Day four of Primal Quest Badlands Presented by SPOT was a flurry of activity as race organizers worked to get as many teams as possible through the soaring ropes course, designed to be a true highlight of the race.  Jay Smith, the ropes course director, outdid himself this year, as team after team came through the course astonished at its beauty and death-defying heights.  Team TecnuExtreme/Staphaseptic said the race has been great, but that the ropes course is “the icing on the cake.” Antonio from Team Bimbache Extrem said it was the most beautiful ropes course he’s ever done on an adventure race.

A racer traverses across Cathedral Spires

One of the great things about the ropes course, according to Team Bones, is not only the view of the Custer State Park and surrounding rock formations, but also that you can see all your competitors and team members high up on rocks hundreds of feet away.  The entire feel is similar to Disneyland, they said, a giant playground of toys with adults frolicking on the rocks like children at play.

Team South Dakota hit the ropes with an audience of at least 20 locals cheering them on.  Team members’ mothers even hiked up to the ropes course to watch their kids traversing from peak to peak on a tightly strung rope.  Family and friends have indicated that this team is considering Primal Quest they’re “one shot” – and don’t intend to do any more adventure races.  Who knows what might happen after the race, though – they might have caught the adventure racing bug.

Primal Quest Groupies watch Team South Dakota Rappel on the Ropes Course

Yesterday and through the night, lead teams attacked the water section, which included the FaceLevel Swim Orienteering and the Warren Windows Lake Orienteering (on kayak).  The wear and tear of the race so far is starting to show, as teams move through transition areas a little slower than they did at the race start.  Keep in mind, this is all relative, so normal people still struggle to keep up with their seemingly perpetual motion.

TA Volunteers constantly ask the teams how much sleep they’ve gotten – this is a major issue as they head into day 5, with some teams handling their sleep deprivation better than others.  Salomon / Crested Butte reports getting 3 hours of sleep every night, reportedly a similar schedule to OrionHealth.com, while Cordura / Osprey Packs has slept a total of 4 hours since Thursday.  Team TecnuExtreme / Staphaseptic slept 4 hours Sunday night, but prior to that had only gotten 3 total hours in since race start.  Bones said they are “good in the sleep department” – they meant to rest 3 hours on Sunday and ended up sleeping 5-6 hours instead.  Now keep in mind, it’s hard enough to go on this level of sleep, but these people are traveling nearly 100 miles each day on foot, bikes, and on water!  In previous years, racers reported falling asleep on their bikes, and this has likely happened again this year.

Team Salomon/Crested Butte returns from the Warren Windows Lake Orienteering Kayak as the sun sets

Today teams head out on what some have called “The Prairie Death March” – the course was designed to have 62 miles of prairie paddling, but when course directors went out on the river, they discovered that water levels had dipped very low – so low, in fact, teams would have had to push and pull their kayaks more than paddle them.  The course has now been divided in two, with the Timonda Mountain Bike Section clearing the lowest-water areas and bringing teams to the Timonda Prairie Paddle.  “I’m gonna be a beached whale!” said Charlie of Team TecnuExtreme/Staphaseptic.  His extensive whitewater experience is unlikely to come in as handy here as it did last year in the flood-stage melee of the Gallatin River for Primal Quest Montana.  Teams will be on the lookout for various cattle fences crossing the course, including one very live electric fence (confirmed by courageous course directors who risked life and limb on behalf of the racers).  Don’t worry folks, the fences have been clearly marked with day-glo bright tape to help keep racers safe!

Stay wired for continued adventure….

Team Bones Prepares for Night Orienteering on the Lake

Photos by Frances Fisher

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 11:42 am and is filed under Primal Quest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.