PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE
A View Across History

On the 21st of October, 1529, a daring ocean expedition, which had embarked from Spain in September of the previous year, made a historic discovery that would change the world forever. The Portuguese sailor and explorer Ferdinand Magellan, after having travelled more than 10,000 kilometers, sailed into the far eastern entrance of the marine passage that links the southern Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean : Magellan Strait, originally called the Strait of the Patagones. This discovery was a key factor for the first oceanic circumnavigation of our planet.

485 years later...
At dawn on the 12th of February 2006, we will be initiating the third edition of the PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE . On this day, the racers will find themselves in a historic landscape, with views of the southern Atlantic Ocean as well as of the eastern entrance of Magellan Strait. The first section of the race will be following the same route that Ferdinand Magellan took, through the strait that today bears his name.

The route of PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE 2006 will take us travelling through more than 700 kilometers of the vast landscape of southern Patagonia, from the southern Atlantic Ocean to the channels that connect the South American continent to the Pacific, and then will take us further and further south... We will cross broad and expansive steppe plains, glacier covered mountains, pristine islands, labyrinthine canals, icy rivers, extensive peat bogs, deep ravines, and dense forest. In this landscape, isolated from the rest of the world and uninhabited by humankind, every day we will be amazed by the landscape and by the wildlife: penguins, ñandu (or southern rhea, an ostrich-like bird), the rare endemic deer called huemúl, guanacos (wild relatives of the llama), foxes, sea lions, and possibly even whales and other marine mammals. It will be a long and hard expedition, in some of the most isolated and pristine parts of southern Patagonia... it will be a grand adventure, in the style that is both unique to and characteristic of the PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE.

Assistance to the teams will be minimal, and will be undertaken by the race organization. The details of the route, and the exact location of the starting point, will remain secret until one day before the starting date of the race. The center of operations will be in the city of Punta Arenas, Chile--We look forward to seeing you there!

About Wenger

Wenger was founded in 1893, in the Delémont, located in the famous Swiss Jura region. It has developed around a passion for innovation, precision and expert craftsmanship and is best known as the maker of the genuine Swiss Army knife. Today, the company produces approximately 250 styles of the famous pocket-knives, as well as butcher’s and professional catering knives known the world over. In 1997, Wenger Watch SA was founded in the hotbed for Swiss watches, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. In just 12 short years Wenger Swiss watches have developed a reputation for reliability, multi-functionality and performance. Within the last eight years, Wenger established relationships with a small number of industry leaders who began manufacturing Wenger-branded products that embody the characteristics of the world famous Swiss Army knife in the footwear, tent, backpack, sleeping bag, computer mobility and travel gear categories.