The notion of a four-season tent most probably crosses the average adventurers mind on rare occasion. The need for a tent that can remain standing in gale-force winds or keep its form under inches upon inches of snow isn’t a piece of gear the weekend warrior needs often. Then there is the price tag on four-season tents… the name “four-digit tent” might be more appropriate. But there are those trips that push beyond the limits of a three-season tent and warrant more resilient gear. When borrowing isn’t an option, it may be time to invest. But the new Sierra Designs Convert Tents prove that one doesn’t have to take a second mortgage out for an upper-tier bombproof shelter.

On a recent three-day attempt at the Southwest Couloir Route on Granite Peak in Montana I had the opportunity to test both the Convert 2 and Convert 3 from Sierra Designs. We slept for two nights above 10,000 feet. Temperatures dropped below freezing and winds whipped hard the first night. A volley of sleet pelted our camp on night two. Both nights the tents held form, as if nothing were going on outside. Both tents repelled 100% of the water, despite the fact my body was pressed against the tent wall all night due to a screwy sleeping position. Continue Reading

It was mid-summer, 4:30am in the Green Mountains of Central Vermont. Prime adventure race time. This was GMARA‘s summer event, the 12-hour MVP Health Care Bitter Pill adventure race.

The captains meeting took place in the dark, and teams got about 10 minutes to look at their maps before a 5am start. Teams took off on foot, trekking to 6 points in any order — some beautiful sunrise vistas, a huge field of wild blueberries, and then teams returned to the start to pick up their bikes for some fun logging roads and hike-a-bike out to a reservoir. There teams trekked and swam to pick up four points. Comments from the local fishermen seeing teams of three swimming the reservoir towing drybagged backpacks were priceless!

More biking, followed by some bushwhack to a surprise mountain climb, and teams enjoyed one truly incredible view over Lake Dunmore. Another swim/trek leg, this time around Vermont’s Silver Lake, and then teams completed more mountain biking to the finish.

In the words of race director Tim Curtin, “At the end of the day, team Untamed New England was unstoppable, turning an early lead into a course-crushing 9 hours 56 minutes – finishing an hour and a half faster than the next team.” GMARA president, Chris Yager, observed how the Untamed New England team were “Consummate professionals and great ambassadors of the sport. We loved having them on the course.”

The Untamed New England race team consisted of Dave Lamb, Molly Housman, and Dave Romilly. In winning the race, they earned a place at the USARA National Championship race later this year. Continue Reading

A portion of the tagline for Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX) reads “Real Wilderness.” After more than three days of racing the RTNX unmarked course in BC’s West Kootenay, participating teams have no doubt that they are being tested in some of the most ‘real wilderness’ imaginable. And they have to be prepared for it physically and mentally.

Challenging weather earlier in the week took its toll on some racers, leaving teams to deal with ill and injured teammates. In these cases, teams have to decide whether to rest and hope time heals; call for help, take care of the injured teammate and continue on as a smaller team; or, return to the last major transition area and withdraw from the race.

By Wednesday morning, four teams had faced setbacks that left them at TA3 at the end of the first paddle on standby to complete a shortened version of the course: Adrenaline Rush, Blue, HTFU/Sunovion, Nord Vrai, Suburban Rush. Cranksports Team Currahee, the last on the paddle, arrived at TA3 mid-morning, greeted by staff and Shaw TV and were able to proceed onto the shortened course in the afternoon. Though HFTU/Sunovion set off on the short course, they returned later that night to TA3 due to one team member being ill.

Custom Cellular had made it into the high alpine of Valhalla Park and were in second place when cold, wet weather, including ice pellets, exacerbated a previously existing medical condition in one team member, so they elected to return to TA3. The team arrived early morning visibly disappointed but safe. Pentahlondesneiges.com elected to move forward as a team of three from TA3 after some irreconcilable differences with a teammate. SOG was at CP8 Ice Creek Lodge when one of their members elected to withdraw from the race. The team moved forward as a team of three. Dancing Pandas, after 20+ hours in Valhalla Park, elected to return to TA3 and take on a shortened course so that they would be able to experiemce as much of the course as possible rather than risk missing a cutoff while in the Park. The Pandas rested at TA3 for a few hours and set off again at midnight. Climb4SMA (Torti) was at the base of the trail up into Valhalla when one of their team members fell ill and they elected to return to TA3.

