South America – The AR Hotspot of the Moment
Rob Howard / 18.02.2012
With the Patagonian Expedition Race well underway, two more major expedition races are now starting in South America. Huairasinchi is already underway in Ecuador, and Tierra Viva will start in Argentinean Patagonia at 08.00 on Monday morning, both are World Series races with some top international teams taking part.
Huairasinchi is now in its 10th year and for the last two years the teams which have won have gone on to be World Champions (Buff Thermocool and Thule Adventure). This year’s course is 407km, and always the terrain will be diverse and altitude will play its part, this year the high point is 4800m, and visiting teams have wisely been spending some time in the capital Quito, acclimatising with trips out to the surrounding volcanoes before the race.
This year some strong Ecuadorean teams face opposition from Technu Extreme (USA), Skandia (Denmark/UK), Lafuma Vibram (France), Team Costa Rica and Merrell Adventure Addicts (RSA). The race this year is to the south of Quito and started on bikes at the town of Aloasi, with the teams closely packed in the early stages and the course making a rapid ascent to altitude. You can follow the rankings on the race site here with daily English news here on SleepMonsters.
Further South Tierra Viva is a very different race, with a clover leaf course design and teams passing through a fixed base camp between each stage. What’s more each stage is free route choice and CP’s are unmanned, with teams recording their presence on digital cameras. The race favourites must the Team Seagate (the same team which was at the World Championships), but they are up against strong local teams, including 2x winners Cristagua. There is a strong Brazilian entry too. All the teams have now moved to the base camp area ahead of the race start on Monday morning, where they are building their camps and preparing for the race.
[Neither race has tracking, and we're not expecting to hear much from Tierra Viva, but will post anything we get.]
SleepMonsters
