Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race 2010
Passing the Point of No Return
News Release / 13.02.2010
After taking a strong lead through the final bike section, reigning champions Helly Hansen-Prunesco refused to tire and continued to set the pace through the turba bogs and thickly forested valleys of the Darwin foothills. They are also believed to have swum across an icy river after missing a Tyrolean traverse.
Race director Stjepan Pavicic, who saw several teams deep in the mountains from the race helicopter during the day, said: “Helly Hansen-Prunesco were all together and looked to be working well as they trekked on into what is an absolutely stunning and spectacular region.
“The time they went through PC11 shows they are clearly continuing to set a strong pace at the front with the weather still looking good. All the racers this year have shown impressive strength and although we have now lost our first team from the race they all managed to make it to PC8 and that is an achievement in itself.�
As the racers continued to move from dirt roads on bikes into thick untracked bush on foot, the trek through the remote green valleys of the Darwin foothills led them to a spectacular rappel into a narrow canyon, in which beaver dams created a wet pool-filled trek down to the Tyrolean.
This rope crossing allowed competitors to cross the river but dumped them up to their legs in the fast-flowing river, but it had been set up by the organisers in a different location to that which had been planned, due to logistical challenges in the remote location where it was set.
Switzerland went across the Tyrolean at 10am and there now remains a tight battle for second place as Air Europa Bimont crossed just one hour and 45 minutes later and Herbertz an hour after that. Untamed New England had a terrible night in the mountains, however, dropping from second to fifth after briefly getting lost.
Harper Forbes, of Untamed New England, said: “It was a rough night. We had a hard time getting down the canyon from the rappel. It got a little hairy in there and we got cliffed out a lot. We decided to take the time to sleep because we didn't know exactly where we were – and it took us five hours to get to the other side of the valley.�
All the teams had arrived at PC8 by 1:11pm on February 12 but Fast and Light, who arrived in 13th place, were totally exhausted after a tough 178km mountain bike ride through the centre of the island and with one team member suffering from a stomach upset they made a tearful decision to end their race.
As darkness descended on the course at the end of the fourth day, all teams apart from Fast and Light, who are now back in Punta Arenas, had left checkpoint eight with six already passed the Tyrolean at checkpoint 10, a location known as the ‘point of no return’ as the teams who decide to go on have no way out until they reach the Beagle channel at checkpoint 15.
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