Japanese team East Wind became the first team from the Far East to complete the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race when they arrived at the Beagle Channel finish line on Tuesday.

Spanish team Air Europa Bimont secured second place in the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco finished the race at around 6am on Monday morning after experiencing intense conditions while kayaking across the Beagle Channel and getting lost on a tough final trek that included an ascent of Mount King Scott.

Team Nord Water had to drop out of the race at PC15 after team member Tuomas Sovijarvi suffered a suspected leg fracture. He slipped on a rock after the rappel section at PC9 but continued to trek through to PC15, where a doctor assessed the injury and the pain became too much to carry on.

The rest of Nord Water continued on, just for the experience, joining Switzerland, Germans Herbertz, GearJunkie.com from the USA and Canadians Untamed New England for the final kayak and trek, with Japanese team East Wind, who arrived at checkpoint 15 in the middle of the day, the only other team still in the race.

The teams enjoyed much calmer conditions than Helly Hansen-Prunesco experienced across the channel and were able to enjoy the spectacular mountain backdrops on the paddle to Wulaia, where Charles Darwin famously brought back a native who had been taken to England to become civilised.

The sharp point of Mount King Scott looked set to give racers a real challenge straight off the paddle but the climb was cancelled due to bad conditions. That left a 26km trek through dense forest to reach the finish line, which was set up on a point on the Isla Navarino jutting out into the Beagle Channel.

In a dramatic battle for fourth, Herbertz pushed hard and were the first competing team to arrive at the finish. Switzerland had to arrive quickly to maintain the advantage they took into the dark zone and after getting lost on the final trek they only just made it – claiming third by just 12 minutes after more than 145 hours of racing.

American team GearJunkie.com secured fifth place, 2hrs 13mins behind Herbertz and just 46mins ahead of Canadians Untamed New England. East Wind are expected to arrive in the finish line tonight, making it one of the fastest races on record and one of the highest finish rates ever seen in the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race.
FINAL TIMES (Confirmed)

1. 1 Helly Hansen-Prunesco UK 126hrs 8mins
2. 16 Air Europa Bimont ESP 142hrs 46mins*
3=. 4 Switzerland SWI 145hrs 6mins***
3=. 9 Herbertz DE 145hrs 6mins***
5. 7 GearJunkie.com USA 147hrs 31mins**
6. 5 Untamed New England CDN 148hrs 17mins**
7. 2 East Wind JPN 162hrs 20mins**
8. 11 Nord Water FIN/SWE reached PC15
9. 12 Almost Famous USA reached PC10
10. 6 Terra Mundo Lontra BRA reached PC10
11. 3 Eddie Bauer USA reached PC10
12. 8 Almas Patagonicas CL reached PC10
13. 14 BOE Ejercito de Chile CL reached PC9
14. 15 Fast and Light UK reached PC8

*Inc 6hrs penalty

** All teams who did not climb mount King Scott have a correction of 7hrs

*** Teams agreed to share 3rd place after correction for the missing Tyrolean at PC10

PICTURES!

Helly Hansen-Prunesco has become the first team in history to retain the title in the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race after completing the final trek to the finish line on the Beagle Channel in the early hours of the morning on the seventh day of the race in Chilean Patagonia.

Before the finish line the British team made quick passage across the channel after setting off at around 8am on the morning of day six (Sunday). They completed the 46km to Wulaia Bay in around six-and-a-half hours – quicker than expected after conditions improved – and continued on to climb Mount King Scott before heading towards the finish.

Behind them, Air Europa Bimont are in a comfortable second place after arriving at checkpoint 15 almost two-and-a-half hours after Helly Hansen-Prunesco but some eight hours ahead of third placed team Switzerland, despite female member Uxue Fraile suffering from a small leg problem during the trek.

The British team moved ahead in the second mountain bike section of the race on day two then pushed hard to gain an unassailable advantage over the long mountain trek through the Darwin Range – and completed the race before any of the other teams had left Tierra del Fuego. Team captain Nicola MacLeod, who also captained the team to victory in 2009, said: “This is such a special race and it’s amazing to win it again – even more so because we have come back here with exactly the same team and beaten a high quality field. It has been tough, but we were well prepared and have had a great race.

