Your daily dose of news from the PQ field…

- Teams are hoping to hear from friends and family from home, and comments are welcome. Go to your favorite team’s page on the PQ website and leave comments and words of encouragement. Simply click on a blog post on the teams page, scroll to the bottom and enter your note. When you’re all done, hit the “Submit Comment” button and your message will be off to the team. 

- The top three teams continue their assault on one another and the course today, not missing a beat with the removal of today’s whitewater course. Team Nike was the first team out of CP15 and are now heading into the Crazy Mountains, with Merrell in pursuit, and TeamPeakAdventure.com not far off the pace. Rumor has it that Nike left their snowshoes back at the TA however, and when last scouted, the Crazies were still covered by a deep layer of snow. 

- Teams were happy to see their bikes for the first time today after a number of long trekking sections, but arriving at CP13, where they were expecting to hit the Yellowstone River, they were told that their first bike ride would last longer than they had first expected. 

- Not everyone was happy to stay off the water today. Word from the course is that Team BaseCamp was hoping to test their skills on the Yellowstone, and even Dart-Nuun and Team Bones were a bit disappointed that the river was closed as well.

- Finally, the course change today was clearly a good idea, as it took PQ teams straight down Adventure Lane. 

Following the wild day yesterday on the Gallatin River that saw the closure of that portion of the course, the decision was made to keep teams off the Yellowstone River today as it nears it’s crest as well. Many teams are currently approaching CP12 where they will transition to the first mountain biking leg of this year’s course, but they’re about to learn that they’re in for more time on the bike than they expected.

The original course design had teams riding their bikes along the 17 mile Sportraxx by Simpson mountain bike segment to TA6 in Emigrant where they were originally going to transition to river kayaks. Now, however, they’ll continue along to TA7 on their bikes thanks to conditions on the river.

After carefully studying the Yellowstone, and speaking to local authorities, the choice seemed clear. The area rescue teams have their hands full insuring the safety of the local paddlers, and wouldn’t be available to assist in any potential issues involving racers. Safety remains paramount in all aspects of the event, and after all the trekking and whitewater the racers have seen so far, I’m sure they’re happy to see their bikes. 

Photo by Jason Perreira

More media coverage on Primal Quest 2008:

White-knuckle ride (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)

Primal Quest teams off to faster-than-expected start (The Missoulian)

Local Primal Quest team off and trekking (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) 

Former Billings resident ‘hooked’ on eco racing (Billings Gazette) 

Big Sky endurance race kicks-off (KBZK Bozeman)

Westport native prepares for primal journey (The Herald News)

Not only is Primal Quest the “World’s most challenging human endurance competition”, it may just be the most compelling as well. Yesterday, as the race got underway, the website was hit with more than 2.2 million page views, as eager adventure racing fans clamored for news on the event. 

We would like to thank everyone who is following the event online and have made Primal Quest 2008 a big success. Stay tuned, we have a lot more racing to come. 

Photo by Wouter Kingma

Team CWC Stadium Dogs continues PQ 08 as an unranked team after one of the team members was forced to withdraw following a minor, non-life threatening injury. The team has elected to skip both the Travel Montana Inflatable Kayak section as well as the TATE Riverboarding section, and are en route to TA4 to continue the race. 

Tim Dumas from the Bozeman Chronicle, has shown Primal Quest triple the love today, with thr

ee great articles on the race that is preparing to kick off at 10 AM local time tomorrow.

First, we have this article that introduces the local readers to what Primal Quest is all about, with a hint of what is in store for the teams. The actual course won’t be revealed until later today, but Primal Quest CEO Don Mann tells Dumas that the race will begin with teams racing 4.1 miles up Lone Peak. Don calls this “the prologue” however, which has some sinister overtones.

The second article is an excellent profile of Darin and Kristen Fredericks, a married couple who race onTeam Big Sky/Flathead Beacon, and just happen to live in Bigfork, MT. Team Big Sky is hoping to use the home field advantage to carry them through the race and challenge the top teams.

Finally, this article celebrates the state of Montana, and explains why Primal Quest was eager to come to the state. It’s pristine backcountry, challenging climbs, and plunging whitewater drops make it the perfect setting for an expedition adventure race. 

With the clock now winding down to the start of the race, the anticipation is in the air and everyone is eager to go. It won’t be long now until these race previews turn to race reports, with updates on events from the field, and which teams are pushing for the top spot. 

The Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race presented by SPOT and the Rush HD television network are proud to announce that they have entered into a three-year television license agreement to broadcast the race in both North America and Worldwide territories. Voom Networks/Rush HD will air four original episodes in High Definition.

Primal Quest is “the World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition” and has been called “the Superbowl of Adventure Racing” by Sports Illustrated. This year’s edition will take place in the backcountry of Montana where the  top teams in the world will trek, mountain bike, and paddle their way across a 500-mile course with over 100,000 feet of elevation gain. Top endurance athletes from around the globe will compete for more than $175,000 in cash and prizes over ten days of grueling competition.

Voom/Rush HD is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation, which has been an innovator in television programming and entertainment for 28 years. Today, Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world’s most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands.

Building on Rainbow Media Holdings LLC’s history of original programming innovation, VOOM HD Networks was developed by Rainbow to meet the growing worldwide demand for quality high-definition programming. VOOM HD Networks comprise the world’s largest suite of high-definition channels for distribution through satellite and cable operators. Produced exclusively in true high-definition and 5.1 Dolby® digital surround sound, Rush HD delivers life on the edge with the adrenaline junkies of adventure sports.

The partnership of Primal Quest and Rush HD will deliver the excitement and intensity of the sport of adventure racing to a new audience later this year. 

There has been a lot of discussion regarding the decision by the PQ Management Team to allow the use of GPS devices in this year’s race. The decision was not one that was made lightly or without careful consideration. The PQ Staff understand that navigation is an integral part of what puts “adventure” into the race. But above all else, the safety and security of competitors remains paramount at all times.

When the 2008 course was designed, it was expected there would be much less snow in the area at the time of the race.  These projections were based on historical data. However, record snowfall over the past two weeks has left 4 - 10 ten feet of snow covering many of the higher elevation areas on the course. The excessive snowfall has increased avalanche and snow slide hazards in the remote wilderness, causing serious concern for teams who may veer off-course or who may not recognize these dangerous areas. Considering that all but approximately 10 miles of this year’s course is in the deep back-country, there is a lot of potentially treacherous ground to cover. 

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