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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BlackHillsVacations.com is offering up some great pre-race deals for athletes, their familes, and fans of Primal Quest, allowing them to explore the magnificent Badlands and Black Hills at bargain prices.

Click here to read all about these package deals, which include car rental with unlimited mileage, three nights stay in a selection of hotels, and entrance to the Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial, starting as low as $95/person per day.

The offers are good starting now and running through May 31st of this year. So, if you’re looking to get a sneak peek at where Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT will be taking place this August, there’s no better time than now to checkout the territory.

Check out the March/April issue of Bare Essentials to read two excellent features on Robyn Benincasa and  PQ09 Team MAAR.  A subscription to this on-line fitness magazine for women AND men is so worth it!  Here’s a message from our media partner, Inga…

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Custom map maker and Primal Quest Partner MyTopo have announced that they have acquired the land navigation division of MapTech. The free map service has now been added to the MyTopo website, and can be accessed here.

MyTopo released the following press announcement regarding the acquisition:

MYTOPO ACQUIRES LAND NAVIGATION DIVISION OF MAPTECH
Extensive Free Map Browsing Services Added to MyTopo Website

BILLINGS, MT, October 24, 2008–MyTopo, known for its convenient online service for ordering navigation-ready, custom-printed topographic, aerial and hybrid maps for the US and Canada, has purchased the land navigation division of Amesbury, MA-based Maptech, Inc.  The purchase includes Maptech’s popular Terrain Navigator software products, which are used daily by professional wildlife managers, geologists, foresters, search and rescue experts and firefighters, as well as sportsmen and women, throughout the United States.

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Congratulations to our friends at SPOT, who have won a 2008 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for their Satellite Messenger, which claimed the top spot in the Consumer Electronics category. 

The Satellite Messenger is a handheld device that uses the Globalstar network of satellites to send both emergency messages or “Okay” signals to friends and family back home while backpackers, hikers, and adventure athletes are in remote backcountry regions. Since coming online late last year, the service has garnered more than 50,000 sponsors, and has directly played a part in more than 40 rescues around the globe. 

At Primal Quest Montana teams were required to carry a Satellite Messenger with them at all times, and the device served as a method for tracking the locations and placement of teams throughout the race. Fans of adventure racing were able to be a part of the event like never before, as this  new technology fundamentalloy changed the way that the sport could be followed. SPOT once again returns in 2009 as the presenting sponsor of Primal Quest Badlands.

Photo by Will Ramos

Primal Quest is proud to announce that SPOT will once again be our presenting sponsor for 2009 following a highly successful collaboration at Primal Quest Montana.

SPOT is the creator of the Satellite Messenger, an innovative device and communications service that has taken the outdoor community by storm. The little orange gadget allows adventurers the world over to stay in contact with their friends and family at home, while providing the security of being able to call for emergency help, should the need arise. When paired with the optional tracking service, SPOT allows anyone with a web connection to follow along on the journey from the comfort of their home.

At Primal Quest Montana, SPOT applied their tracking expertise to adventure racing for the first time, and quickly changed the face of the sport forever. For the first time, fans of the sport could follow an event as it unfolded in near realtime, with the most accurate tracking ever. As a result, the drama and intensity of Primal Quest was brought home like never before. We’re looking forward to delivering even more of that drama and intensity next August at Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT.

Photo by Will Ramos