Ultra Fiord 2017 - Romantically Hostile

Tito Nazar / 02.08.2017

With the Paine mountain range at our backs, and Mount Donoso and several glaciers to our right the 70K Ultra Fiord 2017 began.  When things are intense, it is often said, that opposing feelings of love or hate are generated.

For me, the experience of running through southern Patagonia moves me to feelings of deep love. Trail running as a discipline teaches a lot, but I have always felt critical about the presence of aid stations. With these present, you test your physical and mental limits but at the back of your mind you rest assured you are very close to civilization. Moreover, if the race has a lot of logistical support, it can mask the true capabilities of the participants.

Ultra Fiord is kind of a renegade of the system: a romantic event, fused with untamed nature, where  all the distances require self sufficiency. Add to that the unpredictable weather and the hard to reach location and Ultra Fiord stands out as the king of kings among global trail races.

From my perspective, the smart thing is to be over-prepared for the chosen distance – ensuring you not only reach the finish line safe and sound, but also that you are able to truly enjoy this distinct, unique and worldwide exclusive experience

The dampness of the valley was dense and chilly, almost on the verge of freezing. Beyond them the yellow plain was pockmarked with frost that had formed before dawn. The horizon above was capped by snowy peaks and the white crystals deposited on the rocks were raised towards the sky. Such was the scenario on the starting line – primed, profound and silent in sublimity.

The wind was conspicously absent. There were only the cold and our footsteps on the plains. The warming orb was still hidden behind the chains of massifs. There was tolerable mud, and even less troubling when it was mixed with water – but it felt like it was on the fringe of freezing. Humid branches and rounded roots in the valleys had our eyes fixed on each step, present in each moment, careful not to fall face-first to the ground.

When we reached the hills behind the mountains, the weak sun barely warmed our faces, but it was still the best gift that nature could give. In Patagonia any little help is everything. Here the moment is more lively, the colors are more intense, the smells are deeper. Each step is a mantra of gratitude, because we must not forget that we are where we are because we chose to do it. And this is the major blessing.

A challenging ascent led us to the monarch of the circuit; The Chacabuco Glacier. To pass through it, we had first to descend into the valley where ice circulated in times when the glaciers were a spread thatchwork across the plains. As we moved towards the new territory of the ice we had the mountains in view, creating such harmony that only by seeing them for yourself you can feel how the heart palpitates in its presence...Here the stones are flat and sharp with snow covering their surfaces ... Yes, we are climbing towards a glacier.

Yes, it is a trail running race where you go across a glacier, and it is not a glacier of those that look like a little slope and don´t garner much respect. It is a cluster of hundreds of millions of liters of millennially frozen water. There we were passing where few humans have passed, where mountains have not been trampled by men, where the valleys were made of cataclysms and tectonic movements and water with divine crystallization, there, where nature is literally virgin, rarely seen, and even dreaded. We were on the shoulders of the giants of Patagonia while we were gasping to reach 1,200 meters over sea level (3.940 ft).

A traverse through the ice to the right and an impeccable sloping descent where we could gallop whilst we ran. After leaving the glacier we climbed again to the right by rocks chiseled in times. Proof indeed that the ice covered not only the plains, but also the high peaks, in the episodes where the Ice Age was at its maximum glory.

Mud: Black mud, brown mud, watery mud, pasty mud, semi-dry mud, almost dry mud; Ruinous mud that makes Patagonia what it is: a land of brave men, of the strong and virtuous. Nothing in Patagonia is easy and he who pays the prize kisses the firmament. Patagonia is the land of fervent life, but also of raw death. It is the land of barren oblivion but also of eternal glory and Ultra Fiord vibrates every molecule of anybody its gets within its clasps.

The estimated time to get to the finish line for many racers was never what we planned, because that is what this is all about. Ultra Fiord is unpredictable for its environment, their people are forged under the idea of solving problems, in momentum, through wild and hostile climates. Although when it offers peace, you feel every photon from the sun touching the surface of your pores. The prize is only appreciated by those who put their feet in the peat. Only then can we see what we are made of.

Of what are we made of? How far can man's will go before it breaks? What are the limits of the spirit immersed in wild landscapes? Perhaps these are some of the questions we ask ourselves when we are breaking our backs in the southern Patagonian fjords.

Ultra Fiord is romantically hostile: It's made for people looking for an experience beyond a conventional race. It's for racers looking for a colossal challenge. But I think it´s magic is more evident in feelings that can be breathed, felt and touched. I choose to see Ultra Fiord as a perfect whole where the most savage forms of Patagonic nature are thrown into the melting pot; girding man and offering the most sublime scenes – but at the cost of a physical-mental-spiritual effort which is over and above that of any other mountain races.

Ultra Fiord is profiled as one of the best races ever created. It is unquestionable that with the precise adjustments that are being created today, they are transforming it into a work of art of trail running in which all members will be summoned by their wild spirit to tread the inhospitable-bravery of southern Patagonia.

For more information on the race see; http://www.ultrafiord.com