, Father and team guide.

It was a gorgeous drive into the national park in our stealth black rental Dodge Charger, latte in the cup holder, windows down and the radio playing all the right 70’s sing along tunes that even Jordan’s knows. Check-in, permits, pack the backpacks and the mission is underway. The team set off from White River, the eastern flank of the Mt. Rainier National Park. It’s a fairytale start with flowing creeks and waterfalls of glacier water, wildflowers in full bloom, white puffy clouds and high spirits. The sun was just right. Things just clicked getting this trip started.

We’d been anxious to get some climbing in. Other than some local training hikes, Jordan had not been on the serious end of a rope since our winter ascent up the Mountaineer’s route of Mt. Whitney, one cold, snowy winter day in February. He’s been using his time wisely, diversifying his skills and life experiences with mountain bike racing, stand up paddling, kayak racing, multisport racing and back country skiing just to name a few.

A 5 hour approach to the high camp was a fair bit of work, our packs were busting at the seams with gear, food and water. Rainier has a fierce reputation and we came ready for anything. We start at 4400’ and climb 5000’ just to arrive at the camp. Our strategy is to bed down at sunset, sleep for a few solid hours and ‘pop up’ at midnight for the expected 7 hour summit push. Setting up the camp was a great test of teamwork and patience. Thunderstorms made their expected visit, and gusting wind made set up entertaining…for anyone watching. Karen leads the effort, Jordan holds down a corner and duck squats to hide from the ripping wind. Our shorts no longer warm enough, we crawl into our sleeping bags, thaw out our appendages, eat and set alarms for 1 a.m. Paul’s plan – midnight start; Jordan’s vote 6 a.m. start – - the compromise 1 a.m.

Sleep turns into only a bit of relaxation as 60 mph winds pound our tent and blow so hard the roof of the tent bows down to our faces. ALARMS!! gear on, and secure the tent so it’s there when we return.

Once outside the tent, we see dozens of lights climbing the face – climbers that were a little more eager and who now have at least a 1000’-2000’ jump on us. Like it or not the competitive nature in all of us surfaces and we feel like we need to catch up. It doesn’t take long and we’re making new friends and having chit chat in the darkness. In the past, Jordan was always greeted with astonishment at ‘the kid’ on the mountain. His recent growth spurt and with the typical mountain gear on, he looks like the average 5’7” ‘guy’ on the mountain. No special idle chat about his age or background. He was 12 years old 1 week ago, but at a glance those days appear years ago.

Jordan like any 13 year old would prefer to stay in bed and “sleep-in”. This morning he shows his maturity and ability to be a rock solid teammate. It’s up, packed and into the blaring wind we go.

Nearly 6000’ stand between Jordan and the summit of Mt. Rainier. Conditions- not optimum, the warmth has created tremendous melting and crevasses are prevalent. Jordan has plenty of respect for the situation, but our recent mishap at Everest just a few months ago drives home the point that every single crevasse deserves full respect and has the potential to end life. The focus is good, and the uphill movement is brisk and consistent. We’re roped together, walking onto the glacier in the dim, narrow glow of our headlamps. The scenery won‘t change till the sun brings us new energy and a view of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

The altimeter spins like a slot machine, we chomp away at the vertical feet, dodging crevasses, meeting and passing teams and thoroughly enjoying the predawn peace. Then, the dreaded visitors. The guys nobody likes – - the sleep monsters. It’s the twilight just before the sun officially pops up when we find these guys. Jordan occasionally comes to a crawl and I see him 40’ uphill of me shaking his head…trying to avoid nodding off. It‘s hard. Jordan says, “Dad, I’m super sleepy”. Paul’s not exactly ready for a round of Jepoardy and doesn’t have any brillant advice other than ‘just push on’. He turns to Karen. “What do you do in these situations?” To which Karen responds… “count to 50 steps, then start over and do it again”. Neither of our pearls of advice offer much comfort. It’s one of those things you gotta figure out what works for you and wait for the sun. We push on.

