 By Doug DoyleTeams from British Columbia, Alberta, Washington State and Ontario have travelled to Sun Peaks Resort, 45 minutes north of Kamloops, BC to take part in Geoff Langford’s of Frontier Adventure Racings’ Raid the North 36 hour adventure race.
It’s the second time FAR has been in Sun Peaks since 1999 and this year and will likely be a memorable event. Sun Peaks Resort and in particular Hearthstone Lodge, where the race headquarters and staff are housed, has provided a fantastic race venue for race staff, competitors and spectators.
The finish line will be in view of the Lodge and within walking distance for the finishing teams expected to cross under the finish banner in an estimated thirty hours from the start of this race at midnight tonight.
Registration for the teams opened up at 10:00am at the Hearthstone Lodge, sponsor and teams were lined up before ten o’clock to get the process over with: notably Gary Robbins’ team Britannia Construction was one of the first to commence the registration process and this let them clear the rest of the day to deal with pre-race preparations before the mandatory pre-race briefing at 4:00pm at the Village Day Lodge.
In the midst of the teams, race staff and volunteers rushing about, Geoff Langford, Race Director was able to spare a few moments to share his thoughts about this race. Geoff is juggling the race roster of twenty-four teams and their support crews with his own support staff wants and needs, fielding questions from racers, his staff and onlookers curious about the event.
He noted that Team Singapore Adventure Racing Team has certainly travelled the farthest to attend the event, but also has a team from Ontario, Alberta and from Washington State. Most of the teams are from British Columbia who are used to the mountainous regions and alpine weather conditions adventure racers are usually held in.
I spoke with the Singapore team and when asked why they choose Raid the North’s Sun Peaks Race, they said they had been told Canada was a very friendly country and it’s topography in this area was flat and the weather was warm for this time of year. They summed up their long journey to Canada discovery that BC was mountaious by saying one out of three was correct: the people were friendly. Despite the disappointment that this weekend’s race will feature incredible vertical gain (and loss) and the weather temperature is lower than they are used to, they let me know their ulterior purpose was to hunt sasquatch.
Geoff confirmed the teams will be treated to great off trail trekking with challenging elevation gain; a scenic 37 kilometre paddle that may prove daunting to teams should the winds work against them; and biking that incorporates steep climbs and descents as well as considerable navigational challenges. He had recently checked the weather forecast which was predicting temperatures in the twenty degree centigrade area, sunny with light breezes. He notes though, that in the mountainous areas, the temperature will swing down at night when at elevation. He cautioned racers to ensure they are carrying their mandatory long sleeve technical tops or else suffer the consequences.
Geoff noted there was a high fire risk warning however recent rains did lower this factor. There was a fire in the middle of the planned course that necessitated a change in course design and Pat Chan, Course Designer went from plan A to Plan B, to Plan C and then back to Plan B when the fire threat was called off due to the recent precipitation.
Teams assembled at the Village Day Lodge for the pre-race briefing at 4:00pm and were presented with the course description, safety briefing and presented with their maps.
The course will start with trekking just east of North Barriere Lake, then move to bikes, then a quick trek, rappel and switch to paddling south on Adams Lake, then for stage four, jump back onto their bikes for hard uphill climbing and navigation.
At CP8/TA4, teams will decide to carry on with the regular course, or attempt the advanced course. The advanced course will have teams continue biking and trekking to unmanned checkpoints CP8 a, b and c. At CP8C/TA5, teams will change from bikes to trekking shoes and complete the last stages of the race to CP9 on Mt Morrisey, which is part of Sun Peaks Resort, to CP 10 and then to the finish line.
The top teams are expected, if the weather holds and their navigation is error free, to cross the finish line early Sunday morning.
..and I’ll be there to greet them at the finish line
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