Expedition Idaho Ready to Roll

Pete Clayden / 07.08.2014

It’s been said that if you rolled Idaho out flat, it would be the largest state of the Union. Fortunately for the participants in this year’s Expedition Idaho adventure race which starts onSunday 11th August, that hasn’t happened, and they can look forward to seven days exploring and racing through the forests, lakes, canyons, rolling hills and mountains of this year’s race, which aims to highlight the rugged beauty of the Idaho Panhandle. 

This is the second edition of the event, promoted by PerMoEvents (Perpetual Motion Events) which last took place in 2011, when it was won by Team Thule, who proclaimed it their most enjoyable race, with the best finish ever!

Based at the Silver Mountain Resort, near Coeur d’Alene, the race will cover over 500 miles, broken into 12 principal stages with colourful names such as ‘Ridgeline Ramble’ ‘Racers v The Wild’ and ‘La Doab (long-ass day on a bike). As with all long races, setting the course hasn’t been without complexity and incident, accessing as it does both private and public land, Forestry Department areas (including sites of scientific interest) and also onto reservation land owned by the Coeur d’Alene tribe.

All this may seem as though the race is fairly civilised and far from wild, and yet being out on the course as part of the mapping and marking trips has confirmed that the racers will often feel very isolated, and certainly, there are no quick ways in should any misfortune befall a team. It’s also been unusually hot for several weeks now, with the daytime temperature regularly breaking 100 degrees, though in the last few days, it has cooled off slightly to the high 80’s and low 90’s. Finding water and keeping hydrated is sure to be pressing issue throughout the race.

Other things teams will need to look out for are the local wildlife, which includes Elk, Deer, Black Bear, Mountain Lions and Wolves (not to mention locals in pick-ups!). Though there are only rarely problems with these natural inhabitants of the forests (and none in recent memory), we expect most teams to spend a lot of their time at night working through every song they know! 

Course designer and race director Dave Adlard, has spent the last year planning and promoting the event, and is sure that he’s come up with a great race and a very different adventure for the teams. Dave has always tried to give his events a very unique character, based on his own extensive experience as a racer, and by listening to feedback from other racers.

“I believe that what racers want is a tough but achievable course, one that keeps them engaged but at the same time, always has them excited for the next stage.” Unlike many races of this length, Dave also guarantees that every team will cross the finish line, by using short course options to keep the race compact, to the extent that on the final night of the race, all the teams are held in a dark zone then released at intervals at first light to finish on the same day at the Silver Mountain Brews and Blues festival.

An added bonus for teams which complete the race will be to automatically qualify for a place on next year’s inaugural Expedition Alaska, which will be based in the Kenai Peninsula around Seward.

Race tracking will be by Spot and you can follow the race action via the Expedition Idaho Facebook site, where pictures and words will be posted as often as our reporter and photographer can escape from the wild! 

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