The route is twisty and turny and offers plenty of variety. Some dicey snow bridges, some exposed traverses and a few steep 50 degree faces… and always the crevasses – just enough to keep things interesting. The off/on thunderstorms, wind and dark clouds finally give way to an unbelievable blue bird morning. As glorious as it gets.

We approach 13,500, around 1000’ left to the summit. Like a spill gate opening, the weather hits the mountain with amazing force. We’ve heard about the rapid changing weather of Rainier but from this high up, you can see anything coming for miles. Now we know what they mean. It just happens, just appears. In minutes we are in the middle of pea soup thick weather, 30-50 mph winds and the temps are dropping. The summit is close, nothing treacherous between us as the summit except some additional vertical feet of climbing.

Suddenly we’re on the summit. We can barely talk over the roar of the wind. Jordan’s chattering about the remaining U.S. highpoints before we even have a chance to take in the current accomplishment. “Three down and only 47 to go!” he hollars over the wind.

The 13th Annual Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race returned to Hawaii this year, the competition held on July 26th. Considered the world championship of stand up paddleboarding, solo men and women, as well as two-person teams, made the arduous 32-mile paddle across the storied Molokai (Ka’iwi) Channel in pursuit of paddling’s top honor. Along the way they battled tough seas, summer heat, physical and mental limits, not to mention, each other. This year´s long distance mile open ocean race offered a record prize purse of $16,000 and brought all the top athletes in the sport, including record holder Jamie Mitchel (Australian) who won for the 8th year in a row.

In an interview he described the race:
“It felt like six hours today,” said Mitchell, who couldn’t believe he came in under five hours. “The first two thirds was good, but that last third… it took forever to get close, then the current, then the backwash. It was definitely the toughest (race) of the last three or four years for me.

“It was real technical today. It wasn’t easy to catch the bumps. You had to be really on your game to get them…The current had a stationary wave effect. You’d be trying to get down it and it would be sucking you back up.

“The last couple of hours was pretty painful for me,” Mitchell added, supported by his cheese-grated feet that bore the brunt of the hard work. “I felt strong, just the conditions today made it a lot harder than previous years.”

I was checking out some of the photos and videos of the Yukon River Quest and it looks like it was an absolute blast!
Having the opportunity to boat 460 miles of the Yukon river with a bunch of other paddlers from Whitehorse (a Canadian town with a great microbrewery) and ending in Dawson City (a cool old gold rush town) would have been a great adventure.

When I was in Dawson City, the locals told me about a guy who lives in a cave across the Yukon River, and that every year when the river starts freezing over, huge chunks of ice block the ferry from crossing. However, every year this guy continues crossing in his canoe, sometimes getting pushed hundreds of yards down the river by floating ice chunks and has to drag his canoe into town. That and while walking through the town some random drunk challenged me to a duel to defend his honor. It is a quirky town, and loads of fun.

Here are some photos from the event:

And thanks to the PilotGirl for putting these videos together, visit her blog to see more of her great work!

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After a physical and mental torture, Christian Maurer (SUI) crossed the Red Bull X-Alps 2009 finishing line in Monaco at exactly 11.24 hours local time on Wednesday morning. Having set off from Salzburg armed with only a paraglider and hiking gear, the 26-year-old extreme sportsman came out on top in the toughest of battles across Europe’s highest mountains against 29 other athletes from 23 countries. The 2007 winner, fellow countryman Alex Hofer, was the only other athlete to reach the Mediterranean principality.

MONACO. Maurer covered an incredible 1,376 kilometres on the edge of physical and mental exhaustion during the planet’s toughest adventure race as he became the first athlete to plunge into the refreshing waters of Monaco’s legendary harbour on Wednesday morning, writing extreme sport history in the process as he finished over a day ahead of Hofer.

However, the Swiss athlete’s route to the millionaire playboys’ favourite playground on the Mediterranean Coast was anything but luxurious. As well as completing turnpoints at mountains including the Gaisberg (AUT), the Watzmann (GER), the Grossglockner (AUT), the Marmolada (ITA), the Matterhorn (SUI), Mont Blanc (FRA) and Mont Gros (FRA) with no external help, Maurer was also forced to withstand the worst nature could throw at him, including heavy rain, fierce storms and extreme heat. Yet, thousands of vertical metres over rough terrain with bleeding blisters and extreme flights despite sleep deprivation weren’t enough to bring Maurer off course as he emerged victorious in the 2009 edition of the race.

