PIERRE, S.D. – Primal Quest Adventure Racing requires the teams competing in the human endurance race be co-ed. This year’s race is holding strong with 35 women and 93 men (32 teams total) signed up to cover the Badlands of South Dakota; with more teams talking about registering daily.

“The ratio of men to women this year is about average,” says Don Mann, Director of Primal Quest. “Most teams consist of three men and one woman, but there are a handful of teams who are competing with two men and two women. The women of adventure racing are becoming more and more experienced and proven racers; I believe we will see this number continue to grow as the sport gets more exposure.”

There are many themes that have been observed over the years with the women racers of Primal Quest. One theme is that women become the mediators on a team; helping to soften disruptions. They are also the nurturers; ensuring everyone is drinking, eating, taking care of their feet and staying alert. Lastly, many men look to their positive attitudes and reassuring outlooks to help relieve the stress of competing in such a long and strenuous event.

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Follow the world’s most extreme endurance athletes as they race in teams of four along a grueling 500-mile journey, experiencing wild adventure and intensely emotional highs and lows. Live the excitement as they mountain bike, river board, kayak climb, rappel and trek through spectacular Montana backcountry in the epic 5th edition of Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race!

The DVD features four 26-minute episodes that were filmed in the highest quality HD format and created by the renowned team of:

• Tim Powell, Supervising Producer (Eco Challenge FIJI Islands, Eco Challenge New Zealand, Eco Challenge British Columbia, National Geographic Explorer, Eco Challenge Borneo, and Raid Gauloises – Race Across The Himalayas)
• Brian Catalina, Editor (The Alaska Experiment. Deadliest Catch, Survivor. Eco-Challenge Fiji Islands, Eco Challenge New Zealand, Eco Challenge Borneo , Raid Gauloises – Race Across the Himalayas, and Raid Gauloises – Race Across Ecuador)
• Bruce Hanifan, Composer (The Alaska Experiment, Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers , Deadliest Catch, Eco Challenge Fiji Islands, Raid Gauloises -Race Across the Himalayas)

Additional features include promos from Broadcast Partner RUSH HD, Presenting Partner SPOT, and State Partner Travel Montana.

The eagerly anticipated Primal Quest 2008 DVD can be ordered now from the online  PQ Store and will be shipped beginning April 15. Cost is $24.99 plus shipping/handling.

Also, stay tuned for a soon-to-be released message about where and when you can view all four episodes AND videos of previous Primal Quest races on television.

After waiting most of the winter, we have finally received some much-needed snow in the Colorado Front Range.  Wet, heavy, and perfect for snowballs, this stuff has turned the trails to mush.  I competed in the Adventure Xstream 12-Hr at Moab last weekend-where Will and Jenny Newcomer did an excellent job with the race, as usual-and have since been spending most of my training time running and paddling.

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Well, another Elk Mountain Grand Traverse has come and gone.  This backcountry ski race requires teams of two to traverse 40 miles and 8,0000′ vertical from Crested Butte to Aspen.  The race started at midnight on Friday night.  Once again, the course proved as heinous as ever with 0 degree temperatures and 50 m.p.h. winds on top of Star and Taylor passes.  Faces and fingers were frozen, eating and speaking nearly impossible.

My partner, Bryan “Wick” Wickenhauser, and I ended up 4^th place after 9 hours 35 minutes of racing.  Jon Brown and Brian Smith ended up 7^th and Jari Kirkland and Tucker brought home 2^nd in the co-ed division.  Mike Kloser and Jay Henry won the race.  It was a decent showing for Team Salomon/Crested Butte in one of the toughest races we do all year.  Teammate Travis Macy opted for a summer option and won the solo division at the 12-Hour Adventure Xstream Moab race.

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One of highlights of the Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race is its ropes course; big, exposed, airy and difficult.  In the 2006 Utah race, the course consisted of 6 miles of rope at 5 separate locations, involving ascending, rappelling and traversing thousands of feet of vertical rock walls, canyons and desert towers.  This was without a doubt, the world’s largest ropes course ever constructed.  Only 24 teams completed the entire ropes section.  Many called it the best part of the race while others called it the scariest thing they had ever done!

The 2008 ropes course in Montana presented new challenges with 5.7 free climbing and wild, via ferrata type ridge ascents up slender spires in a wild setting.  Top teams proclaimed this was the most varied and awesome ropes course ever constructed, thus with this encouragement future races will take these trends to new heights, demanding greater skill levels and including more free climbing.  The folks at Primal Quest want to help prepare you for these challenges.

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