Southern Traverse
West Coast Calls the Shots
Michael Jacques / 16.11.2004
At 2:27am this morning (Tues) Team Kathmandu arrived at the Aikcens Bend transition on the Arthur’ Pass Road. They had been up on the 1300m high Baldy Range for almost 14 hours and despite cold southerly wind and rain that at times brought thunder and lightening across the ranges, it would be almost 2hrs before the surprise Swedish entry Lundhag Adventure came through in second place.
Kathmandu’s local knowledge has been the talking point of this year’s race. Born and bred in the West Coast there are not many corners of the wild region that the Hamilton brothers, Duncan and Hamish, have not investigated at some point of their lives. Which is why their performance on last nights trek was so impressive.
“The boys had never been over that area before,� revealed teammate Kate Callaghan as they trudged through the rain to their support vehicles to grab a 60min power-nap before the chasing teams arrived. “We really hammered the early bush-bashing and opened up 45mins in a couple of hours,� said team strong man George Christison. “We lost a bit of that with a few small mistakes in the middle, but then we had a good run down the riverbed.�
Incredibly, the team finished looking like they’d been on a Sunday afternoon jog rather than an overnight trek in freezing conditions. “Actually it was really good,� said Duncan Hamilton. “Bloody cold though,� chimed in his younger brother Hamish.
Bloody cold was an understatement. The wild West Cost weather has been at it’s wildest. For two days now teams have fought freezing rain and winds, with even the elite teams suffering.
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