Salomon Winter Adventure Challenge

Geoff Langford (Frontier Adventure Racing) / 05.03.2005

Winter? That wasn’t winter! If you participated in last year’s winter race, than this year felt like a warm blanket compared to the record low temperatures of 2004. Although the frostbite factor was significantly different, the fastest team was the same. Last year’s winner, team EAS/Hammer showed its strength for a second consecutive year. It had a commanding lead from the Le Mans toboggan start, to the snowshoe finish.

At 10:08 am, twenty-six teams toed the line for the 5th annual winter Salomon Adventure Challenge. Teams sprinted through the Salomon arches with toboggans in hand, on their way to the perfect toboggan hill just inside the main gates. Team EAS/Hammer took the lead closely followed by SupplierPipeline. Within minutes all teams had slid their way into the bike transition for a fast 8km bike to the first snowshoe section.

CP1/TA1
Teams left their bikes for the first snowshoe section. EAS/Hammer had a 3 minute lead on the field. Co-ed teams Supplierpipeline and Canadian Hardcorps were tied into this first TA. The Furgusons and The Screaming Carrots were the last teams out of the TA, almost 25 minutes behind the leaders. Firstymers had almost a 10 minute lead on Chicks Who Rip! in the female category.

CP2/TA2 – CP3
Out of the snowshoes and onto cross country skis. TA2 saw the first race casualty. One member from team NRP 11 was suffering from cramps and had to pull out of the race. The two remaining teammates continued on unranked. Dark horse Veronica's Secrets was holding steady in a tie for third with the local favourite Tree Huggers. Little navigation was required to this point – there was still plenty of race left to unfold.