Registration for the August 2009 Primal Quest Badlands Expedition Adventure Race will open on November 10, 2008 at 12:00 noon EST.  Go to the Registration Page to find more information, including costs, payment schedule, and much more.

Primal Quest Badlands will be a more affordable experience for teams and their sponsors when compared to Primal Quest Montana. The entry fee has been decreased by $1000 over the 2008 race, and because this is an unsupported event, there will be no need to rent U-Hauls or stock RV’s for support crews. Furthermore, the only required skill check will take place on-site prior to the race, eliminating the need for teams to take part in costly skill assessments prior to their arrival in South Dakota. 

Stay tuned for more information!

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

Badlands are defined, geologically speaking, as a place where the arid terrain has seen extensive erosion, which has led to the creation of canyons, ravines, gullies, and other unique geological features. Badlands can be found all over the planet, but the most well known, and iconic, of these landscapes can be found in South Dakota.

The Badlands National Park, located in Southwest South Dakota, is a 244,000-acre preserve, while the Badlands Wilderness Area is another 64,144 acres dedicated to protecting these amazing landscapes, which combine sharply eroded buttes and towering spires, with wide-open grasslands.

Known for it’s unpredictable and widely varying weather, temperatures in the Badlands range from 110+ degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, to well below zero in the winter.  Violent thunderstorms often break up the hot and dry spells during the summer months, while the winter is punctuated with long cold snaps with occasional snow. Constant, often extremely high, winds are a trademark of the area as well.

The same process of erosion that created the Badlands has made it a treasure trove for geologists and paleontologists alike. Layers of stratification have been laid bare, revealing the secrets of the Earth, as well as the fossils of dinosaurs that roamed the region more than 30 million years ago.

Home to herds of bison, bighorn sheep, antelope, and the black-footed ferret, the Badlands see more than a million visitors each year. To learn more about Badlands National Park and Wilderness Area, go to the official website found here.

Photo courtesy of TravelSD.com

The Black Hills of South Dakota are located in the western portion of the state and extend south into Wyoming. The small, independent mountain range is bit of a geological oddity rising up from the grasslands of the Great Plains, garnering their name form the thick pine trees that inhabit their slopes.

Reaching heights over 7000 feet, the Black Hills are the tallest mountains east of the Rockies. The famous jagged profile of the peaks that make up the range offer great rock climbing opportunities, and more than 75 hiking trails, spread out over 450 miles, provide some of the best hiking and backpacking anywhere in the U.S.

Native American tribes have a long history in the Black Hills, but the area first came to prominence in U.S. history when the Custer Expedition first discovered gold there back in 1874. Over the next few years, many treasure hunters and settlers moved to the region hoping to make their fortune, and that influx of population gave rise to the quintessential old west town of Deadwood, home to Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

Perhaps the most well known image from the Black Hills is that of Mount Rushmore. That monument was completed in 1941, and become one of the most iconic images representing America. The sculpted faces of four of the greatest presidents to ever hold office are each more than 60 feet tall. The giant sculpture has become a symbol of freedom and democracy, and more than 3 million people flock to memorial each year.

To learn more about the Black Hills visit BlackHillsBadlands.com.

Photo courtesy of TravelSD.com

In their annual “50 Great Places to Live and Play” issue, National Geographic Adventure has selected the “50 next great adventure towns”, and making the list is Rapid City, South Dakota.

The list was put together to highlight great places to “live and play” not only now, but for the future. As Adventure says, these places not only “have the action, they’ve got a plan.” Meaning that to go along with all their great outdoor activities, these progressive towns are organized moving forward as well.

Rapid City, the second largest city in South Dakota, has a population of 67,000 and is known as the “Gateway to the Black Hills”. The town has a rich history, dating back to the 1870’s, when the Black Hills gold rush brought an influx of people to the area. Today, it’s the adventure capital of South Dakota, offering amazing mountain biking, backpacking, camping, rock climbing and more.

To learn more about Rapid City, go to VisitRapidCity.com.

Primal Quest has a well deserved reputation for being the most grueling adventure race on the planet. It’s not known as the “Super Bowl of Adventure Racing” and the “Worlds Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition” for nothing.

Long treks, epic mountain biking, and grueling paddling have been the hallmarks of previous races. Teams have had their physical and mental skills put to the test time and time again. But if there is one thing we’ve learned from past races, it’s that teams would like to see navigation play a bigger role.

Well, the racers asked, and we listened. Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT will test your navigational skills like never before. From the time the race begins on August 15th until they cross the finish line 600 miles later, good navigation will benefit all the teams, both on foot and on their bikes. Efficient navigators will reward their teams, finding the best routes through the rocky cliffs of the Black Hills and the twisting canyons of the Badlands.

So sharpen up those navigational skills, pack your compass, and this year, leave the GPS at home.

Photo by Will Ramos

The popular television show Man vs. Wild, which airs on the Discovery Channel, recently visited South Dakota, where host Bear Grylls got a first hand look at the incredible wilderness, including the Black Hills and Badlands, that will host Primal Quest 2009.

Man vs. Wild has garnered a cult following with the weekly premise of taking the charismatic Grylls and dropping him into some inhospitable backcountry. He then spends the next hour of the program demonstrating ways to survive in that environment. Highlights of this episode include Bear dealing with the notoriously unpredictable weather in the Black HIll, running with a herd of bison, and eating rattlesnake.

The South Dakota episode is set to be re-broadcast on Monday, Oct. 6 at 10 PM ET/PT.  Tune in to get a glimpse at what’s in store for the teams competing in Primal Quest Badlands.