Only four months after opening registration, the Untamed New England Adventure Race is sold out with its final spot going to a team from Quebec, Canada.

This is the third straight sellout for the expedition adventure race that has established itself as THE destination adventure race in the Eastern US if not all of North America.

“There are teams from all corners of the continent: California, Alberta (Canada), Florida, and all points between,” stated Clay Abney, Marketing Director for Untamed New England. “The race continues to attract international teams from as far away as Ecuador, Sweden and Denmark.”

With over four months to go until the racing begins, this marks the fastest the race has ever reached capacity.

The record setting sellout can be attributed to 3 main reasons, explained Race Director Grant Killian: “It’s a testimony to our ability as an organization to deliver an authentic adventure race with emphasis on a real back-country experience; we’ve been organizing great races since 2004 and word has spread about the Untamed New England Adventure Race. It’s also validation by our racers who can’t wait to explore the wilds of our course in Maine, based from Northern Outdoors Lodge. Finally, it’s a statement that the sport of adventure racing is vibrant and capturing the hearts of endurance athletes who are bold enough to give it a try.”

Forty-five of the teams racing in Untamed New England are listed at www.UntamedNE.com/Teams.aspx — but the full race roster will not be announced until March, as a few teams are finishing payments and formalities surrounding their registration.

Teams still interested in participating can join the waiting list, and there are still teams looking to add a teammate or two. Visit www.UntamedNE.com for more information.

About Untamed New England Adventure Race
Untamed New England is a 4-day expedition adventure race that is a qualifier for the Adventure Racing World Championship. The race includes mountain biking, canoe and kayak paddling, trail running, off-trail trekking, orienteering and fixed ropes. The 2012 edition will take place in the Maine wilderness. www.untamedne.com

Ty Stevens

In the words of Todd Branham, Swank 65 race director ”it’s the most laid back, serious MTB race in the Southeast”. Well, I guess so, if you consider 40 miles of gnarly downhills, fast twisty single track, long steep climbs and sheer rock drops, all within the backdrop of epically scenic Pisgah National Forest, a fun way to spend a day. I sure did.

Todd founded Blue Ridge Adventures in 1998 as a bicycle guide and race promotion company. His company now comprises of 3 premiere and highly respected mountain bike races in Western North Carolina. As well, his company represents the Carolina Youth Mountain Bike League, or CYMBL, a series of low cost races for kids held throughout the Summer. Each event is coupled with an educational clinic to teach kids about nutrition, trail etiquette, bike maintenance, and stretching.

Swank 65, considered by its participants to be a truly authentic mountain bike race experience, has been bringing riders to tears and to Western North Carolina for 13 years. This race dishes up some of the best and most iconic riding Pisgah has to offer. Riders can expect mixed terrain single track sections, multiple creek crossings, lengthy fire road climbs and unpredictable downhills – some technical, some sudden with rock gardens and ledges, some flowy and FAST. It’s not uncommon to expect a good deal of hike and bike at certain times through the race. And you will get dirty.

“The key to being successful at Swank is the ability to flow” says Todd, “the course is designed to flow, if you’re not flowing, you’re not having a good day out there”.

Whether you are flowing or not, it’s you against the elements in effort to pedal your way through and earn a spot amidst the Pisgah mountain biking gods and godesses, so to speak. In the end, the reward; cold brew, fresh off the grill burgers, some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Western North Carolina.. and of course, serious bragging rights. I’d consider Swank, or any of Blue Ridge Adventure’s hair raising mountain bike races, a right of passage of sorts.
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December is here and if you followed either of the previous posts (the first one or the second one) on training for a big adventure race, such as Untamed New England, you’ll know that I owe you one non-physical, one physical, and one “Untamed Aspect” training suggestion for the new month.  My aim, as I mentioned in the previous material, is for you to arrive to the race start as prepared as possible and ready to make the most of your race experience.  I would consider this December material in tandem with the previous suggestions, as these monthly installments will create a cumulative body of knowledge that can help you to make the most of your time preparing for the race.

