X-adventure Raid World Cup 2005
A Multinational Gathering
Rob Howard / 22.07.2005
On a bright sunny day the ski station car park, normally quiet in summer, was full of mini-buses and team vehicles, spilling gear, bikes and food boxes out onto the hot tarmac. As expected given the location in Andorra there are many French and Spanish entries, but this last race of the World Series has attracted teams from all over the world, many looking for the precious points they need to be assured of a place in the Raid World Final in the Alps in September. And the setting here, at altitude, and with 10,000m of ascent on the course, will be a good indication of teams likely to do well in the Alps.
First they have to qualify, and this time the focus will not be so much on the top, elite teams, as they have done enough already to be sure of their places. They will of course want to win, and to keep a psychological advantage over their rivals, but for those already qualified there are no worries about injury or equipment failure costing them a place in the finals. This time the most nervous and motivated teams will be those who can win or lose a qualifying place.
Newcastle Ltd./Crested Butte are in this position and have travelled from the USA to try and take a place in the hotly contested N. American group. “We’re currently 7th and there are 6 qualifying places,� said Jon Brown, “but one of the teams above us is not here. So we need to beat the Canadian and US teams, like Supplier Pipeline who are just 7 points behind us.�
We’ve had a few problems not understanding the gear list, and the wetsuit hire is incredibly expensive. We’d not done any hydrospeeding before either so took a course before we left. It was a quick learning curve, straight into Class 4 rapids, but great fun. We live at over 8000 feet in the mountains, so maybe this course will suit us. Let’s hope so – it’s cost us a lot to get here!�
SleepMonsters