The remainder of the field is working their way through Valhalla Park and into the rest of the course. There are incremental cutoffs in place at various CPs to expedite the flow through the course as the finish line cutoff creeps closer. This allows teams to continue to move through the course, experience its challenges, and make their way to the finish line unassisted.

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Mother Nature added an extra layer of complexity to the Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme day two challenges as racers worked their way through the Slocan Valley and into Valhalla Park. The weather fluctuated between brilliant blue skies and epic proportion downpours throughout the day and well into the night.

Current race leaders, Team WildernessTraverse.com are living up to their reputation as a team to watch during this RTNX event as they have a commanding lead over the next ranked team. Team WildernessTraverse.com were seen in Kootenay Lake paddling and testing out the demo canoes after Kaslo’s Welcome Dinner. WildernessTraverse.com were through the third transition and into canoes very early on Monday. Chasing after them are Team Custom Cellular and Team GearJunkies.com/Yogaslackers.

Meanwhile the remaining teams continued to work their way to the transition area at Retallac over the course of the day. A few gear, navigational and medical issues affected some of the teams, which caused several delays in the estimated arrival time for many. Some teams came into Retallac with a quick turnaround strategy; as the day wore on and the longer teams were out on course, the more transition time they would elect to take. Event medical staff kept busy attending to blisters, scrapes and bruises from the trekking section. The overgrowth of aggressive plants like Devil’s Club and Alder are making the treks very arduous in some places. Foot care is of the utmost importance during events of this intensity and these are early times as yet.

Local team Kootenay Kaos arrived at the paddle transition in Silverton after 9pm, in the dark, in the midst of almost monsoon rains, and to the supportive cheers of friends and family. They would have spent 5hrs on mountain bikes riding in less than ideal conditions and were preparing to trade their bikes for canoes to paddle 20km down Slocan Lake to the next transition. As they changed clothes, fueled and got organized for the paddle, more teams continued to arrive by headlamp in the dark, damp night. Despite the challenging conditions, teams’ spirits were amazingly high with anticipation of the paddle and subsequent stages that lay ahead.

As weather conditions deteriorated throughout the night, more and more teams were suffering from the side effects and were spreading more thinly throughout the course. A few teams lost racing companions due to injury so substitutes were made (or in some cases not) to enable teams to go on and complete the course as uncategorized or unranked. Some injured or sick racers elected to press on, with the commitment of first aid check-ins at each possible checkpoint and transition area.

At the Silverton transition, some teams opted to wait out the weather and get some rest before moving forward. Other teams were gone within 30 minutes.

The next series of challenges arise in the much-anticipated Valhalla Park area where racers will be visiting heli-accessible Ice Creek Lodge high in the alpine. And snow.

A year’s worth of training and preparation were put to the test today for 120 athletes from around the world as Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX) kicked off at 10 am in Meadow Creek, BC. Blue skies and sunshine smiled down on the prominent start line arch as racers cycled though.

The introduction to RTNX was a lengthy, challenging mountain bike stage on a forest service road that gained 1000m of elevation over 15km. This seemingly short distance was taking some teams as long as 4hrs to complete due to the elevation gain. Such a challenge early in the race saw racers employing teamwork tactics to conserve energy. Stronger climbers towed weaker climbers, stronger riders pushed their teammates, and fatigued racers pushed their bikes up the steep inclines. With a 500km unmarked course to cover, racers will employ a variety of strategies like these to ensure each team member has the fitness to tackle the rugged terrain ahead.