First up: a non-physical step you can take to prepare. Safety on the race course is your first responsibility, and a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) class will give you specific training for handling emergencies in the wild.  Everyone hopes they never need to use the skills developed through a First Aid class, but it isn’t a cliché to say that this measure can be a life-saver!  If you hang around adventure racing long enough, you’re bound to find yourself in situations where you, your team, or another team you encounter on the course has a need for your Wilderness First Aid training.  It’s only a matter of time.  Let’s hope it never happens, but you owe it to yourself to be prepared.  Typical WFA classes take 2 full days, and if you want to take backcountry safety training to a higher level you can do the 5-day Wilderness First Responder (WFR) class.  Truly, any medical training can be an advantage in a race, but these WFA and WFR classes are all about improvised care with the limited resources of a wilderness setting. Continue Reading

The APEX Race, (Alpine Expedition Adventure Race) returns to Berner Oberland for the second edition of “the most beautiful adventure race in the world”.

The beautiful Swiss Alpine region of Berner Oberland will once again host the Swiss World Series Adventure Race, the APEX Race. Host venue will be the town of Interlaken, known as the “Adventure Capital of Europe”, situated beautifully at the foot of the Alps and right in between the Lakes of Brienz and Thun.

Dates for the 2012 edition have moved forward a couple of weeks and are set for June 5th – 10th, which will again ensure adventurous experiences from different seasonal conditions.

The race in 2011 was set up to be one of the most beautiful and scenic races in the world and afterwards many teams would also regard it as one of the toughest and most challenging.

30 teams representing 17 different nations took part in the event and all greatly contributed to the positive, and friendly atmosphere that also came to characterize the event. Continue Reading

GearJunkie.com, a top publication on outdoors adventure, is proud to announce a partnership with Minnesota-based Team WEDALI. Beginning in January, the champion squad will be renamed ‘Team GearJunkie/WEDALI’ for the 2012 adventure racing season.

For the past year, captained by veteran racer Justin Bakken, WEDALI dominated the domestic AR scene, including a first-place finish in the 2011 Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Championship. In 2010, WEDALI was also crowned the nation’s No. 1 team, winning the United States Adventure Racing National Championship event by beating the best teams in the country in a tough 24-hour race.

“WEDALI has been a top team in the United States for years,” said Stephen Regenold, editor and founder of GearJunkie.com. “We are psyched to sponsor this world-class squad and have WEDALI on the ‘Team GJ’ roster.”

GearJunkie/WEDALI joins GearJunkie/YogaSlackers underneath the publication’s “Team GearJunkie” umbrella. Each squad will have its own roster (and potentially even race against each other in events next year!) but the squads will remain distinct on the GearJunkie Team micro-site at www.GearJunkie.com/Team.

“WEDALI is thrilled to be joining forces with our friends at GearJunkie,” said Justin Bakken, who co-founded WEDALI in 2003 and now serves as captain. “We appreciate GJ’s enthusiasm for adventure racing and the commitment to bringing our sport to the masses.” Continue Reading

The first annual Winter Teva® Mountain Games presented by Eddie Bauer (WTMG) will award $60,000 in cash prizes to the top pro and amateurs competing in a dozen human-powered adventure sport competitions. This on-snow version of the decade-old summer Teva Mountain Games will be held February 10 – 12, 2012, in Vail, Colorado.

“In partnership with Teva, Eddie Bauer and Vail, we’ve built upon the success and great reputation of the summer Teva Mountain Games with a complimentary event that celebrates winter adventure sports, music and the mountain lifestyle,” says Mike Imhof of the Vail Valley Foundation, organizers of the event.

On-snow bike events include the Teva Dual Slalom Bike, Teva On-Snow Bike Crit and on Saturday evening, the Teva Best Trick presented by Thule, boasting a $10,000 prize purse. In this unique event, freeride mountain bikers huck themselves off a massive snow feature, scoring points for big air, trick difficulty and distinctive style. Making this a dual-action event, the Teva Best Trick Bike competition will be run simultaneously with the Thule Telemark Big Air presented by Chipotle at Golden Peak.

