Yak Attack on the Credit Crunch

Phil Evans (Extreme World Challenges) / 14.01.2009

In view of the current global financial situation and especially in light of the recent withdrawal of sponsorship from some major world wide races, Extreme World Challenges are proud to announce that Berghaus have committed to supporting Yak Attack for 2009 and future years.

The flourishing UK outdoor wear and equipment manufacturer is expanding into the Asian market, with partners in Japan, Korea and China, and supports EWC's program of providing assistance for up and coming Nepali athletes. Berghaus have been involved with the mountain bike stage race since the events conception, entering Berghaus sponsored MTB'er, Rob Jarman, in 2007 and becoming main title sponsor in 2008.

In order to sustain the growing popularity of this race during these trying economic times, Extreme World Challenges have been working behind the scenes in a hope of making race entry fees more affordable to all. By delaying the start until the end of the main Nepal tourist season and by cutting back the race package to the "bare bones", they are able to offer a budget busting 53% discount on the normal entry fee of £1400. That’s an amazing entry fee of only £650.

Full details of what is included in the new race entry fee are listed on the web site, but basically the fee covers all ground transport during the race, all accommodation during the race, bike and trekking permits required for Annapurna area, winners prize money and stage winners prizes (tba), trophies for top 4 finishers, t-shirts and medals for all finishers.

Due to having to downsize logistics in order to reduce entry fees, sadly this means that there will only be 10 places available for international entrants and these are expected to go very quickly. This will be a one-off offer for 2009 as it is not conducive with EWC ideology, being that it will greatly reduce the amount of local labour the event employs. Therefore the entry cost and package will revert to the original listing for 2010.

This year’s race takes place between May 25 to June 3 and will be held around the Annapurna circuit. Taking 6 days to cover 230km, competitors will climb from 800m up to 5416m before dropping over 4600m in a little over 100km. Last year’s winner, Kaji Sherpa covered the course in an accumulative time of just over 20 hours, but with the likelihood of snow diminished with the later start date, the 2009 winning time could be much quicker.

For more details on the race or to book a place for the 2009 event see the Yak Attack website at http://yak-attack.co.uk.