ARWC 2015 Brazil - Pantanal
ARWC Pantanal - The Course
Rob Howard / 13.11.2015
Teams have had the route outline and basic details of ARWC Pantanal for a couple of weeks now, but had to wait for the full briefing and the route book until 3pm this afternoon (after they had packed their boxes and stowed them onto the navy ships which will take them to the start).
As they’ve been well prepared and briefed in advance there were no great surprises, except perhaps that some areas are more mountainous than expected, and all of the transitions bar one are at large farmsteads which have more facilities than might be expected. The farms may prepare some food (though it’s not guaranteed for all), there will be porches to sleep on but none have electricity until right at the end of the race. All of the ground the race crosses is private land, and there are areas with some farming and mining. All the people are said to be welcoming and its fine (and preferable) to take shelter with them.
The briefing by Shubi Guimaraes took teams through the route with google earth overlays showing routes she had taken while preparing the course, but she was at pains to point out they may not be the best routes! These were mixed with photos which showed the size and scale of the rivers and lagoons – though that is variable year to year depending on water levels.
The maps are all from 1964, but the race has fully updated them all. They are 1:100,000, and are very large sheets – they are also not waterproofed and this presents teams with the problem of trimming and protecting them. They will only get them at 5pm, and must then embark onto the navy boats immediately.
The boats will carry them and their kayaks up the River Paraguay overnight and Navy rules have stipulated the men and women must sleep in separate areas! The schedule is to arrive at the Jatobazinho School where the race starts so teams can leave the boats at 8am tomorrow. Then there is time for brunch and to visit the school and present books to the children, before a le Mans style start with the kayaks
The race begins with a 50km paddle on the Paraguay River and the full route details will be on the official live website so I won’t go through it all. In the early stages teams have a lot to carry as they take their paddle bags with them for the early pack rafting stages where there are said to be a lot of alligators, but they are shy and will move away.
From TA2 the rafting across the Lagoa Mandiore will be dependent on the weather conditions. This is a huge lake and there can be 2m high waves on there in high winds! The first hill trekking is along the spine of the Serro de Amolar, which has never been done before – by anyone, and from the photos it looks spectacular being high up over the Pantanal on trackless mountains. It’s steep too and teams were warned not to descend before PC11 because of dangerous ground.
PC14 is the first true community the race visits and beyond TA5 teams were told is the crux of the race, and a place where it’s very hard to retire from. (Or maybe it’s more accurate to say even harder than anywhere else.) It is a paddle/trek stage in flooded forest, where there are lots of sting rays. There will be some fast flowing water to cross as well and navigation will be especially difficult, trying to spot old cattle driving trails under the water.
The difficulty continues after TA6 in similarly wild terrain with long sections of pack rafting in what is described as ‘an extremely flat region with no references and endless path options.” Only after PC20 do teams get to their mountain bikes where they will be on sandy farm roads, again with lots of route choice. There are some cut-offs at this point and the very slowest teams were warned there will be course closure times for transitions, simply because the staff have to be brought out.
By TA9 teams get to a hotel with electricity for the first time and paddle a winding river which they were told to do in one go. They should rest up at the hotel to be sure they can do this as there is nowhere to stop and there are lots of jaguars in the area. This takes them to the only true village on the race – bizarrely called Albuquerque and then through mining areas to the ropes section, which is a guided 300m rappel. It’s down the side of a mountain of iron ore and said to be very hot with the heat reflecting off the rock. (No plastic pulleys allowed – they melt.)
Then comes the home stretch back to Corumba to finish, with a final paddle in traditional canoes, if enough can be found.
Teams have not had a lot of time to respond after getting the route details. Nick Gracie of Godzone Adventure was already feeling the race would be the toughest by far of the 10 world champs he’s raced, and Nathan Fa’avae was more concerned about hygiene and foot care (especially after the team had to retire due to foot problems in Costa Rica.) He added it was the most remote course he’s seen for a very long time, and hoped there would be enough variety to maintain some interest day to day as jungle races can get a bit ‘samey’ day after day.
As I write teams are just now getting their maps and in an hour they will be aboard the navy boats on their way up river, with a nervous night ahead of them to think about what lies ahead. Come tomorrow they will be setting off through the Pantanal for a week of adventure unlike anything they’ve ever seen before.
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