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Saab Salomon Race Off The Ropes

Rob Howard / 15.09.2005

During the morning teams arriving at the via ferrata section were stopped, and once the leaders had been restarted with the correct time differentials those following were set off at 15 minutes intervals. This resulted in a long wait for some teams, and meant the order in which they crossed the line wasn’t necessarily the correct result.

Aigles Seybelles ESF, who were in 4th place arrived at 02.48 in the morning and didn’t set off again until 10.18, while Mont Blanc International arrived at 04.17 and were set off just 15 minutes after them. So although the US/French team passed Aigles Seybelles once they’d restarted and crossed the line first, they still finished behind them in 5th place.

Behind them the New Zealand team Balance Vector also had a 5 hour 42 minute wait before completing the course to take 6th place. They finished the race very strongly after a poor start which left them ranked as low as 22nd at one point.

Fortunately the weather was fine and teams could wait in warm sunshine, and there was even a refuge nearby. Saab Salomon, who set off next, even went over to see if they could buy some coffee! “It was a great break waiting up there,� said Ben Bardsley. “In the morning the valley was filled with cloud and we watched the frost melt on the ground and the cloud fade away as we sat in the sunshine. We had plenty of food so we were fine! The via ferrata was amazing too, taking us across a large cliff face, before climbing steeply up to the summit, and it was all in the sun. We’re going to suggest our support crew do it tomorrow while they have the chance!�

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