The Eddie Bauer Ski Mountaineering (skimo) competition, an extreme uphill and downhill tour of Vail Mountain, boasts a $5,000 prize purse, the largest ever presented at a U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association-sanctioned race. “Keeping in line with Vail’s reputation as a world-renowned ski destination, we designed a challenging course with the kind of distance, vertical, ski terrain and prize money that rival the prestigious European skimo races,” says Pete Swenson, director of the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and Specialist for the Mountain Games. Continue Reading

When thinking of world class cycling races, European locales such as Spain, France, and Italy come to mind. The last spot one might imagine as a candidate for a pro cycling battle royale is a subtropical  island in the south Pacific known for manufacturing. Nonetheless, that’s just where I traveled to race and mingle with some very well known cycling teams recently.

To westerners, Taiwan could be easily lumped into that group of  “Made in …” countries we see on all our clothing labels and stamped on the bottom of most everything we buy at the almighty Wal Mart. But, as I’ve discovered, Taiwan is working on their image and making a convincing case as a contender for serious road racing. Dramatic emerald-colored mountains dropping swiftly to the sea, deep gorges draped in smooth marble, and sweeping valley vistas create a phenomenal backdrop for a one day classic race. Continue Reading

On Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, Montrail athlete Dakota Jones set a new record for the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim run, also known as the Double Crossing. Jones ran from the South Rim to the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on the North and South Kaibab Trails in 6 hours, 53 minutes and 38 seconds, breaking the old record by six minutes. This was the second time Jones completed the 42.5-mile run with 10,500 vertical feet of climbing – he first ran it two years ago in 8 hours and 40 minutes.

For more about Dakota, check out his blog.

We have been juggling the idea of a team ranking for a few years and have finally decided to pull the trigger. Our panel has based our inaugural rankings based on an informed opinion of team’s performances at key races in the US (and a few international ones where relevant). This will be a monthly addition to the site so race hard and perhaps you will see your team’s name on the list (if not already) moving forward.

AR Power Rankings:

1. Tecnu Extreme/Staphaseptic—Strong showing at both CPT and USARA Championships (2nd at both), winners at Gold Rush, 12th at the AR World Championships in Tasmania (top North American team there), strong showing at APEX Switzerland race, 6th at RTNX — Kyle Peter is poised to be the first big AR star of a new generation of athletes, in our humble opinion
2. Dart-Nuun-SportMulti—1st American team at APEX in the Swiss Alps, 3rd overall at Gold Rush and 3d overall at RTNX — Tecnu beat them head-to-head at Gold Rush in Sept and that’s good enough for us to place them under Tecnu
3. Wedali—Won the CPT Nationals race, 3rd at USARA Nats (behind hybrid of Tecnu/SOG teams); 9th at RTNX; overall body of work for 2011 too impressive to bump them out of our top 3
4. Team Bones—3rd at Expedition Idaho (1st American team), 16th at the AR World Championships (2nd American team) has them in our 4th spot. They rarely race the shorter events, but for the big epic races you can count on Team Bones powering through the course
5. GearJunkie/YogaSlackers—Despite a 6th place finish at CPT, they took 2nd at Gold Rush, 4th at Exped Idaho (2nd American team), and 5th at RTNX (2nd American team). Perhaps the best performance by this team was their 2nd place finish this year at what may be the hardest race on the planet, the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. The longer and tougher the race, the more money I’d put on these guys. I have no problem slotting them in at #5.
6. Team SOG—They won USARA Nationals and took 2nd (on a hybrid team) at CPT Nationals — so maybe they should be ranked higher, but their inconsistency in race personnel made us uncomfortable placing them above this 5th spot. Their 6th place finishing Expedition Idaho team, for example, was vastly different than their USARA Nationals team. Still, 6th place on this list is pretty darn good!
7. Odyssey Adventure Racing/ ImONPoint.org—They won the USARA Nationals Masters division (finished 4th overall) and took 3rd at CPT Nationals. No expedition race results of note for this bunch in 2011 (although Mark Lattanzi has had a great race at the World Championships in Tasmania on the “Dancing Pandas” team) Continue Reading

It was action and upsets aplenty at today’s Anaconda Adventure Race National Series held at Augusta, in Western Australia, with the Kiwi contingent taking its first ever win in the Trans Tasman Trophy, an annual grudge adventure match-up between New Zealand and Australia.

