BHP Billiton Rock and Ice Ultra
Onto Great Slave Lake
Rob Howard / 24.03.2009
Day 4, and the BHP Billiton Rock & Ice Ultra restarted with 22 Diamond Ultra athletes preparing to leave Matrix Village. With the one and three day events now completed all the starters were now pulling sleds and setting out on the second half of their endurance quest.They’d had the opportunity to eat out in town, restock, change clothes, and make any running repairs required to their equipment. Last night the sound of drilling could be heard coming from the tents as sleds were fixed and one of those working on this task was Chris Hughes. His makeshift string repair for a sheared sled tow had last a couple of days, but he’d taken up the offer of some lengths of heater hose from Greg McHale to make improvements. The repair was better than new!
As the racers emerged from the Matrix tents into the cold air of a bright, sunny morning supporters, including many K-Rock and Cold Foot racers, gathered to cheer them off as they set out for Baker Island Camp. For today the route had been changed a little from last year, heading out onto the edge of Great Slave Lake, rather than winding it’s through the offshore islands, and Scott Smith had promised racers they would enjoy the fast conditions on the hard packed snow and ice of the wind scoured lake surface.
He was right, it was a shorter day today, and the two lead skiers (Phil Villeneuve and Michael Argue) set a relentless pace, skating across the ice and racing flat out into the finish line at Baker Island side by side in a time of just 2 hours 44 minutes. They are still inseparable and while they are clearly racing hard, they do seem to have come to agreement that both will stop together from time to time to drink. The way they raced into camp left no doubt however that they are competing with every ounce of energy and skill they can summon up.
Behind them Greg McHale was out running on his own, setting a steady pace along the flag-marked trail, untroubled by any competitive pressures. The trail today was the most exposed of the race and as the route struck out around the islands the sense of isolation increased. To the South there was nothing to be seen except the ice desert of the frozen lake, the 9th largest in the world, stretching to the horizon. The vista was only broken by occasional glimpses of the Mirage islands in the distance, but the racers know they are not alone, the support staff from Arctic Response stand-off to allow them an uninterrupted race experience but they are always nearby, ready to help if need be and offering water if needed.See All Event Posts