Many of the remaining teams arrived in Yendegaia Bay during the evening of the sixth day and had to wait until first light to set off in their kayaks onto the Beagle Channel. Air Europa Bimont, of Spain, has a large time advantage and are likely to take the runners-up place.”

Text from the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race official web site

PC15 (after 114km trek on Sunday 22:00)

1. 1 Helly Hansen-Prunesco UK Arr 7:35pm Feb 13 Dep 7:25am Feb 14
2. 16 Air Europa Bimont ESP Arr 9:40am* Feb 14 Will dep Feb 15
3. 4 Switzerland SUI Arr 5:50pm* Feb 14 Will dep Feb 15
5. 9 Herbertz DE Arr 7:17pm* Feb 14 Will dep Feb 15
6. 7 GearJunkie.com USA Arr 8:27pm* Feb 14 Will dep Feb 15
7. 5 Untamed New England CDN Arr 9:49pm* Feb 14 Will dep Feb 15

* clock stops for dark zone, restarts at 6am Feb 15

There are three left battling rainy conditions on the mountain with Japan’s East Wind, Americans Almost Famous and Scandinavians Nord Water all yet to arrive at PC15.

First team heading to the kayak run on Sunday 7:35am is Helly Hansen-Prunesco. They are going to paddle into the frothing waters of the famous Beagle Channel on Sunday morning while rest of the teams are still trekking in the Darwin Range and they are expected to be little pit cold after overnight (sat-sun) snowfall. Heavy low cloud covered the mountains and rain lashed on the shore. Place were the kayaking was about to start. Mark Humphrey, of Helly Hansen-Prunesco, admitted the conditions would be testing, but he also added:  “It’s going to be safe otherwise we wouldn’t be going. I’m sure if it gets any worse they will pull us back in or pick us up.”

 It is expected to take the teams around 8 hours to complete the 46km paddle from Yendegaia Bay the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego to Wailua Bay on the Isla Navarino, where the archipelago of islands that stretch south to Cape Horn begins. If any of the other teams arrives at the Yendegaia Bay during the day will have their race clock stopped and will not take to the water until the morning of day seven (Monday morning).

 Last part after the kayaks is that they will have to climb Mount King Scott during a trek of 35km to the finish line, which is situated on the Beagle Channel.

 More drop outs… and Quotes from Nord Water

Leading team Helly Hansen-Prunesco was the first to finish the grueling 114km trek in southern Chile´s Darwin Range. It took two and a half days to this team to cross through the towering snow-capped mountain to reach the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego.

The race started to feel and show in some of the competitors when four more teams dropped out of the race.  Local teams BOE Ejercito de Chile and Almas Patagonicas as well as the American team Eddie Bauer had to retire after missing the time cut-off at PC9 and PC10 in the foothills of the Darwin Range. Eddie Bauer´s tactic was to take the firsts parts more easily and save the energy for the big trek, but because of that they missed the cut-off and were forced to retire. Team Mundo Lontra from Brazil did reach tPC10 in time but were simply too tired to continue. Now there was 5 team out off the race and 9 teams still going.

The teams are still in the mountains, facing bitterly cold winds, sleet and rain as the weather gets worst again during the fifth day of the race (Saturday). While Helly Hansen-Prunesco keeps going their own furious way next teams behind Spain (second at the moment), Canada, Finland and Germany are all progressing through the challenging terrain. Team Switzerland had some problems to find PC13 and they had to use their satellite telephone to call the race headquarters (that is allowed in the rules) and they admitted they were very tired and without food.

Next part after trek would be sea kayaking on the Beagle Channel and a short final trek to the finish.

First team drops out and rest head  through the Darwin Challenge

Helly Hansen-Prunesco continues to lead the field in the 2010 Wegner Patagonian Expedition Race. After 178km cycle team kept on going to the 114km trek except the other British team Fast & Light who became the first team to drop out of the race through sheer exhaustion. They came to the PC8 in 13^th with one team member suffering from a stomach upset and team made a tearful decision to end their race.