Third place went to the American athlete Hozna Rejmanek as he recorded the best ever result for a non-European racer. The pain in Rejmanek’s knees was so extreme during the final days that he had been forced to walk down the mountains backwards.

Only 18 of the original 30 starters made it into the final standings, with 12 athletes retiring from the race early or being disqualified. Meanwhile, Maurer began to take stock of the toll the race had taken on him: “My body is totally exhausted, I won’t move a metre over the next few days. I was on the edge during the whole race, but since landing in the water I feel better than ever – mentally, at least!”

The Swiss athlete spent a total of 42.17 hours in the air, ran for a further 87.32 hours (and spent a mere 100 hours resting!) as he covered no fewer than 34,890 vertical metres on foot and 999 kilometres with his paraglider during the 1,376 kilometres from Salzburg to Monaco.

The finishing area remained open for 48 hours after the winner’s arrival, with the final position of the athletes still on the course being used to calculate the official race standings after the cut-off point. In 2007, five athletes reached the line in Monaco.

Final Result Red Bull X-Alps 2009:

1. Christian Maurer (SUI)
2. Alex Hofer (SUI)
3. Honza Rejmanek (USA)
4. Aidan Toase (GBR)
5. Evgeny Gryaznov (RUS)
6. Michael Gebert (GER)
7. Jouni Makkonen (FIN)
8. Pal Takats (HUN)
9. Ramon Morillas (ESP)
10. Thomas de Dorlodot (BEL)
11. Julien Wirtz (FRA)
12. Andy Frötscher (ITA)
13. Kaoru Ogisawa (JPA)
14. Max Fanderl (CAN)
15. Tom Payne (GBR)
Jan Skrabalek (CZE)
17. Filip Jagla (POL)
18. Peter Vrabec (SVK)

Withdrawn:

Helmut Eichholzer (AUT)
Toma Coconea (ROM)
Martin Müller (SUI)
Masayuki Matsubara (JPA)
Vincent Sprüngli (FRA)
Lloyd Pennicuik (AUS)
Raul Penso (VEN)
Ronny Geijsen (NED)
Pierre Carter (RSA)
Leone Antonio Pascale (ITA)
Primoz Susa (SLO)
Christian Amon (AUT)

At 11:24 Christian ‘Chrigel’ Maurer (SUI3) landed in Monaco to become the 2009 Red Bull X-Alps Champion.

“Flying from the middle of the Alps to the ocean has long been my dream” Maurer said, just after landing. “And I did it!”

Maurer travelled over 190 km yesterday and did what many thought was impossible, by flying right over the coast to land at a beach east of Monaco by the evening.

He then hiked up Mt Gros, the final turnpoint, but when he arrived at the summit failing light and poor wind conditions meant he had to wait until today to complete the race.

Maurer flew and hiked the 818 km course in just 9 days, 23 hours and 54 minutes: this is a new race record.

The Red Bull X-Alps race will now finish at 11:24, Friday July 31. Rules state that the race closes 48 hours after the winner touches down, so the remaining athletes must push hard if they are to make Monaco.

Alex Hofer (SUI1), winner of the Red Bull X-Alps in 2005 and 2007, is currently 150 km north of Monaco, and flying fast. Race Director Steve Cox predicts he will arrive within the deadline, but it will be tight.

“This has been the toughest Red Bull X-Alps in history,” said Cox. “Athletes have had to contend with strong headwinds, fiercely turbulent thermals and a whole lot of pain in their journeys,” he continued.

Photocredits: ©Dean Treml, Olivier Laugero and Chris Hoerner/ Red Bull Photofiles.

