Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race 2010
Trying to Catch the Leaders
Will Gray / 14.02.2010
The wind is howling and the rain is rattling on the tin roof. I haven’t had a hot chocolate yet, and when I got up at 5:30am to stand in teaming rain to watch some crazy kayakers take to the freezing cold waters and paddle into the Beagle Channel, I had promised I would get straight back and treat myself. But there is too much going on.
Since we returned from the stunning trek in the remote, virgin Darwin foothills, we have had quite a journey ourselves. Having lost some people, found them again and waited to rescue a camera man who was no longer able to work in the tough conditions, we had got back to camp at 11:30pm. It was an all-nighter to get things done, and at 5am we set off for the airport for a flight to Puerto Williams, the aim being to get to Yendegaia in tome to see Helly Hansen-Prunesco or any other team that may have overtaken them emerge from the mountains.
It didn’t quite work that way.
The boat we had expected to get was not available, so we had to wait the day and take a bus then a different boat. So instead, we rested in the warmth of a hostel in Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world, where we were well fed and even had a chance to have a shower (soft, yes, but actually very pleasant!). We also got a chance to explore the sleepy town and in the small coffee shop in the ramshackle main square – which served an excellent coffee - we found the local papers bursting with news about the race, and the locals eager to hear our stories. The event has certainly built over the last few years, and it is now starting to really capture some major interest – with the national newspaper in Chile describing it as “on a level with the football World Cup for the adventure racing world.�
Regrouped, we headed out to the point, past the area where the race will finish, and then took to a powerboat that gave us a battering as we crossed the choppy channel back onto Tierra del Fuego.
By the time we got there, it was 8:30. We had bet on whether Helly Hansen-Prunesco would be already there. It was about a 20-80 split against. Surely they could not have got through those mountains already, that would be two and a half days – the absolute maximum top adventure racer and race cameraman Mike Kloser had said it could be done. But sure enough they had.
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