The Kiwis conquered the reigning Australian team by 30 minutes and 17 seconds, the Trans Tasman winner decided by the cumulative times of each of the three individual racers representing their countries.

World Multisport Champion Richard Ussher won outright to give his team a healthy early showing, crossing the line in 3 hours 55 minutes and 5 seconds. The win also returns Ussher to being the overall leader of the Anaconda Adventure Race National Series with only one round remaining.

West Australian elite athlete, Sean O’Neill came home second to restore some adventure racing pride for the Aussies with a time of 4 hours and 37 seconds.

Third place was snatched by a New Zealander, however Braden Currie was not a member of the Kiwi team racing for Trans Tasman honours. His first place in the previous Anaconda Adventure Race outing at the Gold Coast in September came too late for selection.

Rounding out the dominance of the New Zealanders were Trevor Voyce in fourth and Fleur Lattimore, who won the overall female category in her first ever Anaconda Adventure Race in a time of 4 hours 43 minutes and 31 seconds.
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Check out this cool video of Team DART-nuun-SportMulti from the folks at 1iOpen Productions. Though the video spotlights the team, it is a great promo for the sport of adventure racing. If you are not enticed and engaged by this clip…you may be on the wrong site! Enjoy!

Team DART-Nuun-SportMulti: Ultra Endurance Racing from 1iOpen Productions on Vimeo.

By Cyril Jay-Rayon

After completing an expedition length adventure race, you find yourself reliving parts of the race for weeks following such an intense experience. The journey you go through is so profound that memories percolate at random times after returning to normal life. You might be engaged in such a mundane activity as grocery shopping when a vivid memory pops into your mind. Sometimes you don’t know why the memory surfaces while other times you see the connection. The simple sight of an eggplant might trigger the memory of the purple bruise on your teammate’s leg after an unwelcome crash or the hallucination you had one night that eggplants were hanging from trees (I’ve had stranger hallucinations). The vivid memories that inhabit your mind bring back all sorts of emotions and feelings you experienced during the race. Joy, awe, satisfaction, exhilaration, camaraderie, disappointment, frustration, and pain are only some of the sensations that weave themselves into a tapestry of emotional ebbs and flows. During these long races on little sleep, it is not uncommon to experience emotional extremes in a matter of just a few hours.

The Gold Rush Mother Lode World Championship Qualifier was no exception in the sense that it brought about strong emotions. What was different though, for me, is that after the first day, only three emotions permeated my world and these were at the less enjoyable end of the spectrum, misery, frustration, and disappointment. I felt miserable because halfway through the race, I could no longer take full breaths, my throat was on fire, and coughing sent pain throughout my weakened body. I felt frustrated because my mind was still clear but my body produced no power, and I felt disappointment because I ruined my team’s chances of winning the race after leading it early on.
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Team “HT-18” from Helicopter Training Squadron EIGHTEEN (HT-18), from Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., were named the 2011 All-Military Wilderness Challenge champions, October 8, with a winning overall time of 7:30:47. Team “Motor City Racing” from Coast Guard Medical Clinic in Detroit, Mich., came in second with a time of 7:34:08 and Team “Paradoxical Trinity” from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., was third with a time of 7:40:17.

The challenge was sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Region, Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Department, Naval Weapons Station (WPNSTA) Yorktown and ACE Adventure Resort, West Virginia’s largest outdoor outfitter. More than 100 military personnel representing all five branches of the armed forces competed in a series of five outdoor adventure races over two days in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and on the New and the Gauley Rivers in West Virginia.