I returned from the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market over the weekend after spending over 3 days walking the show floor and meeting with dozens of companies each day. I spent my time trying on boots, running shoes, jackets, crawling in tents and just enjoying being surrounded by so much cool gear. In the past, I have packed my schedule so tightly that I basically ran from from one meeting to the next trying to make mental notes about what I wanted to go back and check out in a booth that caught my attention (only to ultimately forget and possibly missing out on something really cool). However, this year…I left blocks in my schedule just to walk the floor checking out not only the booths that I had scheduled meetings with but also allowing me the freedom to browse new booths and not just spend time rushing from one meeting to the next.

The below products are just a few of the many items that I came across at the show that we look forward to actually getting in our hands and putting to the test for ourselves. So for those of you who begin to salivate at the thought of new gear…most of the below items (and others that we saw at the show but not mentioned below) will not be available to the public until early 2010.

new SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger
Having used the older generation of SPOT devices in races throughout the country…I was excited to see enhancements in the new model that will make it advantageous for racers and adventurers alike. According to the company, the new device is 30% lighter than the original and weighs only 5.2 ounces.

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By Rebecca Rusch

The 24 hour solo mountain bike World Championships
have been over for just about 48 hours. The pain and damage my body took from the thrashing is going to take weeks of recovery. The glow of winning worlds three years in a row is going to take years to wear off. This year’s training was entirely focused on peaking for this singular day and putting my name definitively in the record books for endurance mountain bike racing. I have to say it was a bit daunting to form a whole year of training and focus around one event. The pressure of coming back multiple years in a row with a target on my back and the expectation of winning was a heavy weight. I was even given #1 as my bike number plate for this race. The unspoken pressure was thick and anything less than a three peat would have been a disappointment for me.

The preparations unfolded as planned and I stacked the odds in my favor by bringing the best crew friendship can buy. I also brought two tricked out Specialized Era race bikes, a mountain of spare bike parts, cases of Red Bull and duffel bag full of Hammer Nutrition race food. Canmore is a world-class place to ride and the trails serve up the usual Canadian style single track with lots of roots, rocks and technical riding. This course got my attention and Greg described it as similar to operating a jackhammer for 24 hours. I had a few days of pre-riding the course to sort out the technical sections, figure out where I could eat and drink and try to decipher how to race the course to my best advantage. There were no sections to rest and although the lap was only about 10 miles, it was chock full of intensity.

The women’s field was mostly unknown to me with the Australian 24 hour National champ, some Canadian hard women and the US National 24 hour champ, Jari Kirkland. I know Jari from adventure racing and knew she was the type of athlete who would be strong and consistent over the long haul. However, in a race this long, focusing on my own pacing, my own nutrition and riding the course in my style always works out better than trying to focus on the other competitors and marking their riding. My coach Matthew and I had discussed a race strategy that was rolling around in my head. However, as the gun went off, that primal instinct that is hardwired in my brain fired and my legs turned over instinctually. I posted about 60 minutes for the first lap and was 7 minutes up on the rest of the women’s field. As I ticked off the laps, my lead steadily expanded by over 5 minutes per lap. I made a mental pact with myself to keep the pressure on until midnight or until I lapped the 2nd place pro woman.

The course was relentless with very little opportunity to spin and recover. It was non-stop focus and intensity for the whole lap. Even the descending sections required nimble reflexes and upper body strength. Because of the nature of the course, I was taking a little longer in the pits than usual to get a break and try to eat some food. My crew was keeping a sharp eye on the competition and they were also stopping for a few minutes each lap, so I felt comfortable matching their down times. Before dark I lapped Jessica Douglas from Australia and shortly after that Jari Kirland from the US. At about 12 hours into the race, I had a 90 minute lead and the race was unfolding as planned. I was switching bikes every few laps and Jason was keeping them silky smooth. My crew was working non-stop and I was pushing hard to do my part and stay strong on the climbs and relaxed in the single track. As midnight approached, I settled into the darkness and my favorite part of these ultra long races. The night riding offers a whole different dimension to the riding experience and a calm settles over the race. Although I had a lead, there were still 12 hours more to ride and plenty of time for crashes, mechanicals or errors. It is also the time where the body starts to break down, reflexes are numb and the burden of 12 intense race hours in the saddle start to take their toll. There were multiple crashes and medical evacuations from the course, so staying safe and protecting my lead were high priorities.

