The Wilderness ARC
Dynamic Adventure Racing at WARC
Robyn Ferrar / 15.06.2006
At 8am on Monday 29th May, 76 racers jogged through the high street of Fort William and up the steep and rather ugly little lump called Cow’s Hill for the 1st checkpoint on the 1st 17km trek. I was among them as the female contingent of Team Dynamic Adventure Racing (consisting of Piers Constable, Greg Fisher, Jonathan Mayne, and myself) ... officially the poshest team in the 19-team line-up. We’re all from SW London, and all bar 1 of us were taking care of unfinished business, having suffered at the hands of the storm in our respective teams in the previous year’s race. So this year we were more prepared and more determined than ever to get to the finish line.At the top of Cow’s Hill we had a short orienteering stage designed to spread the field to avoid queuing at the ropes section. It seemed to serve its purpose, and once out of the way, everyone settled into his or her 5-day trekking pace.
Next up was the abseil, which was fairly easy, and set against the impressive backdrop of Glen Nevis. Then a quick and treacherous tumble down the hill had us bouncing into the canyoneering stage.
Here, clad in wetsuits, we had to shimmy across to a waterfall and leap into the bubbling cauldron approx 7m below, which was the only time my sense of adventure was sorely tested. I can handle (and relish) pretty much anything other than jumping off a height! Stopping to think about it is fatal, so when my number was up, I stepped past a tearful Freddie from Team Cotswolds Outdoors (she’d recently suffered a broken back so was understandably worried), took a strangled breath, and stepped off into the roaring void. Relief was brief, as we were immediately swept off downstream, bouncing off every rock along the way. If ever I’d wished for more padding it was here! Defensive swimming my ar*e… which was battered and bruised by the time I hauled myself, whimpering from the river.
The 2nd jump wasn’t as high or scary, so even Freddie bravely took the plunge. Her blood-curdling scream could be heard as we stripped out of our wetsuits to continue with the trek. Next stop was the Jumar/cave. Two team members had to ascend a 25m rock face while the other 2 had to locate a CP hidden in a cave before re-grouping at the top of the Jumar. I regretted volunteering for the jumar when I saw how Piers was struggling. I could at least hold his rope so that he didn’t have to pull it through himself, so I knew I was in trouble with no one to hold mine. By the time I got to the top I was shaking from exhaustion but it soon passed and we were on our way again.See All Event Posts