“We wanted to finish first,” said Cmdr. John Quillinan, U.S. Navy, HT-18 Team Captain. “At the end of the first day we were up by three minutes, so we started thinking we can do this. On day two, we pushed ourselves hard to get to the finish.”

Teams participating in the Wilderness Challenge competed in an 8K mountain run, a 10-mile mountain bike race, a 15-mile forced hike through the mountains, a 14-mile whitewater raft race on the Gauley River and a 7-mile kayak race on the New River…more than 50 miles covered in two days.
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By Paul Cox

The first annual Kawnivore lived up to its billing

Those of us who rush to paddle our local rivers after work and every other chance we get do so, I’m guessing, because we enjoy the rhythm of the paddling motion. The sensation of propelling yourself through the water as quickly as you can by channeling your effort in the most efficient manner is energizing. The sound of the paddle jabbing the water, the blade slicing toward and away from you as you rotate in the seat and pull, and the clean swishing sound the water makes as it slides off your paddle as you lift is joy. Repeat. Repeat. It’s a good feeling … but, unfortunately, there would be very little of that during the first annual Kawnivore paddle race July 22-23. At least there wouldn’t be much of that in succession.

The temperature in Manhattan, KS, according to the digital sign at a local bank, hit 105 degrees a few hours before the start of the race. God knows what the heat index was. I was too scared to find out. Even though we’d race through the night, I knew there would be enough time for the heat to melt my will to paddle in the incredibly shallow water of the Kaw River.

Because the Missouri River has been at flood stage for so long, the faucets essentially had been turned off in those rivers that feed it. The Kaw River (the Native American name for the West-to-East ribbon of water that now is named the Kansas River) dumps into the Missouri, so paddlers knew this race would be no float trip. We were going to have to earn every one of the 94 miles.

Still, more than 124 boats had registered for the race. Paddlers lined up for the start in the Blue River maybe 100 meters from its confluence with the Kaw in Manhattan. The race would end in Lawrence, KS. The multi-person and solo female boats began at 5:30 p.m. The solo males — my group — took to the line at 5:45 p.m. and sat in our boats waiting for the 6 p.m. start. I figured those in my group would burst off the line in an all-out sprint to catch a ride on the wake offered by the fast tandems that had a 30-minute head start. I prepared to suffer. Then, as nervous energy built, I began tightening and tinkering around with my rigging, lighting, GPS, etc. Bad idea. The start was just a few minutes away when I snapped my bow light clean off! Good Lord!! I couldn’t possibly miss the start! I paddled my kayak to the shore where, thanks to the generosity of another racer who happened to be stowing a full roll of duct tape in his cockpit, I was able to tape down my light just good enough so it didn’t drag in the water. Good for now, I thought.
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By Grant Killian

So I didn’t scare you away with this previous piece and you’ve now got a big race on your calendar. It’s time to get serious about your preparations.

I’m going to use the Untamed New England Adventure Race as the model in this material, but really most any good adventure race would suffice as a goal. I’m fond of saying that if you’re not at least a little bit scared at the starting line, you need to find a different race . . . so be sure to have an event in your sights that’s a challenge.

Untamed New England features trail running/trekking, mountain biking, paddling, ropes, orienteering, packrafting, and whitewater rafting. It makes sense to tackle each of these disciplines, but I also want to touch on safety, nutrition, packing, sleep strategy, and all the other facets to expedition adventure racing. In the months to come, I will target specific steps you could take to prepare in each of these areas, and throw in some other training thoughts along the way. I’ll try to cover as much as I can!

I will assume you’re reasonably fit; by this, I mean you could go run a 1/2 marathon this weekend without injuring yourself or needing to walk — your pace isn’t a concern as much as your overall fitness level and ability to exercise continuously for at least a couple hours. I presume you’ve got a good base of endurance and aren’t a couch potato. If this sounds like an unreasonable assumption for you, you should consider volunteering at the Untamed New England race to see first-hand what’s involved. Gradually build up your exercise level over the next year or so until that 1/2 marathon threshhold is a comfortable distance.