Race Director Stjepan Pavicic saw from the race helicopter several teams deep in the mountains on Friday 12.02. Pavicic said: “Teams are trekking in into what is an absolutely stunning and spectacular region. All the racers this year have shown impressive strength and although we have now lost our first team from the race they all managed to make it to PC8 and that is an achievement in itself.”

Trek through the remote green valleys of the Darwin foothills led teams into a narrow canyon in which beaver dams created a wet pool-filled trek down to the Tyrolean. This rope crossing allowed competitors to cross the river but dumped them up to their legs in the fast-flowing river, but it had been set up by the organizers in a different location to that which had been planned, due to logistical challenges in the remote location where it was set.

When the sun had set Feb 11^th it was the end of the fourth day. All teams except Fast & Light, who are now back in Punta Arenas, had left PC8 with six already passed the Tyrolean at PC10. This was location known as the “the point of no return”.

PC10

1. 1 Helly Hansen-Prunesco UK possible passed swimming
2. 4 Switzerland SWI Arr 10:00 Dep 11.00
3. 16 Air Europa Bimont ESP Arr 11:44 Dep 12.15
4. 9 Herbertz DE Arr 12.48 Dep 1.41
5. 5 Untamed New England CDN (no times)
6. 11 Nord Water FIN/SWE (no times)

PC8 – Feb 11 (178km cucle to 114km trek)

1. 1 Helly Hansen-Prunesco UK Arr 12.45am Dep 5:22am* (1)
2. 5 Untamed New England CDN Arr 3:41am Dep 9:49am (2)
3. 4 Switzerland SWI Arr 4:40am Dep 10:00am (3)
4. 16 Air Europa Bimont ESP Arr 5:55am Dep 10:33am (5)
5. 9 Herbertz DE Arr 9:00am Dep 10:29am (4)
6. 7 GearJunkie.com USA Arr 2:37pm Dep 3:53pm (6)
7. 11 Nord Water FIN/SWE Arr 3:30pm Dep 5:45pm (7)
8. 6 Terra Mundo Lontra BRA Arr 10:29pm Dep 7:30am Feb 12 (8)
9. 12 Almost Famous USA Arr 1:00am Feb 12 Dep 7:44am (9)
10. 2 East Wind JPN Arr 1:25am Feb 12 Dep 9:30am (10)
11. 8 Almas Patagonicas CL Arr 8:43am Feb 12 Dep 1:17pm (11)
12. 3 Eddie Bauer USA Arr 10:42am Feb 12 Departed (TBC)
13. 15 Fast and Light UK Arr 11:54am Feb 12 Retired
14. 14 Boe Ejercito de Chile CL Arr 1:11pm Feb 12 Departed (TBC)

* Helly Hansen-Prunesco -25mins due to a missing bag that delayed departure

Noora Pinola PC10 (running 6^th)

We have been moving so, so slowly so far so hopefully we can speed up a little because otherwise I don’t know if we can meet the deadline. It has been difficult and we have had some difficulties. We all have a bad knee – everyone has one bad knee at least. I think we got it first when we were pushing with the bikes and then we have had a lot to carry.

 Johan Siggesson PC10 (running 6^th)

With a short break that trek took us 13 hours. We left the bit where we left the bikes and we walked in the dark yesterday and we slept a few hours. We have our tents and sleeping mats and sleeping bags. Luxury! It was quite wet on the ground but it was ok. There was a lot of Turba at the beginning then after the rappel there was a lot of beaver nests and so it was quite wet. But we could cross over the beaver dams so it was quite nice. We have had great luck with the weather, so we are not cold. Now we are going to have a nice swim on this Tyrolean.

Here  is some pictures!

Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco is leader after this trek. Unfortunetaly this trek was true crusial to some of the teams, but team Nord Water is still pushing through!

(More info coming soon…)

Tuesday 9^th

Trek I 16km

Weather conditions are making thing little bit harder to the competitors as well as to the organizers.  Wind blows about 28m/s (45 knots) so race director decides to cancel the first paddle and the race starts trekking along the shore in Tierra del Fuego Patagonia.

Cycle 110km  

Tuesday afternoon team starts their first cycle through the breathtaking scenery of Tierra del Fuego.