I stayed solid throughout the night hours and kept my lead at a comfortable distance. However, by sunrise my stomach was not cooperating with what I was asking it to do. As the sun came up, so did most of my food, and fluid that I had been diligently consuming to fuel the race. My nutrition plan was the same as usual, but I think the intensity of the course was not allowing any blood to my stomach to digest. It was a tough morning as I struggled to keep food down and suffered from some severe asthma attacks. I also had a scare when Jari came blowing by me on an uphill around 8am. I was still a lap ahead of her, but she had unexpectedly gained time on me while I was stopped in my pit trying to get some food down. In my mind, I began calculating the worst-case scenario with her fourth quarter push and in my stupor tried to do the math on how many laps I had remaining and what I needed to do to protect my lead. My paranoia kept me focused for the last couple of laps, and I held onto my third 24 Hour World Championship title.

All season at the end of every single training ride, I had visualized this finish line. This precise scene was etched in my mind and has been my singular motivation for a year. As I soaked in the sensations, I exchanged hugs with the A-team: Charles, Jason, Donna and Karoline. I rolled under the finish banner elated at 11:15 am. I had ridden 180 miles with 30,000 feet of climbing in approximately 23 hours. I completed 18 laps and achieved a goal that I had not dreamed possible: three consecutive 24 hour solo World Championship titles!

I have no idea what is in store for me next. For the moment, I am going to take a well-earned break and let my body and mind relax for a bit.

Thanks to Red Bull and Specialized for getting me to the start line. Thank you to my team of Jason, Charles, Donna and Karoline for getting me to the finish line. I cannot even begin to thank you for all the essential work you put in.

Congratulations to Greg Martin, also from Ketchum Idaho, who crushed the field and earned his 2nd consecutive 24 Hour Single Speed World Championship! There must be something in the water where I live!

Stefan Simanowitz meets a team of adventurers as they set off on a death-defying kite buggy record attempt across the Sahara!

When Africa tour guide, Guy Lankester first read the proposal for a kite buggy race across the Sahara desert in the height of summer he responded candidly. “It’s the most insane idea I’ve ever heard” he emailed the organizers in Australia, “But I love it”. Six months on and everything is in place. A convoy of three vehicles set off today from Portsmouth heading for the Sahara. When they reach Agadir in Northern Morocco, they will unload four specially adapted kite buggies and two Australians and two Kiwis will embark on a race across 2,500 km of the world’s harshest terrain.

The brain-child of adventurer and vet, Geoff Wilson, this wind powered odyssey dubbed the Mad Way South, began as a personal challenge but quickly became competitive. “There’s no way on earth you can put Ozzies and Kiwis together on a trip like this without it turning into a race” jokes Wilson. “It was inevitable”.

Practicing in Queensland
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Talented young multisporter and adventure racer Dougal Allan (Wanaka) put the hammer down in the The North Face Peak to Peak in Queenstown yesterday to win the high profile event, which races from the top of The Remarkables to the top of Coronet Peak, for the second time.
 
Allan stopped the clock at the finish line at Coronet Peak in 2hrs 19. 13, three minutes ahead of prominent multisporters Gavin Mason (Wanaka) in 2.21.44 and Mike Kelly (Queenstown) who took third in 2.24.16. The 2008 winner Glen Currie, returning to endurance racing after a serious illness, achieved a creditable fourth place.
 
The event attracted 50 individual competitors and 67 teams and was held in cold but sunny, clear conditions. It began with a 2km ski or snowboard on The Remarkables finishing at the access road, followed by a 17km mountain bike road down the high altitude road to Lake Wakatipu. A 7km paddle to Queenstown Bay led to a 9km run from Queenstown via Arthurs Point to a changeover point near the foot of Coronet Peak for the final 9km cycle ride to the finish.
 

