PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE 2005

February 14

Right now all teams gear up for the trekking section.

From PC4 Pinto to PC5 Skyring there is a trek of 90 arduous kilometers, starting on the same ridge that they reach when they finish the fixed ropes. The route goes among Patagonian forests to a mountainous range, with a total ascent of 900 meters from their starting point at sea level. The next 8 kilometers descend to the south where the racers will have to cross 20 kilometers of peat bog.... the equivalent of walking on broken sponges, mixed with sand and water! After traversing the peat bog the racers climb rocky mountain ridges, traveling down an edge to the Perez river valley... where they encounter another peat bog, this one only 12 kilometers in length. The trek continues along the river the entire distance to Seno Skyring. The river in general is quite broad, but shallow. There are stretches where the river narrows and the only alternative is to ascend toward the forests again to continue the trek. The last few kilometers approaching Seno Skyring are merely a foot path but the gratifying route leads racers to PC5 and their waiting mountain bikes.

Teams FUKAWI and LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE are leading this section.

February 15

11:00 hrs. No team has yet arrived PC5 Skyring.

17:36 Finally! Alter a long wait one team reached PC5 Skyring, the super tough French team LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE. They are very tired but in good conditions, a hard mountain bike course awaits them, maybe they will rest for a while.

Team SALOMON RUSSIA is close on their heels and will soon arrive at PC5, all the rest of the teams are far away, almost 4 or more hours behind.

17:45 Team SALOMON RUSSIA arrived PC5 just a few minutes after the French team. They are in very strong form as they left the PC just 28 minutes later, at 18:13.

Team LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE pushed off at 18:15, so they are now mountain biking together.

21:00 hrs the two leading teams, LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE and SALOMON RUSSIA have crossed by ferry to Isla Riesco, leaving them only 69 kilometers of mountain bike to reach the next kayak stage in Seno Otway.

23:33 hrs the team GLOBALSTAR CHILE has arrived at the PC5 Skyring. In order to recover energy they will sleep in the PC.

February 16

00:53 hrs. Teams KINGS OWN CALGARY REGIMENT and FUKAWI have finished the trekking course and will rest a few hours at PC5 Skyring.

04:05 Team FUKAWI push off on their mountain bikes to PC6 Otway.
04:06 Team KINGS OWN CALGARY REGIMENT follow a minute later.

at 06:30 Team GLOBALSTAR CHILE leaves PC5 en route to PC6 Otway. They must wait for the crossing to Isla Riesco by ferry at Rio Verde, passing by some of our journalist at Ilustre Municipalidad de Río Verde.

08:04 This morning, the other French team ALLIER AVENTURE, arrived at PC5. Its female member is hurt with a shoulder lesion from a fall during the last bike stage. They've decided not to continue with the race. They are now resting at the Municipality of Rio Verde and will be taken to Punta Arenas as soon as possible. They will stay at Albergue Chile Deportes the next few days.

08:05 Team MENETUE OPTIMUM NUTRITION arrived PC5 and is now resting before continuing onward.

08:30 Team GLOBALSTAR CHILE, THE KING'S OWN CALGARY REGIMENT and FUKAWI have crossed by ferry to Isla Riesco.

09:30 The race director received a satellite phone call from the emergency kit of team MAGALLANES-AUSTRALES. They are fine but have realized they were not going to reach PC5 before the closing time. They will continue to the PC at their own pace.

Team DAP ANTARTICA's captain Nicolas Pivcevic also called using his emergency kit to say that one of their members was exhausted. They will continue to the PC without assistance, but will be transported to Punta Arenas with the Team MAGALLANES AUSTRALES.

PC5: Skyring
Ranking	Total race time (hr:min)	Team
1	47:01	LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE
2	46:21	SALOMON RUSSIA
3	51:15	GLOBALSTAR CHILE
4	53:52	FUKAWI
5	53:53	THE KING'S OWN CALGARY REGIMENT
6	57:57	ALLIER AVENTURE
7	57:54	MENETUE - OPTIMUM NUTRITION
8	-	LE GROUP IBEROAMERICA
9	disqualified	MAGALLANES-AUSTRALES TEAM
10	disqualified	DAP ANTARTICA
11	resigned from race in PC3	JEAN MERMOZ ARGENTINA

16:53 hrs Team SALOMON RUSSIA has arrived to PC7 Silva Palma, just a few minutes before team LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE, which arrived at 17:12 hrs, both of them cheered on by the organization on WhalesSound's ships . Now they must face about 111 km of trekking from the PC8 Brunswick to PC9 Froward where they will battle to be the first to set their eyes on the Cruz de los Mares, the southern extreme of the American continent.

At 22:40 hrs the final team arrived at PC6 Otway, MENETUE - OPTIMUM NUTRITION, Here they will wait, along with teams GLOBALSTAR CHILE, FUKAWI, THE KING'S OWN CALGARY REGIMENT and LE GROUP IBEROMERICA, for the next kayak stage. Together they will try to cross Seno Otway at first light, weather permitting.

February 17

Due to the high winds reaching 30 knots (55km/hr) the five team who where waiting at PC6 Otway to face one more kayak stage are now being transported on organization's ships to PC7 Silva Palma. They left PC6 at 08:30 this morning, and when they arrive at PC7 will start the last and most difficult trekking stage, facing more rope work, such as challening Tyrolean and rappel tests near PC8 Brunswick and finally to PC9 Froward.

From. PC7 Silva Palma to PC8 Brunswick and finally to PC9 Froward, the racers start 111 kilometers of the most diffult trekking with a rappel into PC8. The racers will move along the river's basin heading southeast from the PC7 towards 11 kilometers of peat bog, interrupted later for deep narrow drops of 100mts. At this zone the racers must trek down to the Rio Raúl, passing extensive forested areas that sometimes transform into a maze of fallen trunks. Perseverance and patience is the key at this stage. Teams retake the peat, frequently interrupted by soggy missteps, reaching kilometer 24 of the total trekking section. The following 16 kilometers travels through a mountain cordillera, where the racers' experience and navigational knowledge will be particulary needed. The path follows rock edges and narrow passes, sometimes parallel, sometimes perpendicular to the route's principal edge. The racers must carefully navigate through edges with depths of 400 meters, climbs of 700 to 900 meters amid surrounding peaks of over a thousand meters high. At this stretch it is possible to see animals like the Chilean Huemul (deer), foxes, condors and pumas. Approaching kilometer 14 toward the Strait Of Magellan, at PC8 Brunswick, the racers will encounter a 100 meter rappel to manage the narrowing river Nodales. They will follow through forest en route to the sea. The race route continues 8 km south along the shores of the straits, ascending continuosly up to 400 meters to arrive at the final point of the continental platform, Cape Froward and the Cross of Seas (PC9), Welcome to the end of the world!

Thanks to Vía Terra, all journalists have been transported back to Punta Arenas. Tomorrow the journey continues to the final stage of the PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE 2005. They will take the journalists to PC8 Brunswick point, to report the racer`s arrival.

February 17

14:50 hrs Team SOLOMON RUSSIA passes PC8 Brunswick and the ropes section. There's no doubt that this team is the fastest, but let us remind you that they were disqualified due to the safety fault at the kayak stage from PC2 to PC3 and are now racing in an unranked position.

21:50 hrs Team LA CLUSAZ RAID AVENTURE has gotten to PC8 Brunswick exhausted, and plan to rest at the PC until morning. This team leads the race and barring any mistakes or injuries are expected to win the second edition of the PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE.

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Previous days

February 11 2005 All the teams departed by bus from the city of Punta Arenas to the start of the race at 22 hrs, 661.8 km. of adventure are waiting for them.