Trek II 55km

Most of the teams head into the night to the second trek.

Wednesday 10^th

(Few teams start the Trek II early in the morning)

Cycle II 178km

Teams start the longest cycle so far.The route goes south to reach the Wildlife Conservation Society reserve of Karukinka, which was set up in 1994 to protect the fragile environment in Patagonia.

Thursday 11^th

Trek III 114km

Teams finish the cycle to Karurinka. Everyone is trying to get some sleep and during the day team after another heads from there, they will begin what is expected to be a crucial trekking through the notorious Darwin range.

Friday 12^t

Trekking continues on the mountains.

Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco (UK), last year’s winner, has occupied the first place most of the time, but teams Switzerland (SWI), Air Europe Bimont (ESP), Untamed New England (CDN), GearJunkie.com (USA) and Herbetz (DE) are there behind. Nord Water is also doing well and they have been holding the positions 7.-10. most of the time.

Here is a rough plan how the race is going to proceed:

(Paddling I       8km cancelled because of the strong wind)

Trekking I      16km (All the teams are taking off at the same time)

Cycling I         110km

Trekking II     55km

Cycling II       178km

Trekking III    114km

Paddling II     46km

Trekking IV    35km

Cycling III      38km

Official race pictures!

People from the organization managed to have few comments from team Nord Water when they visited checkpoint 5.

(Team stop to PC5 during the second trek on Wednesday 10^th.)

Noora Pinous, Nord Water

“It was nice and we saw some of the local wildlife, Vicunas . We are expecting the next section to be awful, there is too uch wind. It was I have not seen anything like it.”

Tuomas Sovijarvi, Nord Water

“We are physically tired, we haven’t slept that much. But we are mentally good – we just need some sleep! The toughest bit so far has been running on the shore with those 45 knot winds!”

Ingrid Stergard, Nord Water

“That part of the race was like the Swedish mountains…but with thorns.”

More live quotes from other competitors.

Towards the PC8

First team finishing the 178 km cycling was (surprisingly) last year’s winner Helly Hansen-Prunesco. They arrived to the checkpoint 8 three hours before their closest rivals. Was this the crucial part of the race? Team H H-P decided to push the whole distance through non-stop.

Member of the team Bruce Duncan said: “That was a monstrous bike. Oh man, the mountain pass was absolutely brutal, it just did not stop, and on the way down, oh god, it was freezing, absolutely freezing, so wet and cold.”

“The plan was just to get that done, we knew we had to get it done so we had to get our head down and get on with it. We had a good run and we’ve now had three hours sleep, so that makes four hours in total so far. Now we want to get out for first light for this first trek and just keep going.”

Ride through the beautiful forested hills of the Wildlife Conservation Society´s Karukinka was amazing, but unfortunate as it is most of the lead teams missed the views as they completed it entirely in the dark. PC7 (7^th checkpoint of the race) located at the Karukinka Reserve headquarters and all the teams had to stop there. Only team that missed the PC7 was team Switzerland because they were unable to find the building so they kept going straight to the PC8.

The teams are now spreading out. Some of the teams decided to sleep on-route to PC8 and others pushed to sleep at the PC8. After having few hours of sleep all the teams continued they journey. Next part was going to be grueling 114km trek through the notorious range in the southern part of Chilean Tierra del Fuego.
PC8 (End of cycling II 178km and start of trek III 114km/ Latest Feb 11, 7:30pm)

1.  Helly Hansen-Prunesco UK Arr 12:45am Dep 5:22am (1)

2.  Untamed New England CDN Arr 3:41am Dep 9:49am (2)

3.  Switzerland SWI Arr 4:40am Dep 10:00am (3)

4.  Air Europa Bimont ESP Arr 5:55am Dep 10:33am (5)

5.  Herbertz DE Arr 9:00am Dep 10:29am (4)

6.  GearJunkie.com USA Arr 2:37pm Dep 3:53pm (6)

7.  Nord Water FIN/SWE Arr 3:30pm Dep 5:45pm

After the 114km trek teams still have go through Paddling I 46km, Trek IV 35km and Cycling III 38km before the finishing line.

