Mountain Designs Geoquest 48hr Adventure Race and Geo-Half
Canyoning and the surprise ropes course
Michael McMahon / 21.08.2010
Somewhere near the end of the bike leg, team Rogue had a nasty puncture and lost some time, during which they were overtaken by iAdventure/iRule who were previously 2nd in the male division.
Following this first bike leg teams have been heading off from the beautiful Upper Rollands Plains transition in full wet suits and booties, though the odd person has been braving the river sans wetty.
Many of the lead teams throughout the day have been coming into transitions early, beating estimated arrival times which presents challenges for support crew. iAdventure/iRule were one of these and decided to press on to CP10 not realising that their crew would not be able to meet them up there. They have pressed on to the trek leg with only a couple of headlights, limited food and dressed in fluro wetsuits. A brave move from a determined team. (Steve's okay - for family and friends)
There are seven pools along the Wilson River in which plastic bottles with numbers have been placed and teams are required to find 6 out of the 7 to complete the leg. Once they have collected these they reach a new transition area which has a bonfire where people can warm themselves and change into dry clothes for the coming trek leg.
Before setting off on the trek teams reach the surprise ropes course, where they cross the river via one of two flying foxes. I had a go on the flying fox and it was a hoot! Firstly you're harnassed up by a member of the Search and Rescue crew and then you walk down to the line and stand on a stool where you're then attached to two safety lines. You're told to hang on to these and leap out over the canyon where you fly from about 30 feet above the gorge to the lower bank about 10 feet above the water. Initially as you leap out over the gorge you hold your knees up to miss the trees, but then you can just let them go and pretend you're a starfish as you glide over the water picking up speed. By the time you reach the other bank you're probably doing a good 25km/hr so it's just as well there's someone there to help catch you and make sure you don't hit a massive tree.
This section of the course will no doubt raise the spirits as teams begin to tire and the sun dips below the horizon. It would be pretty interesting for teams doing it in the dark, but I'm sure that just raises the excitement level.
SleepMonsters