A big factor in teams’ success yesterday was proper management of hydration and exposure to the sun. With temperatures climbing to normal summer highs and teams climbing to higher and higher elevation, heat from the sun became quite oppressive at elevation. One racer was overheard saying that it was “nice, beautiful weather for suffering!”

The first transition stage was located at Retallack Lodge, a cat-ski lodge located in the area of a former 19th century mining town. RTNX Base Camp relocated to the Lodge and awaited the first team’s arrival. Retallack provided very comfortable and welcoming accommodations for race staff and crew as they supported racers coming through the transition area. The first team arrived into Retallack at a little before 1am. Team WildernessTraverse.com spent approximately 30 minutes refueling, changing clothes and donning equipment to transition to a mountain bike stage in which they would eventually make their way, sometimes through snow pack, to the top of Idaho Peak, which is renowned for its vistas. From the top of Idaho Peak, racers will ride the historic Wakefield Trail, which zigzags its way down from the peak with extreme exposure, which can be an intimidating factor for some.

Teams will eventually make their way to the second transition area for a 20km paddle south on Slocan Lake from Silverton to Slocan City.

Team Nord Vrai is currently in Nelson, BC getting ready to start the check-in process for this year’s Raid the North Extreme. This team consists of 3 Coloradians and one New Yorker. This will be the first time this team combination will race together.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Chrissy “The Greek Freak” Nacos
Age: 36
Biggest asset to the team: Chrissy greatest asset is her Greek determination. As a chemical engineer, let’s just say she is the “organized one of the bunch. This special skill is highlighted in everything from her final preparation including labels to her meticulous training schedule down to the minute. As a single parent with a full time job, we all know how challenging it is finding enough time to train. Yet she still crushes her team mates.

Lisa “Bone Crusher” Lieb
Age: 41
Biggest asset to the team: Bringing “Foxy Roxy – the Trek Top Fuel 99” – one hot Mountain Biking chick that can hammer. She is a professional mountain biking guide from Colorado who gets to ride incredible terrain on a daily basis. As an ex – Xterra Athlete, she has the ability to downhill while texting multiple people. Her experience base will come in handy as she is towing her boys up the mountains. Lisa has been known to practice crashes just to prepare for a race to toughen her up, thus the reason they call her the “bone crusher.”

Scott “The Mule” Cary
Age: 37
Biggest asset to the team: Lead navigator. He has spent time with local animal trackers, Indian spirit guides and other non orthodox ways of making sure we can successfully navigate the local landscape by all means possible. Scott has been known to find secret passage ways and short cuts just by tasting the land. Recent reports out of Colorado has confirm another sitting of Sasquatch, however we know it was just Scott in the back country. Although he tells us he has trimmed so he does not scare the local kids. Scott “the Mule” is known for carrying large loads and eating everything in sight, but don’t call him an a$$.

Keith “Krash” Ash Continue Reading

Anticipation continues to build for the 120 exceptionally fit and skilled adventurers who have signed up for the 2011 edition of Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX). After a comprehensive registration process, including skills tests, racers received the course maps on Friday night and were given 36 hours to research and plot their strategies.

Today was the second and final pre-race preparation day during which the racers, their gear, and the entire RTNX Base Camp were relocated approximately 1 hour north of Nelson to the beautiful, welcoming Village of Kaslo. Here racers had access to their bikes and gear boxes for the last few hours; received SPOT tracker radios, which organizers will use to track each team along the course via GPS (the live tracker map is accessible at the Live HQ for the race www.raidthenorthextreme.com); and attended a final course and safety briefing where they had their last opportunity to ask questions and clarify concerns.

Later in the day, Kaslo Mayor Greg Lay walked throughout the waterfront Base Camp location, greeted racers, spoke with the local team, Kootenay Kaos, and extended a warm welcome to racers during the racer briefing.