You can find amazing pictures from here…

Relocating teams to new starting place.

After start.

Team Fast & Light (UK)

Atmoshere before first cycling

Ingrid putting her bike together

Team Nord Water

Checkpoint 3 before starting second trekking

All the photos from here

After the first cycling on Tuesday afternoon it was time for the trek II. Leading teams (Swiss and Helly Hansen-Prunesco) started their Trek through wild rolling hills and dusty salt pans in Chilean Tierra del Fuengo on Tuesday night. Most of the Teams headed in to the night from PC3 and all the teams made it in there by morning.  

PC3 (Change from cycling I to Trek II)

1.       Switzerland                             SWI     Arr 9:00pm     Dep 9:40pm (1)

2.      Helly Hansen-Prunesco           UK       Arr 9:08pm     Dep 9:45pm (2)

3.       Air Europa Bimont                  ESP     Arr 9:50pm     Dep 11:46pm (5)

4.       Herbertz                                  DE       Arr 9:58pm     Dep 11:06pm (3)

5.       Untamed New England            CDN    Arr 10:18pm   Dep 11:30pm (4)

6.       GearJunkie.com                       USA    Arr 10:50pm   Dep 12:08pm (6)

7.       Nord Water                             FIN/SEW        Arr 11:15pm   Dep 3:30am (8)

8.       Terra Mundo Lontra                BRZ     Arr 11:55am    Dep 3:00am (7)

9.       Fast & Light                            UK       Arr 1:35am      Dep 6:25am (9)

10.     East Wind                                JPN     Arr 2:23am      Dep 8:00am (12)

11.    Almas Patagónicas                  CL       Arr 4:30am      Dep 9:50am (13)

12.    Almost Famous                       USA    Arr 5:55am      Dep 7:17am (10)

13.    Eddie Bauer                            USA    Arr 6:25am      Dep 7:50am (11)

14.    BOE Ejército de Chile            CL       Arr 10:25am    Dep: TBC (14) 

The lead changed three times during the night and On Wednesday the drama continued. Even though the weather conditions had caused lots of problems to the organization but the leading team’s didn´t let that interfere their race and kept going on at rapid pace. During the first night the organization had to act fast overnight to put emergency rations in place for the incoming racers. Some of the gears were still stranded on the mainland after the ferry was still cancelled due to rough weather.

Race director Stjepan Pavicic was impressed by the strength of the leading teams and said: ““The race has run to the time we expected given the good conditions we have had, and now the teams have divided into two big groups, with the leading teams that have escaped the pack competing very strongly.”

After long night of trekking the leader board had a new name on the top early morning on Wednesday. CP4 had to be closed due to logistical issues, but at this point teams had to choose their routes from two different directions. Some teams took the gravel road rather than following the suggested route through the wild pampas. By the time the leaders reached CP5, it was team Air Europe Bimont (ESP) who came in first.

PC5 (Check point during the Trek II up to Feb 10, 5pm)

1.       Air Europa Bimont                  ESP     Arr 5.27am      Dep 5:43pm (1)          

2.       Switzerland                             SWI     Arr 5:58am      Dep 6:20am (2)

3.       Helly Hansen-Prunesco           UK       Arr 6:15am      Dep 6:30am (4)

4.       Untamed New England            CDN    Arr 6:20am      Dep 6:25am (3)

5.       Herbertz                                  DE       Arr 8:40am      Dep 9:03am (5)

8.       GearJunkie.com                       USA    Arr 11:30am    Dep 11:40am (6)

9.       Terra Mundo Lontra                BRA    Arr 1:25pm     Dep 1:28pm (7)

10.     Nord Water                             FIN/SWE  Arr 1:35pm

Last part of trek II was 17km and totally 57km trekking was finished on Wednesday morning around 11am and top three all came to CP 6 about the same time. Team Untamed New England had a good pace and it was first to come. PC6 was the stop where teams would start their Cycling II. This time teams would cycle south overnight for 178km to reach the Wildlife Concercation Society reserver of karukinka, which was set up in 1994 to protect the fragile environment in Patagonia. Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco had another quit transition to the bikes that took just 19 minutes and they were first team to start the cycling II.

