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Day 1 - The calm before the storm

Pyro / 21.07.2008

Day 1 of the Saab Salomon Mountain X Race kicked off in a very typically alpine manner. After a short welcome and briefing, and rough details of the week to come, the 39 competing teams, from 12 different nations, gathered in the sunny central square of Bourg St Maurice to have their equipment checks and registration, then took the time to relax in the warm air while listening to the band and watching the show laid on by the organisation.

Kit checks took slightly longer than usual, as the organisation took great care over the equipment presented to them, sometimes rejecting the lighter-weight gear as the conditions here, while forecast to be good, could easily take a turn for the worse. Last year’s torrential rains have been a lesson learnt here, and the scrutineers demanded suitable heavier-duty jackets for the high mountains, and also paid great attention to the boots which the racers will be using for day two, the high-mountain stage. This long trek will take the teams well into the Mont Blanc massif, and includes a glacier crossing for which crampons and short-rope are mandatory. A number of the less experienced teams at this race have only either trail shoes or full-on plastic mountain boots, and a couple of these teams were seen scurrying around the outdoors shops of the town trying to find a suitable ‘intermediate’, a less than desirable option shortly before the beginning of a major event.

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