Atmosphere RTNX made closer connections with the Kaslo community last night by partnering in a fundraising dinner with parents of a local group of 5th graders from JV Humphries School. The fundraiser contributes to sending the children on a school trip to Fort Steel Pioneer Village, approximately 4hrs away, near Cranbrook BC. The pasta and salad buffet was entirely prepared and served by the children’s parents. Anyone interested in supporting the fundraiser efforts can email sinclairjsarah@gmail.com

With full bellies and a tight timeline Racers donned headlamps and huddled around their maps until well after dark as it was their last chance to transfer additional information onto their race maps. Quiet time hit close to 10:30 pm as this would be the last solid night of sleep teams will see for several nights.

Tomorrow morning racers are transferred to Meadow Creek for a 10 am start.

Checkpoint Zero/Tech4o heads into Raid the North Extreme as the points leader in the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series with the National Championship just a few months away.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Michele Hobson, 42, Tough as nails competitor willing to drag the team to the finish line if necessary. Good with a bo staff.
Paul Humphreys, 37, Strong on foot, great team motivator, and ropes expert. Token kiwi of the team. Nunchuck expert.
Peter Jolles, 35, Lead navigation, strong mountain biking, and computer hacking skills.
Chris Brown, 37, Expert mountain biking skills, top notch navigation skills and long race experience. Can dance like nobody’s business.

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?
Peter Jolles:

Most of our training has been as individuals as we all have different schedules and live fairly far apart. Most recently we used the two day Endorphin Fix as a training race. We learned a few key things there that we hope will help us in RTNX.

In a longer race you’ll surely need to catch a bit of sleep; can you talk about your sleep strategy?
Peter Jolles:

This race will be slightly difference from the other long races I’ve done, so I’m not really sure how we plan to address sleep. In past races we’ve pushed hard until we can’t go any further, and then take a bit of rest. That works in 2-3 day races, but in a longer race we’ll need more. I’m hoping that 2-3 hours a day will be enough to keep us sharp, but not slow us down too much.

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WEDALI, the 2010 winner of the USARA National Championship is on the ground in British Columbia and prepping for the start of tomorrow’s Raid the North Extreme. Justin Bakken sent his answers that he typed via his iPhone while traveling yesterday.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Scott “Erl” Erlandson, 42
Team sweeper. Keeps everyone together. Stays awake to drive us home safely.

Fredrik Goransson, 35
Woods walker. Speaks in Swedish to the wildlife. Carries food in beard to “save it for later.”

Rachel Furman, 28
Whipper snapper. Bushwhacker. TA fire cracker.

Justin “Biz” Bakken, 31
Moonlit walks on the beach with map and compass. Can time travel.

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?

We put on a Sprint AR two weeks ago to limit our training as much as possible. We did a lot of armchair AR involving watching RTNX DVDs, visualizing, and harnessing the power of hope. A little trekking, biking, and paddling to spice things up. We’ll be sitting in a car for three days to taper as well.

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The picturesque city of Nelson today played host to more than 120 racers from North America and beyond as they completed a detailed registration process and attended the Opening Ceremonies for the 2011 edition of Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX).

Atmosphere RTNX, Canada’s premiere expedition-style adventure race takes place from July 23 to 31, 2011 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. Four-person co-ed teams will face extreme challenges including a rugged wilderness, team dynamics, sleep deprivation and gear failure as they bike, trek, paddle and use ropes to navigate more than 500km of unmarked terrain through the Selkirk, Purcell and Monashee mountains over six non-stop days.

The inherent risk in a race of this nature means teams must bring a high level of skill and endurance to the start line. Atmosphere RTNX designed a comprehensive mandatory registration process-including navigation and rope skills testing, bike and first aid gear checks, medical and insurance paperwork, and more-to ensure that racers have what it takes to safely challenge the course.

“A number of teams were exempt from some of the mandatory skills tests today,” said Race Director Geoff Langford, “which really speaks to the caliber of competitors attending this race. It’s going to be an exciting week!”

