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The 2011 edition achieved over 1,400 hours of TV coverage all over the world and in the last months, visitors from more than 5,400 cities have been checking the official website. 15 teams with athletes from 17 countries have already been accepted for the upcoming 10th anniversary of the PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE in February 2012. The number of teams will be increased from 15 to a total of 20 teams. The countdown has begun…

Nómadas Outdoor Services has opened the registration process so teams from around the world can apply for the 20 places available in the 10th anniversary of the PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE which will take place in February 2012. 

One day to go and a group of six persons including biologist, guides and reporter will leave to Peninsula Brunswick for the first fieldtrip of the Huemul Conservation project.  During 10 days they will observe the area of Mount Tarn, Rio Gennes, Rio Yumbel, Rio San Nicolas and Cabo Forward for huemuls.

After completing the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race - one of the most challenging and extreme editions of the eco-adventure challenge - a group of lucky media representatives and staff members added another adventure to their list: a day trip to Antarctica. Courtesy of Patagonian airline, Dap Airlines, 20 journalists, photographers, film crew and staff members from race organizer Nomadas Outdoor Services recently had the opportunity to visit the Chilean and Russian Bases on King George Island (Isla Rey Jorge) at the tip of the Antarctic continent..

Race director Stjepan Pavicic’s course for this year’s Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race proved to be one of the wildest yet. Here, Pavicic explains his route choice through remote fjordlands with more trekking than ever, and reveals his thoughts on the drama in this year’s thrilling race…

After an emotional journey in the 2010 race, all-American team Gearjunkie.com was the only team to return to the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race with the same group for the second year in a row – and this time they came here with their eyes on victory.

Bruce Duncan and Mark Humphrey returned chasing a hat-trick of victories after two victorious trips to the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race in 2009 and 2010 – but they had with them a different team and a different name after regular team-mates Nicola MacLeod and Andy Wilson chose not to race this year.

The huemul, a small deer that lives in the forest and mountain environments of southern South America, has been the national symbol of Chile since 1929 but its population is in severe decline. There are now fewer than 2,000 individuals existing in the world – and they need your help.

On the sixth day of the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race – a short distance from PC10 - Danish team, Roadrunners Adventure, along with East Wind (Japan) and Perdido en el Turbal (US, UK), made the tough decision to make a rescue call. The weather conditions had left them wet, freezing and close to hypothermia and the persistent rain had made sections of the route impassable. At PC10, facing temperatures of -2 degrees Celcius, Roadrunners Adventure was forced to retire from the 'last wild race'. Speaking from the Puerto Natales, where the racers were recuperating since their rescue, the team reveal their story and reasons for returning.

Last night’s Closing Ceremony for the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race was a welcome change of pace for racers and volunteers alike. Forget wet sleeping bags and trail mix, hypothermia and broken limbs. Racers, volunteers, and staff members were treated to cocktails and hors d’ouvres after the presentation of team awards and a video of race highlights.

After completing the XPD Australia last year, Masha Glanville, Mark Lattanzi, Peter Spagnoli, and Noel Duffy came together over drinks and spontaneously decided to tackle the wilderness of Patagonia together. While their collective experience in many previous races taught them to be well-prepared for the challenges ahead, they unfortunately overlooked a major detail - one that may have ultimately cost them the chance to see the finish. 

With one racer suffering a broken rib on Day One, and persistent heavy rains and difficult river crossings soaking the team and putting them on the verge of hypothermia, Japan’s East Wind came close to quitting the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race on two occasions.

Last year Tim Kuenster and Melissa Griffiths took on the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race and failed to finish after being beaten by the trekking section. This year, they returned with new team-mates Jason Urckfitz and Peter Jolles seeking revenge.

The 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race is over with teams East Wind (Japan) and Perdido en el Turbal (US, UK) crossing the finish line in the epic 503 kilometre race this afternoon in fifth and sixth place respectively. East Wind finished at 17.33, with Perdido en el Turbal following at 18.46.

An experienced racing team that have known each other for more than 10 years, this quartet all live in the same small village in Southern France and say they entered the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race because it is now the only event that represents the classic adventure races of the past. They came looking for an adventure and, speaking in the crater at Pali-Aike, on the finish line of this year’s 503km race, Thierry Cunibil delightedly informed us that it did not disappoint...!