With that lone assumption out there, let’s look at specific steps you could take this November to better prepare for the Untamed New England race next June. I’ve organized tasks into 3 groups: 1 is Non-physical, one is Physical, and a third section I’m calling the “Untamed Aspect” where I go into detail on some really Untamed New England specific material.
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A new venue served as a fitting place to crown new XTERRA world champions.

The 16th XTERRA World Championship turned into a sweet celebration for Michael Weiss, Lesley Paterson and Kapalua, Maui.

Weiss and Paterson earned their first XTERRA world titles on a new course that was described as both beautiful and brutal. After 15 previous years at Makena, the XTERRA World Championship off-road triathlon moved to the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua this year. A total of 675 athletes representing 28 countries and 42 states participated in the event, which featured a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 30-kilometer mountain bike and a 10-kilometer trail run.

INSPIRING BIKE SURGE LEADS WEISS TO WIN
Weiss was the overall winner, completing the course in 2 hours, 27 minutes, including an astonishing bike split of 1:19:32. No other competitor finished with a bike time under 1:21:03. It was a breakthrough win for the 30-year-old Weiss, who had finished second at the 2008 XTERRA Worlds, and then third in 2009 and 2010.

“It’s amazing,” said Weiss, who is from Vienna, Austria. “I still cannot believe it. A big dream came true, and it was a really tough course.”

Weiss was in the middle of the pack after the swim, but made his remarkable move to the front on the bike. By midway through the bike course, Weiss and South Africa’s Dan Hugo were riding next to each other in second place.

The only rider in front of them was the legendary seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who was competing in the XTERRA World Championship for the first time.

Weiss and Hugo actually talked about working together so that they could conserve energy in their pursuit of Armstrong.

“That was a critical moment for me, about three-quarters of the way through the bike and I was with Weiss, and we said let’s work together, but (Weiss) was one notch stronger and he kind of took off from me and he bridged to Armstrong,” said Hugo.
Shortly after breaking away from Hugo, Weiss closed in on Armstrong, and said it gave him an adrenaline rush that pushed him all the way to the finish line.

“It felt amazing,” Weiss said. “I had goose bumps. It’s something very special to catch Lance on a climb. It was an amazing feeling, and even motivated me more.”

Weiss used that motivation to do the unthinkable – he passed Armstrong on an uphill bike climb.
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The Untamed New England Adventure Race has opened registration for their June 2012 edition; the race website has been updated with the relevant details, but let’s run down some highlights:

1) It’s a 4-day race, one day longer than previous versions (for some background on this decision, read Breathe Magazine’s write-up on a conversation with race leadership)

2) It’s based from Northern Outdoors at The Forks, Maine — the same venue that worked with Eco-Challenge 16 years ago when it was run in Maine as part of the X-Games.  This is the only locale to ever host an Eco-Challenge East of the Mississippi, so it’s a special kind of place.

3) Race disciplines will have the usual mountain biking, paddling, trekking and for this year pack-rafting has been included, along with whitewater rafting.  Back-country navigation is a signature element of Untamed New England, and this year will be no different.  Expect lots of strategic route choices.  The rope(s) sections advertise rappelling, ascending, and a tyrolean traverse.

4) The race is once again a Qualifier for the AR World Championships; in 2012 this will be in the French Alps in late September, so teams looking to compete on the highest of international levels have this race to circle on their calendar.

The ExploreCompeteLive website is going to start running a regular segment on preparing for the Untamed New England, targeting teams newer to multi-day racing.  A good place to start is on the UntamedNE.com website, with a piece titled “So you’re thinking about Untamed New England…”.

The Untamed race slogan is “more an adventure than a race” and participants need to be ready for what Untamed New England can throw at them . . . that means serious wilderness, with real navigation, and handling the consequences of your race decisions . . . our goal is to help you arrive at the starting line as prepared as possible.  But you’ll never be prepared enough.

Finally, here’s a nice video clip Breathe Magazine did on the Untamed New England.  Let’s get pumped for those Fall races and workouts — and start thinking about June 2012!

