HUAIRASINCHI
Straight Up Into the Highlands
Jessica G. Cedeno / 01.05.2017
Saturday dawned clear and cold, and by 6:30am teams, family members, friends, and spectators had assembled for our 7am departure. Upon their arrival at Zuleta, teams found that the community members had prepared a hearty breakfast in order to send them off. This Andean community demonstrated their enthusiasm and engagement towards the race and towards the fact that they were the venue for the departure.
This brought teams together as they prepared last minute details and then, precisely at 7am, both the Elite and Adventure categories set off. Teams began the race with a 62km trek up Ventanillas Hill towards Lake Puruhanta and then back to Zuleta where they will transition to their mountain bikes.
The first part of this 62km trekking leg had teams facing a vertical kilometre, which means that they had to rise 1000masl in less than a 4km distance. Teams were in a pack during this ascent towards CP1. After that, they entered a paramo section as they headed to CP2 before finally getting a first glance of this pristine lake.
At this point, several teams began to pull ahead, led by team #10 Terra Aventura Finalin from Ecuador who opened the route for the teams behind as they crossed CPs 4-6. Teams still have half of this first trek ahead, with adverse climate conditions, as of 8:30pm on the first day of our race.
The altitude has been a clear hardship for the teams on this first day, and it will be important to follow along and see who is able to acclimate throughout the race as they have yet to reach the highest point. At this time, there is a high degree of excitement and expectancy at the transition zone as people await the arrival of the first team, and for the challenges and thrills in the next few days.
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