ARWC 2015 Brazil - Pantanal
Seagate Pick Up The Pace
Rob Howard / 16.11.2015
Seagate were the first team to arrive at AT4, trekking in just after 4pm in the afternoon, having completed the main mountain trek of this World Championship race. Amazingly they looked a lot better than when they’d set out … perhaps they are just getting into their stride!
The route they had taken across the ridge line was not as long as described in the route book (it was closer to 40km than 68km), they’d had some sleep overnight, and been able to find enough water on the way. (They were also not heavily laden with rafts and paddle gear as they had been last night either.)
I spoke briefly to the team as they transitioned and Nathan Fa’avae said, “It was a good trek, very technical and rocky and with some amazing views out over the Pantanal. We found enough water on the way and even a water hole to swim in, which was beautiful and really unexpected.
“We slept 90 minutes or so last night, it wasn’t much cooler but there was a breeze and we did actually wake up slightly chilled as a result, which was fine. Ideal really. There was a breeze on the ridge as well which helped keep us cool and we didn’t push hard. I think if we had we’d have just wrecked ourselves and got bad blisters. There was a lot of loose rock and scrub so we had to watch our footing all the time – you couldn’t move fast.”
They moved around 2km/hour and extended their lead over the chasing teams none the less, and their timing was good, completing the main part of the ridge in daylight and starting to descend before the hottest part of the afternoon. Those teams who follow and will be on the ridge in the dark for more of the time will not be able to move so quickly.
“It was an amazing sunrise,” said Fa’avae and Sophie Hart added, “The views were just astonishing, unlike anything you’d see anywhere else and there was no sign of human activity anywhere to be seen. Nothing but rivers, lakes, jungle and hills as far as the eye could see.”
Before leaving the ranch hosting the transition the team were given some hot food and Fa’avae even had time for a quick dip in the pool!
“We are keen to get on the water,” said Fa’avae. “It’s ideal as we’ve been trekking a long time now.” The next stage is a short paddle downstream on the Paraguay River to Porto Sao Pedro, which is not far from AT2. As they paddle in the evening they will be able to look up to their right at the impressive cliffs along the Serra do Amolar, which they’ve just crossed – something very, very few people have ever done before.
After that they move away from the hills for two trekking/pack rafting stages described in the route book as “the most difficult section of the race – a section with plenty of navigation without references and many flooded parts.”
SleepMonsters
