Tthe 5th edition of Primal Quest is coming to Montana in 2008. Here’s what some of the top AR news sites are saying about the announcement:

From Jackie Windh on Sleepmonsters:

The long-awaited announcement has finally been made: Primal Quest 2008 will take place in “Big Sky Country” – the state of Montana. PQ’s CEO Don Mann says that his management and operations teams are excited about the venue, and he offers these details…

Read Full Entry on Sleepmonsters

From Mike Bitton on Checkpoint Zero:

After months of speculation by adventure racers worldwide, Primal Quest has announced that Montana, the “Big Sky” state, will host the 2008 edition of the world’s toughest endurance competition. Montana has no shortage of locations for traditional PQ disciplines like trekking, trail running and orienteering. Need a water section? Lakes for paddling, and whitewater rivers for rafting or swimming, race out of every canyon. Towering peaks are everywhere, which should make for spectacular ropes sections.

Read Full Entry on Checkpoint Zero

From Kraig Becker on The Adventure Blog:

Personally, I have to say that I think Montana is a great choice for the 2008 Primal Quest. It has some of the most mountainous, remote regions anywhere in the United States, and it’s a place that a lot of people don’t know anything about. The course has the potential to be far and away the most challenge PQ ever put together, and with 100,000 feet of vertical gain (or is that pain?) the teams will certainly have their work cut out for them. The event is now 7 months away, and the teams have been put on notice. Run hills. Lots and lots of hills. And when you’re tired and exhausted from running hills, run some more. Something tells me you’re going to need every bit of that training! Welcome to Big Sky Country!

Read Full Entry on The Adventure Blog

Are you blogging about Primal Quest? Excited about the race coming to Montana? Let us know by leaving a comment!

We recently announced the next Primal Quest would be held in Montana, but did you know we are already well into planning for 2009 and beyond?

Several countries are in the running for future Primal Quest competitions, and we are always looking for other ideas and leads. If you would like to see Primal Quest come to a country where you have connections, contact Director Don Mann.

Today Primal Quest released its second official Competitor Newsletter, and with it, the location of the 2008 race.

The full newsletter is now available on the Team Resources section of the website and contains lots of exciting details and updates.

The following is a letter from Don Mann announcing Primal Quest Montana…

Dear Adventurers,

It is my honor and great pleasure to welcome you to Primal Quest Montana, the “World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition.” In less than 7 months you will gather at the starting line with many of the world’s finest adventure racers and set out to compete in an epic adventure. On behalf of the entire Primal Quest Management and Operations Team I want to express just how excited we are for your team to join us in the mountains of The Big Sky State.

Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona were also in contention to host Primal Quest in 2008. While any of these states could have produced spectacular races, our Montana course, in my opinion, is second to none. I can promise that you will love this course and will never forget it!

Continue reading ‘Montana Selected for 5th Edition of Primal Quest!’

Introducing a New Primal Quest Partner Level, “The Primal Quest Prize and Swag Partner.”

Events such as ours would not exist without the support of generous contributions from sponsors. If you would like to donate prizes and/or swag for our 2008 event, please complete the form (PDF) located on the Sponsorship page of our site!

Thank you!
Sherry Simpson
Sponsor Director

Stockings need stuffing?
Still making your list and checking it twice?

The “Shop PQ” store on the Primal Quest site has many ideas for all good boys and girls. You’ll find a variety of gift ideas including:

• The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing
• Primal Quest 2006 DVDs
• PQ embroidered shirts by RailRider
• PQ hats from Headsweats
• as well as groovy stickers and tattoos.

Orders from the PQ store will be shipped immediately via first class mail.

Other great ideas for gifts come from PQ 08 Sponsor Partners including:

SportRaxx, Active.com, 0Bounds.com, TechSox, MyTopo.com, Timonda, The A List, Numa, AR Gear, Axis Gear, Boulder Performance Network, Headsweats, Restop, SEAL Training Adventures, Urban Adventure Racing, Zanfel, SweatVac, USARA, USFrogMann.com, and The Coastal Challenge.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Your wait will soon be over!  In less than two weeks time, and with the publication of the second newsletter, Primal Quest will announce the location of the 2008 race site.  Stay tuned to this website for further details.

Once you’ve got your team together it is never too early to start training. Check out this literally hair raising report from Team #40 CWC Stadium Dogs. Sounds like they had quite the adventure!

CWC Stadium Dogs - Training Day Report
Grotto Mountain scramble, November 10, 2007
Story by Mike Melnick, with Joey Roa and Marlene Wiig

100,000+ 95,000 feet of elevation at PQ2008 means we need to train for the gain, right…so let’s get started!

Grotto Mountain’s 4,000 punishing vertical feet sits just north of Canmore in Canada’s beautiful Rocky Mountains and we had 4.5 hours in which to complete this training session and still make it to that evening’s martini party. A tough mission to be sure – the scrambles book lists it as a 5-8 hour round trip in good weather. The mountain looked remarkably devoid of snow when we parked at the Alpine clubhouse and got ready for what the book described it as a straightforward hike, no exposure, little navigation, just physically challenging. It was going to be a simple, uneventful workout and true to case, we almost flew up the mountain. We kept up a pace of over 2000 feet per hour up to the ridge and the final 200 or 300 feet of elevation.

Near the top, I snapped a picture of Joey with the western sky behind him. I would look at the picture later and see the storm that moved in, but at that moment I was blissfully unaware that our simple hike would soon become a survival exercise. About 15 minutes from the summit, the snow eased in. Initially, just a little snow and some reduced visibility, so no big deal, right? Suddenly - Zap! Ouch! I had never felt that before, but once my hair stood up I realized I was being struck by lightning! In a snowstorm! I ran a few feet down the sketchy trail, twisting my ankle twice as I tried to get Joey to crouch down. I didn’t want to get zapped again and we were in a terrible spot.

Continue reading ‘Team #40 CWC Stadium Dogs: Training Day Report’