Fulda Challenge
Off to the Arctic
Rob / 03.02.2004
Gill Watson and Gary Bullen, a Royal Marines Commando, are the UK team the Fulda Tyres Challenge, an arctic mix of extreme sports and driving. (Fulda are a tyre manufacturer.) They are also joined by the Great Britain Hi-Q team of Barry Nutley and Clare Dawson who have a wild card entry. (The remaining teams qualified through national selection weekends at home and in the Alps.)The two British teams flew to Whitehorse in Canada on Sunday 1st February, ready to embark on what is billed as ‘the world’s most demanding seven-day winter endurance event’. They are up against 9 teams from around the world, who will pack their skis, ice axes and crampons for the event. The course will cover over 2,000km as they drive across Alaska, through Dawson City and Eagle Plains, and north to the Arctic Circle, taking on the physical challenges on the way.
These include cross-country skiing, off-road driving, ice climbing, ski-doo racing, a half-marathon and, to start with, car-pulling. The vehicle they have to “tow� is a Rav4, supplied by Toyota, official suppliers to the event. At the end of each day, competitors will have to pitch camp in the icy wilderness and sleep out, with temperatures expected to drop as low as -30C. And the prize at the end of all this? In recognition of Yukon’s historic Gold Rush, the winning two-person team will get two Klondike gold nuggets, valued at CA$5,000 each.
The British team don’t have a great deal of expectation on them, previous UK teams have come last with some abysmal performances in previous races, but Watson and Bullen aim to do much better. As part of his military training Bullen has winter sports and survival skills, but Watson has little skiing and ice-climbing experience.
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