Dougal Allan – 1st individual home (photo Southern Traverse)

Race Director Geoff Hunt said a highly talented field competed and there were some excellent individual results. “Dougal was going to be hard to beat after taking the lead on the run. As the winner in 2007 he knew what was expected of him if he wanted to take the title again.”
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Dear & Yonder has been released. Coming from the ladies that made up Villa Villa Cola productions in the early 90´s, a prescient female skateboard company turned into creative activists, working to inspire more “lady shredders” out there with female made zines and videos. Most notable is Getting Nowhere Faster, a skate video documenting the progress of female skaters.

Tiffany Campbell and Andria Lessler have since been shifting their attention to female surfing, and put together an impressive film documenting the history of female surfers, from top professionals to epic adventurers like Liz Clark who is sailing around the world looking for the best waves. A conscious film that takes you across the globe, showcasing women´s contributions to the culture: from Ashley Lloyd, board shaper using soy based Biofoam blanks, to Judith Sheridan (she bodysurfed Mavericks!) who explains how geological forces shaped San Francisco´s dramatic coastline, to Belinda Baggs sewing her own boardshorts in between sets. In addition to clips of women killing it on the waves; the film conveys a good sense of place, history, and encourages sustainable practices. This is one of those films that is going to break down perceived barriers and offer the viewer something meaningful to take home with them.

For a behind the scenes look at the making of the film, check out an interview with Surfing Magazine online

They are just now beginning to tour around the globe with the film, check out the TOUR DATES so you don´t miss out.

Photo by Prue Jeffries

Preparations are officially under way for this year’s Animal Windfest. The beach-based free extreme sports event returns to Poole in Dorset from the 11th -13th September 2009.

Now in its 11th year, it promises to be bigger, better and even more awesome than ever. Some of the biggest names in the sports of wind-surfing, kite-surfing and stand-up paddle boarding will be blowing audience’s minds all over again!

From the world of windsurfing, stars such as Antonine Albeau and Robby Swift will be competing in the JP-Neilpryde Slalom Series, while Kite-surfing kings Tom Court and Susi May will be showing the latest moves and stand-up paddle-boarders will be battling it out in a long distance race around Brownsea Island.

Not to be out-done, there will also be thunder-cat racing, bike shows and wakeboarding demonstrations.
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It´s amazing to see that there is a race like this going on. Certainly an event that warrants the often used label, “extreme”. Here is a recent press-release giving details about the progress of the athletes. More coverage to come in the future. Watch the action unfold on Red Bull Mobile Live Tracking at www.redbullxalps.com

Christian Maurer (SUI3) is raising the bar at the Red Bull X-Alps 2009, creating a huge lead over his rivals despite extreme flying conditions.

Thirty athletes began the race at 11:30, Sunday July 19 from Salzburg, Austria, and in just five days, Maurer has completed more than 350km of the 818km course.

It’s a stunning achievement when considering he has passed the turnpoints around the summits of Waltzmann, Grossglockner and Marmolada with nothing more than his hiking boots and an unpowered paraglider.

This morning, July 23, Maurer hiked up through a forest near the border from Italy into Switzerland, west of Tirano. He was over 325 km down course when he launched his paraglider and started surfing the ridges heading west towards turnpoint 5, the Matterhorn.

“It’s looking windy today,” he reported just before taking off, but I’m going to fly low and fast.”

Defending champion Alex Hofer (SUI1) is further north, trying to close the gap on the leader by taking advantage of lighter winds as he approaches the eastern Swiss border. Continue Reading

On July 16th, Zac Sunderland became the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the world solo by yacht. ESPN put together a feature writeup about this epic adventure you can check out HERE.

The total journey took about 13 months and covered about 25,000 nautical miles. At one point, he encountered a dangerous rogue wave, glowing from the phosphorescent phytoplankton, that came crashing down over his boat, destroying his electrical system. No phone, no radar, which meant he could never rest longer than 20 minutes in case a freighter was on a crash course. One of the many challenges he must have faced during his voyage.
He is now relaxing with his family in Marina del Rey.

You can check out his BLOG for a full account of his journey.

