Adventure Racing World Championship 2006
Red Bull Gives You Wings
Rob Howard / 17.08.2006
As the first teams arrived at the location for the Red Bull Challenge, just across the border into Norway the time had come to reveal just what this frightening task was. About 200m off the road and into the forest they came to the top of a deep canyon, with the familiar sight of Red Bull inflatable arch set up on the edge of an 100m drop. From this a zip line had been set up running across the canyon to the floor on the far side, and descending at a very steep angle.
It wasn’t the fact it was a zip line which was new, but the speed the competitors would achieve as they descended it – the intention was to get the racers moving a speed no adventure racer had ever achieved before! Had the original plans worked out the organisers hoped they would travel 200m at 100kph down the length of the canyon.
Sadly, this hadn’t worked out and a 100m line had to be set up across the canyon at 45 degrees ... but it was still fast enough! A bungee brake was used to halt the racers and they hit it with some force, suddenly jerking up and back to come to a halt. And though it might have been slower than hoped, it was still fast enough to cause one of the Team Finland rucksacks to explode! The pressure was so great the zip burst and scattered the contents, including a race radio onto the ground below.See All Event Posts
