Footsore in the High Alps

Rob Howard and Anne-Marie Dunhill / 15.09.2012

Day one has been all about trekking, and heat, and inevitably about blisters, and tonight it is likely to be the cold which is a factor.

As teams climbed up onto the Sele glacier after the start of the race they quickly passed through the tree line and into the early morning sunshine and the day rapidly grew uncomfortably hot.  Carrying big packs and on the reflective surface of the glacier it was a day for dehydration, and there were few streams to fill water bottles from. 

It quickly became clear that the stronger teams were going to power ahead at a rapid pace, even though the stage had been given a minimum 7.5 hour time limit.  (This was so teams were not racing on the glacier.)  Seagate and Thule Adventure opened up a substantial ‘lead’ as the teams made their way up to the high point and returned by the same route.

As a result the lead teams completed the modified trek hours ahead of minimum times and invariably commented on the beauty of the section with its’ glacier and rugged barren terrain above timberline. At one point the melting snow released rocks that went tumbling down the mountain, causing certain teams to abruptly accelerate to miss the shower. 

The top ten teams slowed down to a walk on the final stretch to the transition area, aware that they could not enter transition until 13:30.  This situation lead to the surreal sight of teams chatting, lying in the sun and snacking until all racers took off once again at 13:30. When the race started again it was a mad scramble to the gear boxes and mountain bikes as they barreled off for a short linking mountain bike section to the second trekking section of the day.

Things did not go as well for all teams.  The tracking system showed early on that on team Bosi Colombia had gone off in an entirely different direction from the rest; relying only on the maps they made the decision to go for a checkpoint that had been notified as cancelled due to the amended race route. This error meant that on the very first section they made an unnecessary detour of over five hours.  (I’m told Czech adidas Terrex also did the same thing but were not carrying their tracker.)

They realized their mistake and trekked back down to the transition area, and headed out to collect the correct CP’s after a quick discussion with the race organization to confirm that they would not miss a time cut-off. They were in surprisingly good spirits, only urging each other in Spanish to hurry up.

Teams arriving after 3.30 pm did not have any opportunity to rest up and all rushed to get some drinks from the tap as they arrived in the hottest part of the day. 

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