The APEX Race

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Quechua Out and Silva Gerber Lead

Grant Killian/Rob Howard / 26.05.2011

The APEX : the Alpine Expedition Switzerland has entered day 2 with the surprise withdrawal of one of the race favourites and the leaders now climbing high into the Alps to the Shiltorn Summit at 2970m.

Day 1 began with a scorchingly hot prologue of 4 loops through Interlaken (2 orienteering loops, 1 scootering loop, and 1 white water rafting loop). Local Swiss team R'Adys Black Diamond emerged as the leader after the prologue, and started the real race 4 minutes in front of the Swedish powerhouse team Silva Gerber Adventure. A few minutes behind Silva, the Czech team Accom/Nutrend/Merida rounded out the prologue top 3.

The real race began with a short 45 minute run through Interlaken village, which was followed by a kayak on the scenic Thunersee with steep Swiss Alps all around. Gorgeous views! The sun set just as the first teams finished the kayaking, and R'Adys had been overtaken by Silva during the paddle and the 3rd place Czechs slipped several places in the standings.

The top 5 after the kayaking leg were:

1. Silva Gerber Adventure (Sweden)
2. R'Adys Black Diamond (Switzerland)
3. Sweco Adventure Team (Sweden)
4. Quechua.com (France)
5. PowerBar Lozere Sport Nature (France)

Many teams pushed too hard on the race prologue, and they started to pay for their exertions with leg cramps, dehydration, and general fatigue on the kayak leg. The race features over 10,000 m of elevation gain and 100 hours of non-stop racing, the longest adventure race in Switzerland in nearly a decade. (Since the inaugural World Championships.) 28 teams started the race, and it remains to be determined how many of those will reach the finish line.

To date only one team has withdrawn and that was a major surprise as it was Quechua.com – one of the most experienced and successful teams in the world and one of the favourites for the race. Their problems began early, with Sandrine Monier becoming severely dehydrated after the prologue. The team tried to push on, slept and even asked about an IV drip, but this assistance would have DQ’d them anyway and in the end had to withdraw and get Monier some medical attention and rest.

For such an experienced team to get themselves into that position so early in a long race is a surprise, and they may now look to another AWRS race, Raid in France, to try and and win a place in the World Championships in Tasmania.See All Event Posts