For those of us experiencing the fringes of fall weather right now,  conditions are ideal for road biking. Slipping through the curvy backroads enjoying smooth surfaces and cool temps is something I long for all summer. But the reality of the daily grind can hamper those jaunts into the country when daylight is running short. For city dwellers, the thought of packing the bike up into the car, adding air to the tires, changing clothes, and then fighting traffic to get to the “good” pavement is often too much. It’s easier to take a quick cruise around the neighborhood or through the urban jungle. For the urban road rider, who doesn’t own a cyclocross bike, the best option is to get a slightly beefier tire to avoid the pitfalls of punctures.

I recently wore out my second set of tires in the past year (I’ve been putting the miles down). I was on the market for something a bit grippier and fairly puncture resistant, all while maintaining the stylistic theme of my bike – I’m “one of  those guys” with the bike that has the matching tires and handlebar grip tape. I found what I was looking for in the Michelin Orium.  Continue Reading

The notion of a four-season tent most probably crosses the average adventurers mind on rare occasion. The need for a tent that can remain standing in gale-force winds or keep its form under inches upon inches of snow isn’t a piece of gear the weekend warrior needs often. Then there is the price tag on four-season tents… the name “four-digit tent” might be more appropriate. But there are those trips that push beyond the limits of a three-season tent and warrant more resilient gear. When borrowing isn’t an option, it may be time to invest. But the new Sierra Designs Convert Tents prove that one doesn’t have to take a second mortgage out for an upper-tier bombproof shelter.

On a recent three-day attempt at the Southwest Couloir Route on Granite Peak in Montana I had the opportunity to test both the Convert 2 and Convert 3 from Sierra Designs. We slept for two nights above 10,000 feet. Temperatures dropped below freezing and winds whipped hard the first night. A volley of sleet pelted our camp on night two. Both nights the tents held form, as if nothing were going on outside. Both tents repelled 100% of the water, despite the fact my body was pressed against the tent wall all night due to a screwy sleeping position. Continue Reading

It was mid-summer, 4:30am in the Green Mountains of Central Vermont. Prime adventure race time. This was GMARA‘s summer event, the 12-hour MVP Health Care Bitter Pill adventure race.

The captains meeting took place in the dark, and teams got about 10 minutes to look at their maps before a 5am start. Teams took off on foot, trekking to 6 points in any order — some beautiful sunrise vistas, a huge field of wild blueberries, and then teams returned to the start to pick up their bikes for some fun logging roads and hike-a-bike out to a reservoir. There teams trekked and swam to pick up four points. Comments from the local fishermen seeing teams of three swimming the reservoir towing drybagged backpacks were priceless!

More biking, followed by some bushwhack to a surprise mountain climb, and teams enjoyed one truly incredible view over Lake Dunmore. Another swim/trek leg, this time around Vermont’s Silver Lake, and then teams completed more mountain biking to the finish.

In the words of race director Tim Curtin, “At the end of the day, team Untamed New England was unstoppable, turning an early lead into a course-crushing 9 hours 56 minutes – finishing an hour and a half faster than the next team.” GMARA president, Chris Yager, observed how the Untamed New England team were “Consummate professionals and great ambassadors of the sport. We loved having them on the course.”

The Untamed New England race team consisted of Dave Lamb, Molly Housman, and Dave Romilly. In winning the race, they earned a place at the USARA National Championship race later this year. Continue Reading

A portion of the tagline for Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX) reads “Real Wilderness.” After more than three days of racing the RTNX unmarked course in BC’s West Kootenay, participating teams have no doubt that they are being tested in some of the most ‘real wilderness’ imaginable. And they have to be prepared for it physically and mentally.

Challenging weather earlier in the week took its toll on some racers, leaving teams to deal with ill and injured teammates. In these cases, teams have to decide whether to rest and hope time heals; call for help, take care of the injured teammate and continue on as a smaller team; or, return to the last major transition area and withdraw from the race.

