Raid Ukatak
Lying Down is Fatal
Fredrik Olmqvist / 29.01.2003
[The following report was originally sent from the finish line but never arrived, now it\'s finally got through.]It was “very, very, very extreme�
What doesn’t kill you makes you tough, they say.
In the case of Ukatak it gives you frost bite at least.
Passing the finish line in this year’s edition of Raid Ukatak was a profound sensation for the racers in the winning Swedish team High Coast 600, and for all the competitors.
After the toughest conditions ever known in an adventure race, according to many experienced racers on course, Raid Ukatak has reconfirmed its position not only as the coldest Adventure Race in the world but also one of the most extreme.
Nevertheless, after being forced to a race halt due to missed cut off times and extreme weather conditions with –30C temperatures and 55 mph winds, many teams still took the opportunity to continue unranked in the true adventure racing spirit.
The wind was actually so strong that racers could use their bodies as sails while cross-country skiing. At some points they had to crawl, just to avoid being swept away. At higher altitudes, like PC6 which was situated on a mountaintop, everybody was blown off their feet – the wind was so bad.
Mikael Nordstrom, the team captain of High Coast 600, admitted he got scared a couple of times, but that his team’s ability to focus on the given task (victory) helped them in those situations.
“What you learn in a race like this is that you have to get yourself together, it doesn’t matter how tired you are, you just can’t stop and lie down, you have to carry on – at least until the next checkpoint. In these conditions the race is as much about surviving.�
Sean Hartman in Team Passion (US/Canada/Reunion) said, “The element’s in a winter race make you very tired, but lying down is just fatal. You can’t stop to pitch a tent, it would take too much time. The thought of a warm shelter makes you tend to look at houses – or just any type of structure. I also tend to hear voices, but that can be Sheri talking to herself.�
Team mate Sheri Foster is quite an experienced racer but his was her first winter race and she had never experienced so much darkness. “The last few days I wanted to sleep so badly, but you don’t have a choice, you have to get to the next PC.�
Race directors Martin Nieto and Natalie Pelland had planned a varied course with a few surprises. The extreme conditions made them change the course which caused a number of exclusions: the paraskiing on the Saguenay River, the rappel at the beautiful PC18a, the snow scooter ride and for some teams also the dog sleigh at the finish.
Excluding the raisins from the cookie it became a mix of snow shoe trekking in thick pine forest, mountain biking on wind swept highways and cross-country skiing on snow mobile (skidoo) trails.
“The one thing I regret the most is that the racers couldn’t experience traveling on the fjord, because that’s really special,� said Nieto. With more than 60 volunteers Ukatak has a solid base and the boast the race got this year, partly because of the media stir following the incident with the lost team, will probably help them launch the race for the 2004 edition. So the cold snap might have been a good thing after all.
Now, however, it’s time for the other key element of Ukatak – the party!See All Event Posts
