Subaru Primal Quest Adventure Race Update

July 7, 2002 (10:30 am; Mountain Standard Time)

Greetings:

The strategies to get to the first 4 check points (CPs) are now being planned as the teams have received their maps for the first part of the race, and the racers are nervously awaiting the beginning of the race (starting at 3 pm MST this afternoon at the ski hill in Telluride).

Late last night there was a meeting among all the teams and the race organizers to go over the initial stages of the race. The number of teams now officially stands at 62, and there have already been some last minute changes in team members in some teams (not Team Santa Fe). The course has been modified due to low water in the rivers. The course is now 238 miles - longer if you are not perfect with your navigation. The total elevation gain is 68,500’ and total elevation change is 137,000’ – most of this will be above 10,000 elevation. Obviously, altitude sickness is a consideration, and the organizers at the meeting spent a long time addressing this issue. Remember, at 13,000’ there is about 25% less oxygen than sea level (I believe I have those numbers are right.). The course has 27 CPs for the 7 sections with different disciplines (trekking, mountaineering, mtn biking, kayaking, rappelling) and 6 transition areas (TAs) where equipment will be switched out for the next discipline.

The river section that is going to be used for the race is on the Animas River which is a highly technical whitewater river containing some class 5 rapids (these will have to be portaged). With the lower water level there will be more things to hit so this will be more challenging than usual. There is a mandatory dark zone on the Animas River that goes from 4:30 pm to 6 am. That means that teams are not permitted to start the river course in that time period. This also means that this is an extremely important strategic point for the racers. If you arrive a 4:35 pm, you will be stuck there until 6 am the next morning (although that does force a nice rest period).

The first section will be a real test of the fitness levels of the teams and their susceptibility to altitude sickness. The first section, with 4 CPs, only covers 23.5 miles (as the crow flies – if a crow could fly at that altitude). However, they will start at Telluride at 9,500’ and go up. Over the first few CPs the teams will have to traverse 12 13,000’ passes. Remember, the start of the race is at 3 pm so that means much of the high altitude trekking will be done at night. The advantage is that teams will be less likely to be exposed to lightning strike danger that usually comes with the mid-afternoon mountain thunderstorms. The best guess that I got from Barb Dutrow was that the lead teams will likely complete this first section in about 10 hours. I might add that parts of this section of the course will be familiar to Team Santa Fe because parts of the Imogene Pass race is over this area, and most of the team has run the Imogene Pass race.

CP4 is back at the start in Telluride where they are likely going to transition into a mountain biking section. After that the details of the race have not been announced. The teams will come into CP4 and, at that point, get the locations of the other 23 CPs for the balance of the race.

If you can, check the SPQ website once the race begins (www.ecoprimalquest.com ). They have impressive coverage. I should also add that the GPS coverage will not tell where they are at a give point in time, but where they went. This is because, at only certain CPs, the data will be downloaded from the GPS unit each team carries. So, you can look back at what the team did, and not where they are (except if they happen to be in a CP).

The weather looks good for this afternoon, and the next few days, and the racers will be checking in at the start area at about 2:15 pm (MST) for the 3 pm start.