Expedition Idaho
Expedition Idaho Comes to a Close
Press Release / 19.08.2014
On Thursday night, teams were approaching TA 7- the start of the whitewater kayak leg, with a 100+k bike ride over some pretty “exciting” terrain, to say the least. We actually had to change this route due to trail conditions, potential fire hazards in the extraordinarily wild and exciting Mallard – Larkin wilderness area, as well as time constraints for the finish, but the “back up” route didn’t suck too bad either!
The racers had to make their way over Lookout Mountain and Breezy Point, two of the highest, most scenic points on the course, as was originally planned, then detour north through the middle of the St Joe area, ending up with a beautiful downhill ride through the Gold Creek Canyon to the TA, but as had become the norm this week, just before sunset, the storms moved in, and they got a chance to ride in the rain again. As a side note, we have had more rain this one week in August than in ANY month of August since I have lived in Idaho… and of course, there is no rain scheduled for the rest of the month… we brought it along just to give that little extra test to the racers, it seems…
With the rain and the strenuous riding, this stage proved to be more of a challenge than expected for most of the teams, and it was with great relief that they finally made the TA at Gold Creek campground, in advance of the Friday morning whitewater leg.
With all the rain, we pushed the start of the kayak back a bit so we could adequately check the river, and, to our relief, it was actually in near-perfect condition!
The racers hit the water on one of the world’s greatest rafting and kayaking rivers, the upper St Joe just prior to 8:00 am, and for the next 10 hours or so, got one of the highlight paddling experiences of their lives. Normally, in full run, the St Joe isn’t navigable by kayak, as some sections are just to rigorous, but with the lower water levels, we had a unique window to experience this amazing river, and the centerpiece “Tumble Down Falls.” Thanks to Guy Farmer for acting as our safety boat below the falls.
With many smiles and only a few unplanned swims, the racers all made it safely through Tumble Down and onto Halfway Hill, where they had to exit their boats for the ropes section. Brain Hoots from the Spokane Mountaineers had set up a fun and interesting challenge for the racers, as they had to exit their boats, ascend approximately 300 feet, and then continue their ascent on the rock tower leading to the CP before rappelling back to their boats. The racers handled the challenges admirably, with very few misadventures.
They continued on the river for another 21 miles, and though this section is generally calmer than the upper river, Team Everyday Adventure hit a rough patch with only a few miles to go to TA 8 when they caught a rock going through the Skookum Flats rapids and all four of them ended up out of their boats. Because of the shallowness of the river at that point, they got a bit bruised /shaken up tumbling down river a ways before finally getting their boats to shore, but not before puncturing one of the boats, and losing a paddle or two, as well as suffering some good knocks.
Eric and Brandy Rouse from our crew were able to rescue them and get them to the TA, but they were not able to continue on the bikes and we ferried them to the next TA, along with HART/Kellogg, who had also suffered a boat issue just after the ropes.
Journey Racing had also popped their boat just before Tumble Down, but to their credit, we met them at the ropes with back up boats, and they rappelled down to the river with the boats on their backs, inflated them at water’s edge, and continued down the river, finishing the stage in great shape!
Peaked Sports were the winners of this leg, having made a good choice of boats and doing an admirable paddling job. They rolled in to TA 8 with about a 20 minute lead over the Yogaslackers, but had a bit of a slower TA than normal, and Yogaslackers were actually able to roll in, TA and get out on the bikes a minute or two ahead of them.
This final bike leg was a short (only 27 miles), but definitely challenging leg… it was much more about the “quality” of these final miles, rather than the quantity, as the athletes were faced with their first real hike-a bike up to Prospect peak and then on to Mastadon, and, as fate would have it, yes, it rained again. There were some great views (even at night!), of riding along the ridge before heading down to the Dark Zone TA at Elsie lake, but even the Yogaslackers took over 8 hours to make the distance, arriving at about 3:00 am, followed by Peaked Sports at 5:28. HART/Kellogg and Journey racing both made the Dark Zone at 8:00 am, giving them only 1 hour to recover before the final trek to the finish.
At 9:00 am, Team Everyday Adventure, HART/Kellogg and Journey Racing left on the 13 mile final trek, followed by Peaked Sports at 9:15, and Yogaslackers 15 minutes later. (We start them in waves to get them to the finish on time at Brewsfest.)
The final leg was a 13 mile trek, not so surprisingly, uphill, to what has been hailed “the best finish in AR history” in the midst of the Silver Mountain Brewsfest. At 2:38 pm, the Yogaslackers ran over the final ridge and through the finish arch to the raucous cheers of the 1500 or so spectators. Following the traditional champagne toast, the athletes made their way through the crowd, receiving many high fives and much free beer!
Peaked Sports crossed the finish line at 3:05 pm, followed by HART/Kellogg at 4:00. We were anxiously watching the tracking of the final two teams, and at 4:27, Journey Racing finished, and then Team Everyday Adventure completed their epic journey just before 5:00 pm.
(Finally), the weather held out, and the celebration continued on top of the mountain for quite a while before they took the gondola down to the village for the banquet and awards presentation. Both Chelsey and Jason Magness took time to tell us that this was the best finish in the world for an AR, and as they have competed in well over 100 races, including worlds, this was a huge compliment, and gives us even more reason to “up our game” for Expedition Alaska in 2015, and Expedition Idaho in 2016.
Pete Clayden had done yeoman duty during the entire race, but was able to truly put his talents to work as he created a 250 slide slideshow, including music, in less than 3 hours, in time for the awards! It was a beautiful, poignant show that truly captured the race for the racers as well as the many friends and family in attendance. Pete and Eric’s photography from the race is amongst the best I have ever seen, and as our video and still pics come up over the next few days, I think you will agree.
One of our innovations for the race was to have the teams take “interesting” photos of the CPS as their “passport,” creating, in effect, a huge pool of beautiful images that told the story of their races, and allowed us to share it with everyone.
The athletes all received our custom medals,certificates and a nice pile of (even more) swag, and took a few minutes to share a few thoughts from their race. Much laughter as well as several tears resulted, and with a last ovation for the outstanding volunteers, the official race was over!
The final standings were:
Premier Division: (Completed all segments)
1) Yogaslackers – and they win the free entry for Expedition Alaska! Proefssional, fast, cheerful – this is what AR is about! Congrats to Jason, Chelsey, Dan and Paul, who recovered from a broken nose and stitches in the prologue to not only finish but win one of the toughest races ever!
2) Peaked Sports – one of the greatest success stories of the race, as they raced far harder and better than expected, and were only 4 CPs behind the very impressive Yogaslackers! Jason, Abby, Jeni and Tom really stepped up their game and were in the race all week!
Open Division:
1) Team Everyday Adventure (4 person co-ed). Truly had some epic adventures, bumps and bruises, but came through at the end! Julie, Joe, Lena and rookie Brandi really came together as a team!
2) Journey Racing: Just Survive (2 man duo): Despite some issues with “big scale” navigation, heat exhaustion and more, they held together and made it to the finish!
3) HART/Kellogg (Co-ed Duo): With easily the most interesting story, they finished strong, despite having to use logging trucks (with the Big Salami), helicopters etc to get off the mountain! So proud of Scottie and Steve in his first race.
SleepMonsters