By Wednesday morning, four teams had faced setbacks that left them at TA3 at the end of the first paddle on standby to complete a shortened version of the course: Adrenaline Rush, Blue, HTFU/Sunovion, Nord Vrai, Suburban Rush. Cranksports Team Currahee, the last on the paddle, arrived at TA3 mid-morning, greeted by staff and Shaw TV and were able to proceed onto the shortened course in the afternoon. Though HFTU/Sunovion set off on the short course, they returned later that night to TA3 due to one team member being ill.

Custom Cellular had made it into the high alpine of Valhalla Park and were in second place when cold, wet weather, including ice pellets, exacerbated a previously existing medical condition in one team member, so they elected to return to TA3. The team arrived early morning visibly disappointed but safe. Pentahlondesneiges.com elected to move forward as a team of three from TA3 after some irreconcilable differences with a teammate. SOG was at CP8 Ice Creek Lodge when one of their members elected to withdraw from the race. The team moved forward as a team of three. Dancing Pandas, after 20+ hours in Valhalla Park, elected to return to TA3 and take on a shortened course so that they would be able to experiemce as much of the course as possible rather than risk missing a cutoff while in the Park. The Pandas rested at TA3 for a few hours and set off again at midnight. Climb4SMA (Torti) was at the base of the trail up into Valhalla when one of their team members fell ill and they elected to return to TA3.

The remainder of the field is working their way through Valhalla Park and into the rest of the course. There are incremental cutoffs in place at various CPs to expedite the flow through the course as the finish line cutoff creeps closer. This allows teams to continue to move through the course, experience its challenges, and make their way to the finish line unassisted.

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Mother Nature added an extra layer of complexity to the Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme day two challenges as racers worked their way through the Slocan Valley and into Valhalla Park. The weather fluctuated between brilliant blue skies and epic proportion downpours throughout the day and well into the night.

Current race leaders, Team WildernessTraverse.com are living up to their reputation as a team to watch during this RTNX event as they have a commanding lead over the next ranked team. Team WildernessTraverse.com were seen in Kootenay Lake paddling and testing out the demo canoes after Kaslo’s Welcome Dinner. WildernessTraverse.com were through the third transition and into canoes very early on Monday. Chasing after them are Team Custom Cellular and Team GearJunkies.com/Yogaslackers.

Meanwhile the remaining teams continued to work their way to the transition area at Retallac over the course of the day. A few gear, navigational and medical issues affected some of the teams, which caused several delays in the estimated arrival time for many. Some teams came into Retallac with a quick turnaround strategy; as the day wore on and the longer teams were out on course, the more transition time they would elect to take. Event medical staff kept busy attending to blisters, scrapes and bruises from the trekking section. The overgrowth of aggressive plants like Devil’s Club and Alder are making the treks very arduous in some places. Foot care is of the utmost importance during events of this intensity and these are early times as yet.

Local team Kootenay Kaos arrived at the paddle transition in Silverton after 9pm, in the dark, in the midst of almost monsoon rains, and to the supportive cheers of friends and family. They would have spent 5hrs on mountain bikes riding in less than ideal conditions and were preparing to trade their bikes for canoes to paddle 20km down Slocan Lake to the next transition. As they changed clothes, fueled and got organized for the paddle, more teams continued to arrive by headlamp in the dark, damp night. Despite the challenging conditions, teams’ spirits were amazingly high with anticipation of the paddle and subsequent stages that lay ahead.

As weather conditions deteriorated throughout the night, more and more teams were suffering from the side effects and were spreading more thinly throughout the course. A few teams lost racing companions due to injury so substitutes were made (or in some cases not) to enable teams to go on and complete the course as uncategorized or unranked. Some injured or sick racers elected to press on, with the commitment of first aid check-ins at each possible checkpoint and transition area.

At the Silverton transition, some teams opted to wait out the weather and get some rest before moving forward. Other teams were gone within 30 minutes.

The next series of challenges arise in the much-anticipated Valhalla Park area where racers will be visiting heli-accessible Ice Creek Lodge high in the alpine. And snow.