Arctic Team Challenge
The Race Is On
Søren Strunge (Photo Erwin Reinthaler) / 18.07.2004
“This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been!� – Tom Gibbs, Saab Salomon.
“So is that the ice cap?� – Arnold de Swart, Team Cyanosis.
“Now we have to stay focused!� – Lars Bom, Team for Life / Intersport.
“Extreme, beautiful, fantastic� – Klaus Mathiesen, Team Tscherning.
The above are some spontaneous reactions from the impressive peak of the Polheims Mountain in the Qimmeerdaaler – the racing area of stage one. The menu for today’s sprint stage was canoeing, mountain running and level 2 rock climbing. The nine teams started out with the most incredible weather, blue sky and no wind.
After Team for Life / Intersport, here not only as participants but also fundraising for The Danish Cancer Society, had tried to do an Eskimo roll in their canoe – and failed – everyone was ready for a good start. Paddling across “Nordfjorden�, gazing out at icebergs the teams were very close. The South Africa canoe-rookies, Cyanosis, surprised everyone. They were the first to tie up their canoe to the rocks at checkpoint 1 - but only a few minutes ahead of the field.
Hunting for the second checkpoint Team Tscherning and the local Team Inu:IT A/S powered away making a large gap between themselves and the rest. They continued ascending the Polheims Mountain with impressive speed. From checkpoint 3 to the final checkpoint of the day the race time was set on hold. The reason for this was because the route was extremely dangerous and demanding – a wrong step and you would be lucky if you’d survive!
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