Following registration, teams gathered together for the Opening Ceremonies, which included a welcome from Trail, BC (the finish line location) Mayor Dieter Bog, race staff introductions, and a mesmerizing Cirque de Soleil style demonstration of “acrobatic yoga for adventure racers” by members of Team GearJunkie/YogaSlackers.
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After winning the 2010 Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Championship, Odyssey Adventure Racing/ImOnPoint.org is heading to British Columbia for Raid the North Extreme. They are currently in 2nd place with the 2011 Checkpoint Tracker rankings and 3rd with the USARA National Rankings.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Charlie Roberts, age 37.
Biggest asset to the team: Charlie is an excellent navigator, an incredibly gifted athlete and is very strong in all the AR disciplines.

Sara Dallman, age 42.
Biggest asset to the team: Sara is a fast racer and she brings the most racing experience to the team. She has raced all over the world, and that will be a huge resource to draw on as the race progresses. She will also be the team “doctor” watching out for all of us – especially late in the race.

Jen Moos, age 28.
Biggest asset to the team: Jen is insanely fast, extremely motivated and always positive. Whether it is in a TA, on the bike, paddling or on foot she doesn’t stop.

Shane Hagerman, age 41.
Biggest asset to the team: I am the Captain. That means I should have a cool hat. Unfortunately, I don’t have a cool hat and even if I did they wouldn’t let me wear it.

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Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (ARTNX), Canada’s premiere expedition-style adventure race, is proud to announce a new media strategy that focuses on gaining maximum exposure for all stakeholders through a unique online experience that evolves in tandem with the race itself.

“Adventure racing is a dynamic and exciting sport and we have chosen to move away from our traditional media approach to develop a content-rich, in the moment, online experience including daily videos, blogs, social media feeds, and interactive message boards.” said Geoff Langford, Race Director for Atmosphere RTNX. “This bold new move allows us to share all of the race week excitement and drama with as many people as possible, as close to real time as possible.”

Atmosphere RTNX’s innovative media strategy will allow viewers to be immersed in many aspects of the race – from watching daily racer videos and tracking their locations on an interactive map, to catching a rare glimpse of behind the scenes action – as it unfolds. It will be the next best thing to being there.

The newly designed race week portal is now live at www.raidthenorthextreme.com with pre-race information and updates. Live action race feeds will commence with the crack of the starter’s pistol at 10 am on July 24th, 2011.

Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme, the six-day, non-stop expedition race, takes place from July 23 to 31, 2011 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. It will feature four-person co-ed teams from around the world as they navigate more than 500 kilometres of unmarked terrain through the Selkirk, Purcell and Monashee mountains. Teams will face extreme challenges including a rugged wilderness, team dynamics, sleep deprivation and gear failure as they bike, trek, paddle and use ropes to navigate their way to the finish line in Trail, BC.

ABOUT FRONTIER ADVENTURE SPORTS & TRAINING INC:

Frontier Adventure Sports & Training Inc (Frontier) is the leading adventure racing company in Canada, operating the popular Raid the North adventure racing series. Now in its 14th year of operation, Frontier has an international reputation for solid logistics, challenging courses and events built around the history and tradition of each region. Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme is one of just two qualifier events in North America for the Adventure Racing World Series to be held this year in Tasmania. Each Raid the North race always remains true to its slogan: Real Wilderness. Real Navigation. Real Adventure.

Collectively, team DART-nuun-SportMulti has some of the best experience heading into this year’s Raid the North Extreme. We caught up with Cyril last night as the team will be leaving for Canada today.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Mari Chandler – 34
She drives the team on foot and on the bike and is the master of TAs. All the boys train to make sure they don’t slow Mari down.

Aaron Rinn – 32
The team’s powerhouse. Tows, powers the boats, carries all the gear and when we all falter, tows everyone and navigates. He’s an amazing route finder

Matt Hayes – 30
Navigator and all-around speedster

Cyril Jay-Rayon – 45
The old dude on the team. Navigator and loves the technical stuff, which the RTNX should have plenty of

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?
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The East Coast Adventure Racing Series is over half way through the 2011 season. Here are the most recent point standings for the 3/4-person coed division! Click here to see all the rankings.