PC6 (Change fromTrek II to Cycling II / up to Feb 10, 10pm)

1.       Untamed New England            CDN    Arr 10:57am    Dep 12:22pm (3)

2.       Helly Hansen-Prunesco           UK       Arr 11:01am    Dep 11:20am (1)

3.       Air Europa Bimont                  ESP     Arr 11:07am    Dep 11.58am (2)

4.       Switzerland                             SWI     Arr 1:30pm     Dep 2:10pm (4)

5.       Herbertz                                  DE       Arr 2:03pm     Dep 3:55pm (5)

6.       GearJunkie.com                       USA    Arr 6:20pm     Dep 7:32pm (6)

7.       Terra Mundo Lontra                BRA    Arr 6:45pm     Dep 8:17pm (7)

8.       Nord Water                             FIN/SWE        Arr 6:48pm     Dep TBA

14 teams:

Switzerland SWI    

Helly Hansen-Prunesco UK      

Air Europa Bimont ESP    

Herbertz DE      

Untamed New England CDN   

GearJunkie.com USA

Nord Water FIN/SEW       

Terra Mundo Lontra BRZ    

Fast & Light   UK      

East Wind JPN 

Almas Patagónicas CL

Almost Famous  USA

Eddie Bauer  USA   

BOE Ejército de Chile CL

The Race started on Tuesday 10^th of February

Picture

Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race is the most demanding adventure race in the world. This all came clear when the race was about to start. Original plan was that the race would start kayaking across the Straits of Magellan. The wild and unpredictable conditions in Chilean Patagonian decided otherwise. The wind was blowing about 28m/s (45knots) and swells of three meters. Conditions were too extreme even to these adventurers.

Director of the race Stjepan Pavicic announced that the plans are going to change. All the 56 international competitors and the captain of reigning champions Nicola MacLoed from the team Helly Hansen-Prunesco agreed that the decision to cancel the first kayak. MacLeod said: “It looked alright but out there we would be going across and downwind, the most awkward type of paddling. I think we would have had some swimmers and some people on the rocks on the other side.”

Despite the wind all the teams were transferred by ferry to island Tierra del Fuego. Competitors would finally start their race first trekking 16km along the shore of the beautiful pebble beach. The wind kept blowing when team after another made their way to the next PC (CheckPoint). Two and a half hour later the first team – team Swiss – arrived to the PC2 team Helly Hansen-Prunesco not far behind. Toward PC3 team H H-P was first to shoot off thanks their fast moves collecting and putting together their mountain bikes, their gear and re-backing their bags. Teams Switzerland and Herbertz from Germany started their 100 km ride through the undulating hills quickly behind.

Picture

Wind still kept blowing ferociously almost blowing people off their bikes said Bruce Duncan from team H H-P. During the ride team Swiss got their first place back when leading team H H-P got three punctures from the thorn in the road. That cost the team 20 minutes and team Swiss could re-take the lead.

Dusk came to PC3 and teams Swiss and H H-P moved through fast. Because of the changed plans at the beginning all teams were missing food bags and maps. Challenging conditions caused that the ferry to Tierra del Fuego had to be stopped and that caused that much of the organization´s gear were left on the wrong side of the straits.

Thrilling opening day on the 8^th Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race.

More information on the official webpage

More pictures day 1

 Monday 8^th of February

 We handed over all the equipments and now just waiting for the start. 

 Today was little bit easier than yesterday even though it´s has been really busy until now. It´s 10pm local time and tomorrow morning we have to wake up at 6am.  We have to be ready at 7am. First there is a photo shoot and after that 1 hour journey to the place where the race actually starts. We are about to expect quite diverse competition – desert, glacier, paddling and mountain climbing. We spent most of this morning packing the equipments and food. There is going to be 3 different supplement points so some of the time our bags are going to be quite heavy. We are using lot of energy so we need to carry that (meaning the food) and also the mandatory accessories like 2 tents and satellite phone. These are going to add the weight some more.

