Rajd Beskidy

Ready for Rajd Beskidy

Rob Howard / 18.06.2023

Teams at the news ARWS Demonstration Race, Rajd Beskidy, are now settling down for their final night of sleep ahead of one of the most ambitious courses in the World Series this year.

The 600km course is open for 6 days and there are 10 stages in all.  The final bike ride starts in Slovakia, goes through the Czech Republic and finishes back at the race HQ in Poland. Its 264km long, with 6900m of climbing and the total climb on the course is over 16,000m. 

There are 32 maps in all, 5 for special stages of orienteering and other navigational challenges and 102 checkpoints.  These include monuments and castles, a rope bridge an old ski jump and ‘a cage with parrots’.  There are also some bonus checkpoints (rated gold and silver) and fake checkpoints as well.  (They may match the description, but will be in the wrong place and there are time penalties if you visit a fake.)

There’s a via ferrata, downhill mtb sections, urban orienteering, a rope stage and a cave descent so the route is full of variety and course planning creativity.

The man behind it is Jerzy Lekki, who has a spent many years exploring the Carpathian mountains, seeking out the places few, if any, others have visited. He has ventured beyond his native Beskidy range into the other Carpathian ranges in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and created this epic tri-country course.  (There is a checkpoint where all 3 borders meet.)

“It is the first time the race has gone outside Poland” he said, “but it’s not been difficult working in the other countries or getting permission. I like that part of the Race Director’s job!”  In fact most of the course is outside Poland.

His assistant RD is his daughter, Magda, and she was doing the English translation at the race briefing.  Father and daughter manage the race together and Magda says, “all of our family life is spent in the outdoors and sports.”

The briefing could have been in Polish and German as all the racers are from those countries, bar one from Sweden. After a spate of withdrawals from international teams for various different reason, there only 5 full course teams remaining.  It’s a disappointing start lineup for such an ambitious race.

The defending champions from the Czech Republic had to pull out due to injury so only Team OMM-Nordisk Adventure Race Team adds an international spice to a battle among the Polish teams. These include some great names of Polish racing, including the Snowdog Trail team lead by Artur Kurek. They are a team with many years of experience to draw on.

Rafal Adamtez of Team Onsight Navigatoria came up to me and said, “Poland has a GREAT adventure racing history so it’s exciting to have a World Series race now. I have watched the races over many years and in the last few years taken part in expedition races.” Over the years races like the Bergson Winter Challenge and Adventure Trophy have provided Polish teams with experience in long races, and the last 3 ARWS races all had Polish teams taking part, and doing well.

All of teams gathered in the idyllic ski village of Willa Bieńkula, which is near to Szczyrk.  The town and Beskidy hills are among the most popular for ski touring, ski-jumping and downhilling in Poland, and for hiking and mountain biking on the extensive gravel road network through the forests.

All of the teams are housed in the resort, which is quiet in the summer (and because school holidays have not yet started here).  Teams will see few other people once they are out in the forests.  With only a few racers the briefing was very relaxed and friendly, and continued after a filling dinner of local dishes at the restaurant a short walk up the hillside.  

As darkness feel the teams settled down for their pre-race sleep and they will be up early as the maps are given out at 5am.  Teams will then be in lockdown and will leave at 8.30 on a bus to the city of Bielsko Biala, which is where the race will start with a 15km urban orienteering stage around the town.

There is live tracking for the race which you can follow at; https://sledzgps.pl/events/show/rajd_beskidy_2023