After reviewing the time credits, Team Bones has claimed third place at Primal Quest 2008 and will now join Nike and Merrell at Moonlight Basin for a little TLC. The team leapfrogged Team DART-nuun thanks to earning more points on the orienteering course. 

Congrats to Team Bones for earning a podium finish in the “world’s toughest race.”

Today marks day eight of Primal Quest Montana and though the top teams have finished, over 40 teams continue to make their way to the finish line at various speeds.  Slower teams contend with a hard cutoff — make it to the ropes section by 6am tomorrow, or be short-coursed/unofficial.  Mother Nature has a few curveballs left for the weary contenders though — the ropes are currently shut down due to thunder and lightning, which will make the cutoff more challenging as teams already on site form a bottleneck as they wait.  Teams eCountryLifestyle.com, Brunton, and Pedales Adventure are rushing to depart CP23 to make it from Bozeman to the climb site back up the Gallatin River.

Team Dancing Pandas (So-called because they are “Cute, Cuddly, but don’t mess with them or we will @!@# you up”) awaits the MindQuest Rappel segment.

Currently, Dancing Pandas and Blue are waiting to get on the rappel section, as several other teams strategize to finish the rappel, freeclimb, and orienteering sections before the final push to Lake Ennis and back to the finish line.  The Dancing Pandas cited the Crazies as their favorite segment so far and agreed that the race has been one of the best they’ve ever done. 

Team Dirty Avocados II rappels down rock face just prior to a Thunderstorm’s arrival.

Team Extreme Couture, when they found out about DART-nuun’s finished, reminisced about another race they had competed together in.  Apparently, while kayaking Lake Mead, DART-nuun’s kayak actually broke. Instead of throwing in the towel, they pulled over to the side of the lake and portaged the kayak cross country (and this was some rough country) back to the TA for a second go with a functioning kayak.  Amazingly, they still won that race! Kudos to DART-nuun for that finish and their 4th place finish here.

Racers continue to trickle in while the ones still on the course are racing to complete the full route by 3pm Wednesday.  Some will freeclimb, rappel, and orienteer overnight, hoping to set out on the trek early to beat the clock.  These teams have trekked over countless mountains and covered hundreds of miles already on foot.  They are beaten, battered, and blistered, but most are very excited to be on the final leg of the race. 

This just in: a Grizzly sighting has been reported as a team left CP29 in the Spanish Creek section of the MYTOPO.com trekking segment to Ennis Lake.  All teams will be advised and as always, Bear Spray is mandatory equipment for each team member.

Stay tuned for continued adventure…

Just minutes ago Team BaseCamp crossed the finish line in 6th place, having raced more than 7 and a half days. The team was a bit worse for wear, with a few nagging injuries, but they were very happy to have completed the course and finished so high.  Congrats to BaseCamp for an impressive showing. 

News from the course on the 7th day of Primal Quest Montana.

-  There are now five teams across the finish line, with Nike and Merrell already relaxing at Moonlight Basin, who has generously given the top three teams luxury accommodations at their world class resort. Meanwhile, DART-nuun and Team Bones wait to see who is ultimately awarded third place, and the last ticket to Moonlight. Word is that one of the teams might have time credits that could sway the ultimate final rankings. Earlier today, Team MOAT/Peak.com crossed the finish line to finish off the top five. 

-  As I write this, five more teams are closing in on the finish, with BaseCamp due any moment and Nike ACG lined up to take seventh place. After that comes a pair of international teams, with Merrell Halti Multimania of Norway, Team Hunky Dorys of Ireland battling it out, followed by  Oceanic Interactive gunning for a top ten spot. 

- The sign that accompanies this post was taken at the entrance of Ennis Lake, the last checkpoint before teams turn for home. It pretty much sums up how all the racers and PQ staff feels about Montana. It’s a beautiful state and an amazing place to hold a race, and the incredible hospitality we’ve all been shown continues to leave a great impression. (Photo by Gulnur Tumbat)

- Teams received word today that if they are not through Transition Area 13 by 9 AM tomorrow, they will be “short coursed”. TA13 is located at Storm Castle and begins a MYTOPO.com Trekking Leg. Teams that have not reached that point will be driven to CP30 and allowed to continue along a shortened route that has them riding their mountain bikes to the finish line. 

- Word from the course is that most of the racers are still feeling great, and enjoying the scenery. Many of them reached the ropes section today, which has been one of the highlights of this year’s race. Ropes Course Designer Jay Smith has out done himself, and racers have been delighted with the climb and rappel alike. 

Merrell crosses the finish line (Photo by Will Ramos)

Adventure On The Rocks! (Photo by Wouter Kingma)

PQ Ropes Course (Photo by Andres Vargas)

By now, everyone following Primal Quest from home is well aware of the capabilities of the SPOT Satellite Messenger. Throughout the course of the race, it’s allowed us all to track the teams progress, and check their standing on the leaderboard. But the device does a lot more than that. Whether you’re an adventure racer on a 10 day expedition race or an outdoor enthusiast heading out for a day in your local wilderness, the SPOT can provide security and safety with not only it’s ability to be tracked, but also to send messages, including a call for help.

Over the course of the past week, the SPOT Messenger has continued to impress everyone on the PQ staff, but none more than the Medical and Search and Rescue teams. Last week, when the Gallatin went from challenging white water to wild, white knuckle ride, the decision was made to pull everyone off the water, and the SAR team was able to quickly locate every team and keep track of their status, thanks to the SPOT. The fact that the Messenger is water proof, and floats, also proved invaluable in the conditions the teams were encountering. Within minutes, the teams were safe and sound on dry land, thanks to a coordinated effort between the Comms center and PQ staff and volunteers in the field. The SPOT Messenger was invaluable in those efforts.

Twice this week teams have inadvertently activated their SPOT Messengers, setting off a flurry of activity that begins with a signal being sent to SPOT’s monitoring center in Houston, TX, which immediately alerts the PQ Search and Rescue Team. From there, the SAR Team gets in contract with local authorities and coordinates with staff in the field to get on site just as quickly as they can. Fortunately, in these two cases, there was no emergency, but knowing the exact location of the teams in the field had allowed rescue teams to respond very quickly and with pin point accuracy. 

Yesterday, one racer took a spill, going over the handle bars of his mountain bike at high speeds. He was reportedly unconscious for as much as 45 seconds, and the team activated it’s SPOT device to call for aid. Coordinating with the Comms staff, the medic in the field, who was also carrying a SPOT Messenger, was on location in a very short time. Primal Quest HQ was able to track the medic, and direct him to the team who had issued the 911. The medic was able to quickly render aid to the fallen racer, who was soon given a clean bill of health, and sent on his way, continuing his Primal Quest race. 

These incidences have made it abundantly clear that the SPOT Messenger is the must have device for anyone traveling in the backcountry. Not only does it allow you to send messages to your friends and family, letting them know that you’re okay, but it also allows them to track your progress practically anywhere in the world. But the real value of the device is it’s ability to call for help from those remote places, giving outdoor adventurers a measure of safety never before seen. 

For a limited time, SPOT, who is the Presenting Sponsor of Primal Quest 2008, is giving away six  months free tracking service. Simply purchase a SPOT Messenger from this page and enter the promo code “PRIMAL8″ to receive this special deal. But you’ll have to hurry, the offer only runs until July 15th.

And don’t forget, you can still sign up to win a free SPOT signed by the winning team Nike. Go to this page to sign up. 

Photo by Andres Vargas