Check out this video:

This past weekend Aaron Rinn and Myself, RVG, joined a handful of other Pacific Northwest seasoned racers in the fourth annual Peterisoba. This is an underground AR that is held just out of North Bend, WA and is within 45 minutes of Downtown Seattle. A majority of the race took place on the mountains that divide the North and Middle Forks of the Snoqualmie Rivers and had up to 9,000 feet of climbing and took teams from a base elevation of 1,000 feet up to the Green Mt peak of nearly 5,500. This was exactly what both of us needed to help get us primed for PQ.

The race started off with a short bike with a switch to a river run or creekteering, to ensure that everyone’s feet were soaked. A quick trek up a ridge, a small bushwhack and a fun rappel down had everyone pumped. From there we were off Climbing up 2,500 feet for our first views of the race. From there we bombed back down to the North Fork of the Snoqualmie river where we bumped into a handful of gold miners…thought we went through a time warp.

The next three hours were filled with Steep climbing and navigating our way up to Green Mt. via old logging roads. Lucky for me my bikes are in the shop and Aaron let me borrow the Orange Bomber, which had a loose cassette and no way to torque in granny gear without issues. This made for some painful biking and lots of dismount practice. Soon enough we ditched the bikes and were on foot trekking to Green Mt and then the next mountain to the south. From there we ridge ran back to the North and dropped to the end of the line and then bushwhacked/boulder hopped to our next road…was this perhaps the access to road to Bessemer? Soon enough we were bombing towards the TA to a 12 hour rogaine and glad to get our buts and heavy packs off of our bikes.

We decided we wanted to take some time with our route planning and come up with a rogaine loop that made sense. It would be a clockwise loop and we would not go for any of the 90 pointers that were out of reach. By the time we got back we had completed our loop but learned that the Race Director was baiting unsuspecting racers into attempting short bushwhacks through the depths of hell, or dense thorn and mosquito infested areas. So we started opting out of the more aggressive CP’s and sticking to the loop. We by no means won the rogaine but were able to post relatively good results on both legs enough so to land on top of the ranking. It was an honor to see the local racers out and about on the course and to be able to participate in such a stellar event in our backyard!

Posted by Ryan Van Gorder

Untamed New England crowned the ATP/Salomon team as champions when they crossed the finish line 68 hours and 43 minutes after starting the race. ATP/Salomon, a team of 3 Canadians and 1 American, won in decisive fashion when factoring in their 16 hours of time credits they
earned by visiting 4 extra “bonus” checkpoints over the course of the event. Second place honours went to Team Kinetic, a team from Quebec, Canada; Team Kinetic crossed the finish line 66 hours and 50 minutes after the race began, but did not accrue any time bonuses.

The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel made for a luxurious finish line to the arduous 3-day test that was Untamed New England 2009. Teams negotiated muddy and rocky trails on their mountain bikes; racers paddled and battled through churning white water; the event featured hours of orienteering through the mountains of the Crescent Range and the Percy Peaks Wilderness, including miles of off-travel navigation; spanning the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, the 2009 Untamed New England was a
showcase of the beauty, challenge, and variety this region has to offer.

“A true world class course,” commented ATP/Salomon’s Scott Pleban, “you couldn’t let your guard down at all.” Other racers described the course as fun, but relentless: Andrew Reeder from rookie team Had No Plans explained, “I thought we’d come closer to finishing than we did. Now, I have no choice but to come back next year with the aim of doing much, much better!” Only half of the teams that started the race reached the finish line 3 days later; fatigue, injuries, and the weather forced some teams to withdraw prematurely from the course.

Team ATP/Salomon trekking through the Percy Peaks Wilderness on Day 2

The field of 44 teams assembled for Untamed New England 2009 made this the biggest expedition race (The Untamed New England Adventure Race) ever for the Northeast.

The official race podium results are as follows:
• 1st Place: ATP/Salomon
• 2nd Place: Team Kinetic
• 3rd Place: Berlin Bike / Eastern Mountain Sports and NYARA (tie)

Photo at top: Big whitewater on the Androscoggin River on Day 1

Photos by Luis Moreira