It took Croatian Dario Rocco just a few seconds to agree to join his arch rival Elvir Sulic’s team for this year’s Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, creating a strong combination of Croatia’s two biggest rival adventure racing teams.

Four teams have completed the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, with Croatia’s Ad Natura – Karibu crossing the finish line at 2am this morning in fourth place, after riding for about 12 hours from PC13. The two remaining teams - East Wind (Japan) and Perdido en el Turbal (US, UK) - are racing to the finish today with the Japanese racers leaving PC13 at 8.04am this morning, closely followed by Perdido en el Turbal at 8.16am. 

French team, Vaucluse Adventure Evasions has arrived in third place at the finish line in Pali Aike National Park at 19.55pm in the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race.

British team adidasTERREX/Prunesco has claimed victory in the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, completing the tough 10-day course with two days to spare. In the third win in a row for the team, the racers were ecstactic to cross the finish line in the Pali Aike National Park at 4.22pm this afternoon after cycling for almost nine hours today. British team captain Bruce Duncan said: “To have won this race once is something special, to win it three times is simply amazing. This is the ultimate race and this one was a tough one. The weather really made a difference to the course, and I am both relieved and delighted to have reached the finish.”

As teams head to the finish of the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, join our Facebook page at Patagonian Expedition Race for the most up to date news on the race.

The final part of the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race began this morning when leaders adidasTERREX/Prunesco set off from PC13, heading through the woods on a 188km bike towards the finish line at Pali Aike looking set for a hat-trick of victories in the ‘last wild
race’.

The 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race will be run to a shortened course after persistent heavy rains over the past few days made sections of the course impassable for the teams, Race Director Stjepan Pavicic has confirmed. The seven remaining teams are travelling to PC13 at Puesto Las Nieves where the race will be restarted for competitors to complete the final 188 kilometre mountain biking leg to Pali Aike. 

Brazilian team Xingu dropped out of this year’s Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race at checkpoint four, but for team captain Marcelo Catalan, his first experience of the wilderness in Chilean Patagonia left him hungry for more and disappointed to see a dream cut short.

Teams AdidiasTERREX/Prunesco (UK), GearJunkie.Com (US) and Vaucluse Adventure Evasions (France) have arrived at PC11 and are being held at the checkpoint (PC) while weather conditions are assessed.  Meanwhile, Croatia's Ad Natura has been spotted by helicopter trekking towards PC11 and the remaing three teams, East Wind (Japan), Roadrunners Adventure (Denmark) and Perdido en el Turbal (US, UK)) are headed towards PC10. 

Team captain Nicolas Pivcevic has tried and failed to complete the race three times (in 2004, 2005 and 2006) – the closest he got was when he actually arrived at the finish line in 2006 but was out of time after suffering from injuries in the latter part of the race. Sadly, a first finish was not to be this year, and the spirited team dropped out at PC3. Speaking in Puerto Natales after being transported back from the race course, Pivcevic spoke of his disappointment but also his determination to finally get his hands on one of the carved wooden finishers medals in 2012…

With teams including adidasTERREX/Prunesco, Vaucluse Adventure Evasions and Ad Natura Kailash arriving at PC10, race director Stjepan Pavicic reveals what they will be facing as they head across the mountains towards PC12…

After coming together for the first time at ‘the end of the world’ in Punta Arenas just days before the race, the Four Continents team of Tasman Lawrie, Pavel Poloncy, Andre Vogel and Paulette Kirby were beaten by the Patagonian wilderness after three days. 

Seven teams still remain in the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, with AdidasTERREX/Prunesco from the UK still holding the lead in what is one of the most extreme and wild races ever undertaken in Chile’s Patagonian region.

The 'Last Wild Race' may be a big test for the competitors but it is also a huge challenge for the photographers and communications team who are sending updates from the field – and instant reporting from the wilderness is not easy!. The hub of the race is not in its belly but actually in Punta Arenas, where the official Race HQ, set up in the office of race organisers Nomadas Outdoor Services, keeps a 24-hour watch to receive and distribute communications as quickly as possible to the Twitter and Facebook feeds, the race website and the Chilean and international media.

Race director Stjepan Pavicic reveals what the teams will be trekking through at the start of the mammoth 191km trek…