BHP Billiton Rock and Ice Ultra

---

The Prelude to a Tough Race

Rob Howard / 23.03.2008

The roadside camp at Prelude Lake East serves as the first stage camp for the BHP Billiton Rock and Ice UItra and by mid-afternoon the first competitors were arriving, relieved to arrive after the long, long haul down Prelude Lake. They could see the finish tent and the group of teepees from a long way off … but the distance was deceptively long and the satisfaction of reaching the finish line was delaying longer than expected.

The first racers arrived at 2.46, three K-Rock skiers coming in together to finish the first of their 3 days competition. They were Darren Keith, Damian Panayi and Corey McLachlan, and Panayi’s explanation of how they came to finish together was, “we all bonked at the same time!� Having pushed the pace through some difficult conditions in the soft snow it seems they all reached their limit and left the racing until another day. Panayi, who was second last year, was not hopeful of staying with his friends for the rest of the race however. “They are better skiers than me,� he said, “and I don’t think I’ll be with them tomorrow.�

The first of the Cold Foot Classic Racers came in 35 minutes later and it was last years winner Doug Townend, who was followed by Jenny Crawford of the relay team ‘Scotch on the Rocks’. These racers had not reached the finish as the one day Cold Foot racers had another 26km to complete, out to the Hidden Lake checkpoint and back. Several more solo racers followed at 3.35 in the company of Ewan Affleck, the first K-Rock foot racers to complete day 1.

Ewan won this category last year but his pre-race worries about the deep and soft snow had proved to be well founded. For the foot racers in particular the recent snowfall had made life much harder. They were snowshoeing all the way, and often sinking into the snow, losing any rhythm to their stride. The day had been more walk than a run for most.

“This is the worst snow on this trail I’ve seen in 6 years,� said Scott Smith. “When we were putting parts of the route out last night it was blowing a blizzard and we’ve had more snowfall in the last day than we have in the last few months. It might be warmer this year, but it’s still tough.� No one disputed that, but Yukon’s Greg McHale looked relatively untroubled as he came in with Affleck.
See All Event Posts