I caught up with JD Eskelson, captain of Team SOG, as he is making his way driving from Utah to British Columbia for the Raid the North Extreme. He has been training out west in preparation for the race which begins later this week. We also added a question in regards to the team’s food plan for the 6-day race.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Captain: JD Eskelson, | U.S. Army Airborne Infantry, Europe (28+yrs) & Professional Ski Instructor | Age: 47
Teammate 2: Peter Dobos, Ottawa, Ontario | Pedorthist | Age: 43
Teammate 3: Julia Pollock, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Banker | Age: 30
Teammate 4: Lee Mebel, Denver, Colorado | Sr. HR Manager | Age: 35
Our average age of 38.75!

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?

JD recently raced the APEX 4 day AR in Switzerland and has been training at home in Germany with his 3 personal trainers (2 Chocolate Labs, Tolborona & Toffee, Father and Daughter and an U.S. Military Force Protection dog named Nora). Oh, plus training with his Wife, Robin Currently, JD’s travelling thru Utah, Montana and Idaho doing some high-altitude workouts too.
Biggest asset to the team: AR experience since 2002, Decision maker, Navigator, Motivator… Army cadences, plus poor joke telling and singing! Also, perseverance and dedication in racing & to team.

Julia starting the 2011 AR season off Julia raced the 26hr Rev3 Epic AR in April in Virginia winning 1st place 4 person co-ed then in May she raced the 10hr AR Yough Extreme in Pennsylvania winning 1st place 3 person co-ed, next in June she raced the 30hr The Longest Day AR in New York and won 1st place 3 person co-ed. Moreover, Julia followed that race by competing in the 48hr Endorphin Fix AR in West Virginia and won 3rd place co-ed 3 person! So, if she’s not adventure racing on a regular seems-like-every-other-weekend she’s out doing RTNX training on the hills, rivers and rocks in Pennsylvania.
Biggest asset to the team: Paddling Fiend and Motivator Mama… by keeping all us boys in line, awake and does not want to hear any whining. Also, good at Nav and telling bombastic bank jokes! Continue Reading

Competitors in the 2011 The North Face Peak to Peak (August 6) will be going all out to topple the record time of 2hours 02.51 clocked in 2010 by Queenstown’s Fergburger team in the prestigious mountain-to-mountain multisport event from the top of The Remarkables to Coronet Peak.

Race Director Geoff Hunt says there are several hardcore teams aiming to break the two hour mark.

“It has always been a target for some of the top athletes and last year’s race which saw Fergburger just pip the experienced defending open champion team Outside Sports by two minutes has intensified the goal to go under two hours.”

The North Face Peak to Peak is being staged for the 18th consecutive year and the August timing this year is due to the later New Zealand school holiday period.

“We don’t expect the change from the traditional July date to have any impact,” says Hunt. “There is a lot of interest already building out there amongst both returning and first time athletes. There are a number of school teams competing which is good to see as we are keen to foster the younger, up and coming multisporters who are the future of the sport.”

The 44km race starts at the top of The Remarkables with a 2km ski/snowboard on The Homeward Bound run finishing at the skifield access road. A 17km mountain bike ride down the high altitude road finishes at Frankton Beach and is followed by a 7km paddle to Queenstown Bay. From the Bay it is a 9km run to the foot of Coronet Peak and a 9km cycle ride up the access road to finish at the base buildings. Continue Reading

Raid the North Extreme gets underway later this week. Check out this video from Team Kootenay Kaos from a recent 24-hour training session.