Here is a rough plan how the race is going to proceed:

Paddling I       8km (All the teams are taking off at the same time)

Trekking I      16km

Cycling I         110km

Trekking II     55km

Cycling II       178km

Trekking III    114km

Paddling II     46km

Trekking IV    35km

Cycling III      38km

 Next few days are going to be quite busy. We counted that just the trekking III is going to take up to 3000 meters and we only counted in the middle. Then we got bored and decided that trekking III is going to take as at least 2, 5-3 days. But the whole route is going to be amazing! Wait until you can see the pictures.

 But first here are some pictures what´s been happening so far…

 Now off to bed.  There is not going to be that many hours of sleep per night. We estimated that we are going to start with 3 hours tactic.

 -Tuomas

Sunday 7th of February

 testing, practicing and opening ceremony.

The day has been really hectic. First our hostel didn’t have much of a choice for breakfast so we ended up eating just a pile of toast, nothing else. After that we carried all our compulsory equipments to this enormous hall which located close to the shore about 1km from the hostel. We also had to take our bike cases with us. Had to put bikes together for the inspection by the race organization and then take them apart again so they could be carried to the point where we use those at the first time.

After checking all the gears inside we headed to the shore. Now it was time to check the kayaks. We dressed up our kayaking equipments and we managed to get to the water even though the weather was so windy that we could just lean to our kayaks. Next few hours we were just floating on the water trying to turn over the kayaks and then climb back in.  Everyone in our team is wearing a dry suit. The temperature of the sea water was cold, but warmer that we expected. We also went through several different techniques to survive in a case of emergency. The race organization wanted to be sure that everyone is aware of basic surviving methods. Especially when we are about to head to a place where is icebergs and big waves, all this is to be expected when we paddle in Beagle canal.

   Picture from here

We know all ready that there is going to be several up and downs when we have to use our ropes. Not because the race organization want to get “cool pictures”, but it’s necessary because in some point it´s the safest way to proceed. So after testing the kayaks we tested our ropes. Or not much testing this time. We were mostly chatting about different types of techniques to use the rope. We also know that some point we have to cross a big river above it. Then we just have to rely on our ropes while we are hanging in the air.

When we were going through our equipments we received admiration and lots of compliments from other teams. Especially people liked our team´s light tents, sleeping bags and cookers. Also many people have been asking “where I can buy one of these” when they saw our lamps made by Mr. Happonen. But all together now we have everything we need and all the stuff we brought with us is here in one piece.

Later on today we had some time to make rough plans how to share our food. My plan is to share all the food in 12 hour bags. That means that I have shared my food between 9 days and that gives me 17 different food bags. Tomorrow when we get our maps it´s easy to lift right amount of food bags to those backpacks we are going to use during the race. Still need to make sure that we have enough food to each part of the race.  One part of the race is always going to be like cycling, trekking or swim… oh no paddling. There is going to be lots of food coming with us – a lot.

Tonight we had the opening ceremonies and it was quite dignified and pleasant. Member of the Wenger, member of the race management and few other representatives from the sponsors hold their speeches. Among others organizations like Olympic committee of Chile & Chile´s Ministry of Tourism are sponsoring this event. The race organization is also doing a very important job protecting the environment and how to raise the awareness about travelling without ruining the surroundings. These matters were one of the main themes through the ceremony.

During the ceremony we met all the other teams and we were introduced one team at the time. Our team has aroused a lot of interest among the international media. Reason is that we are the first team ever who is taking part of this completion that has two women in the team.  (Rules say that at least one of the members has to a woman.) Also we are the first Finnish team ever to participate to this particular race. We have been giving several different interviews during today and tonight.

 Picture from here

Here is a link where you can find all the other teams. Now it´s time to go to bed. Tomorrow is the last day before the race starts. There is going to be info for the captain each of the teams and they are going to receive our route maps, instructions and a race book which helps us to make some plans for our route. Also need to pack our stuff, make sure that we have enough food, other equipments and time for each part of the race. Have to leave everything tomorrow night by 6pm. And of course need to refine our last minute race strategy.

There is going to be about 60km paddling, 250km by foot and over 300km cycling. Any of these isn’t going to be easy especially if it´s going to be as windy as it was today.

Our team is doing ok.

Regards Tuomas

(Text Tuomas Sovijärvi / Translation Eveliina Pitkänen)