Eco-Challenge heads for Fiji

Rob / 13.03.2002

The next Eco-Challenge will held on Fiji, sometime in October this year. There were strong rumours before the official announcement and they were right – its off to a south seas tropical paradise for one of the “toughest races on earth”.

The race hype promises the chance to “explore and race through 500 kms of Fiji\'s most impressive and untouched terrain by bushwhacking through dense jungles, mountain biking on rugged trails, paddling down jungle rivers, trekking on ancient pig hunting trails to remote villages, climbing fixed ropes up raging waterfalls and exploring the uninhabited islands.”. All a bit reminiscent of Borneo a couple of years ago.

Race Founder, Executive Producer and all-round supremo Mark Burnett also expanded a theme he’s raised before. \"My goal as we move forward is to turn Eco-Challenge into a mix of an Indiana Jones adventure, a Lewis and Clark expedition and a modern day competition. Competitors will need to be innovative as they emerge from the jungle not to find boats waiting, but instead to find wood, ropes, cloth and the tools needed to manufacture boats of their own choosing. Instead of detailed topographic maps, they will be required to make their own sketch maps in order to navigate through the remote jungles and mountains. The unexpected is what should be expected on this journey. Eco-Challenge truly is an expedition with a stopwatch.\"

A similar theme was raised before the race in Borneo, with the prospect of teams having to improvise ways to catch fish on the way and live off the land, but in the end nothing came of it. They raced faster than ever – and went to the local shops on the way.

Anything too unpredictable in the race may not be popular in some quarters. After training all year and spending a lot of their own (and sponsors) cash not everyone wants to be faced with a ‘lottery discipline’. Others will see it as part of the challenge and adventure they are looking for. We’ll just have to wait to see what happens.

There are 75 slots available for single nationality teams, and the price has gone up a bit, to $14,500. That’s before you’ve paid your air fare so wealthy or well sponsored teams only need apply. Not that there will be any shortage of applicants, on-line registration opens on February 25 at exactly 10am PST, and it will be full soon after.