By Brian Schmitz
All photos below by Chris Radcliffe

It was an early Sunday morning in March 2010. Tecnu Extreme / StaphAseptic was just a few hours from winning one of it’s biggest adventure races yet, West Virginia’s Endorphin Fix 2 Day Adventure Race (billed as the “Toughest 2 Day Race in the Country”). Instead of racing to a glorious first-place finish, the team voluntarily walked off the course with a DNF. Worried that one of their teammates would degrade further from breathing problems, the team decided that winning was not “that” important.

Fast forward to June 2011 and the team was back to finish what it had started. This year’s team, Marco Amselem, Kyle Peter, Leslie Rueter, and Brian Schmitz, had already been racing well through the first half of 2011 and wanted to maintain that energy.

This year’s race started just after noon on Friday, June 24, with an 11K riverboard swim. The team lead from the start. The conditions were mixed, with long sections of steady slowwater kicking in between short sections of moderate whitewater (nothing too intense; but just enough to keep it more fun than work). Hats off, by the way, to Marco for helping Leslie down the river. For most of the way, Marco towed Leslie while swimming. Wow!

The team was first off the riverboards after almost 2 hours of swimming. What followed was a 32K river kayak. This section would provide a bit more excitement. The flow was stronger, which provided more whitewater. Yahoo! After about 3 hours of paddling (including a minor repair to a leaky boat), the team was holding steady in second place. Then came the last set of rapids. From afar, this set looked a bit gnarly. The first part was challenging, but uneventful. Both of the team’s boats paddled through fine. Then the second part, with an evil hydraulic called “Surprise”, stunned the team. In seconds, Marco was thrown from Kyle’s boat and now lost in the foamy whitewater. Then, seconds later, Leslie and Brian’s boat went over. Brian and Leslie were now in the river and their boat was overturned and fading away. Leslie was able to catch the boat while Marco and Brian met at Kyle’s boat. The team was finally able to recover and finish off the paddle with no more drama (and holding onto second).

The next section was a 15K run with a mix of on-trail and off-trail running and bush-whacking. What followed was a run/orienteering section that added a very pivotal and strategic element to the race. This section allowed the team to start and finish that section at this one time or split it up and start it now and eventually finish it later at the end of the race on Sunday. It raised the question as to whether it would be smarter to try to push through more of this section while fresher but risk missing aggressive cutoffs or easily make those cutoffs and save more for the end (but more tired). The team decided to do the former. Pushing through the night and coming off that section after a self-imposed deadline, the team cleared a majority of the section. However, there was one bit of drama along the way. One checkpoint was never found. It was eventually determined that checkpoint was misplaced. The teams that attempted to find that checkpoint received a time bonus for their spent time.
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After six XTERRA regional championships around the country the stage is now set for the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series finale at the USA Championship at Snowbasin Resort in Ogden, Utah on September 24.

For the men, Stoltz is still in the driver’s seat at the top spot with Middaugh firmly in second and the top American. Lebrun jumped from 5th to 3rd with his strong showing today while Wealing jumped from 8th to 5th. Rakita dropped two spots to 4th.

The women’s chase is documented above and promises to provide great anticipation for the USA Championship throwdown.

2011 XTERRA U.S. Pro Series Standings (after 6)

PRO MEN

Pl Name West /Scentral/ Pacific/ S’East/ East/ Mountain/ Total
1 Conrad Stoltz 90 100 100 100 100 DNR 490
2 Josiah Middaugh 100 90 75 82 DNR 100 447
3 Nicolas Lebrun 75 75 DNR 69 82 75 376
4 Branden Rakita 82 69 69 x-58 75 69 364
5 Seth Wealing 58 82 82 DNF DNR 90 312 Continue Reading

Josiah Middaugh and Shonny Vanlandingham lived up to their reputations as great climbers in the thin air of the Rockies by winning the XTERRA Mountain Championship on a beautiful blue sky day at Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, Colorado this morning.

For Middaugh, the third time is a charm. After two years of finishing third in his backyard (he lives just a couple miles away from the course) he thrilled an incredibly supportive local community by crossing the finish line 19 seconds ahead of runner-up Seth Wealing with a course-record time of 2:12:05.

