VX
VX – AR Latvian Style
Normunds Lisovskis / 18.06.2004
The VX adventure race – a survival game, a fight against nature or pure adventure ... We call it adventure racing ‘Latvian Style’. Twice a year around 100 teams of four cross the start line. Half of them in standard class must do 90 km in 24 hours, another half – Elite Class teams – 150 km in 40 hours. Not much, but the statistics over 4 years show that only 10 percent of Elite Class teams make it to finish line and the average speed of the first teams is a little more then 2 km per hour! To complete the course teams must be ready to do anything – swim in near freezing conditions, descend by rope into the rocket shaft of a sacked Soviet army base and search for hidden checkpoints in a partially flooded underground complex, climb ropes battling against fast flowing rivers, use a self-made raft constructed from truck tyre tubes and sticks etc. Most of the tasks and disciplines are secret even when you are on start line. The organizers never even reveal number and distance of mountain the biking, trekking or paddling stages ...
That is VX - well known in Eastern Europe as one of the hardest races to complete and the place to meet the best teams from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. And there are not many races in whole world with more then 100 teams of four on start line.
Too Tough?
The most recent edition of VX was held in Vidzeme region of Latvia on May 21-23, and only 8 teams reached the finish line in the Elite Class.
“That was tough… Too tough? But that is what we pay for,� declares Peteris from team Mona-X which finished in 7th place. His team spent 34 hours on course. “The hardest moment was to jump from a 5m cliff into black waters of the Salaca river. That was scary! Another big challenge was the paddling stage on a stormy lake during second night when the air temperature felt close to zero ... �
“This race was hardest of all VX races! We quit it on second night when we reached the swimming section with a jump from the cliffs. That was enough for us,� tells Ulla from Team “Idioti�. “We were totally frozen and exhausted, bodies bruised, feet trashed. We were swimming already on the first night when the air temperature was below zero. And with bikes!�See All Event Posts