“I’m certainly thankful that I was finally able to take this race,” said Middaugh to the appreciative crowd gathered for the awards ceremony. “I’ve had a little bit of a monkey on my back these last couple years not being able to pull this one off on my home course.”

The day started with Wealing first out of the 66-degree Nottingham Lake water in 16:53, a full 30-seconds ahead of a pack of swimmers that included Branden Rakita, Patrick Valentine, Brad Zoller, and Tim Reed.

Middaugh exited the swim about one minute, 40-seconds behind Wealing and quickly started his assault on the mountain that has made him a local legend. In the next five miles and 2,000-feet of climbing to where the course tops-out at 9,400-feet elevation Middaugh passed Jason Michalak, Reed, Zoller, Valentine, Rakita, and finally Wealing.

At the 10-mile mark he had roughly 30 seconds on Wealing, with Rakita and Nico Lebrun (who was third at XTERRA France last week and was 1:40 behind Middaugh coming out of the water) riding together in third and fourth. Brian Smith, who was the last male pro out of the swim (nearly five minutes behind Wealing), was amazingly in fifth place and just a few minutes back by mile 10.
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Checkpoint Zero, LLC announced today that Swiftwick has extended their sponsorship of Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing with a commitment to provide their exceptional compression socks and arm sleeves to all racers competing in Checkpoint Tracker’s annual Adventure Racing Championship.

Swiftwick is a Tennessee based company that produces high end compression socks that utilize construction methods, designs, and materials that have made them the first choice among both world class athletes and everyday consumers alike. Swiftwick takes pride in the fact that production is entirely domestic and the vast amount of materials are sourced within the U.S. Swiftwick also takes great pride in the fact that the material selection and manufacturing techniques are “green” by design. Swiftwick socks offer top of class moisture wicking and climate control, not through chemical treatments, but via construction techniques and fiber selection. Swiftwick socks also feature compression throughout, with both the footbed and the uppers offering an undeniable performance advantage that must be experienced to be fully appreciated.

“I first got my hands on a pair of Swickwick socks when they sponsored our inaugural championship race in 2010″, commented Paul Angell, President of Checkpoint Zero. “Since then I’ve ditched every other brand of socks in my drawer and replaced them 100% with Swiftwick socks. There is simply no comparison in terms of quality and performance. I was delighted when they approached us about expanding their support and offered to equip all of our Championship racers with socks and arm warmers. More adventure racers are sidelined because of issues with their feet than anything else. The simple fact is that Swiftwick’s compression socks are the best way to mitigate the most common foot problems you’re likely to have while training or racing. Period.”
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Pete Cameron, the captain for Atmosphere MOMAR, took a few minutes to fill us in on the preparations that he and his team have been making for this year’s Raid the North Extreme. The team had to find a replacement for one of their teammates after a injury sidelined him for this race.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Leanne Mueller

Age: 35
Biggest asset to the team: She’s the best piece of ‘mandatory gear’ our team has for this race! She navigates, bikes like an animal (hence the nick name ‘Leanimal’), and is likely the strongest of us all…AR women usually are! Having given birth to a little girl only 7 months ago, she’s really happy how nursing her daughter has resulted in 10 lost lbs!

James Galipeau

Age: 31
Biggest asset to the team: What do you get when you combine a wrench, an unwavering positive attitude, and a deep chasm of staying power? You get 5’8” of pure James…priceless!

Jean-Yves Dionne

Age: 31
Biggest asset to the team: JYD’s biggest asset is his ability to drop everything, pack up loads of gear, and get to Nelson, BC with only 2 week’s notice. We’re lucky to have someone so strong and positive at the last minute after Todd’s back forced him to the sidelines.

Pete Cameron

Age: 35
Biggest asset to the team: Pete gets the team looking good in Salomon gear, all of the logistics sorted, and everyone to the start line on time…after that, we hope he can navigate as well as he thinks he can.
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