Race to the River (CP 7 - Sage Creek)

The lead teams have already reached Checkpoint 7 where the Dark Zone was enforced at nightfall, so they are getting some mandatory rest until first light before they can paddle the inflatable kayaks ("Duckies") down the river.

Team Shasta / Core Concepts is probably about halfway through the 70 miles of trekking to reach the river as they should be nearing Checkpoint 6 - Cinnamon Mountain. From there it's still another 45 miles to "reach the beach."

I heard from Shan who is heading up the support crew for Team Shasta. He said that they reached the TA after about 2.5 hours to the top of Lone Peak and back. Not too shabby. Shan will be sending me some more pictures soon as well.

It looks like they have vascillated between #15-20 for most of the day and right now they may be traveling with Dave Russell's team Oceanic Interactive since they checked in at CP 5 - West Fork within 10 minutes of each other. (Dave, Scott & Chad raced together in PQ '06 - Moab.)

Pre-Race Photos

Final Pre-race Report directly from Team Shasta

Scott called this a.m. to report that Team Shasta/Core Concepts is all set to begin the race. After all the mandatory pre-race meetings, teams spent the rest of the evening familiarizing themselves as much as possible with the course maps they received.

He said that this course is going to have them trekking the majority of the time - here's the overall breakdown: 198 miles on foot, 205 miles of mountain biking, 10 miles of orienteering, 65 miles of paddling on the Yellowstone River, 9 miles of riverboarding and 15 miles rafting in 2-person inflatable "Duckies" for a grand total of 515 miles of expedition adventure racing fun!

Right out of the gate, they will head up to the summit of Lone Peak (which Scott equated to climbing from the Palmer chair lift at Timberline Ski Resort to the top of Mt. Hood - he & I did that in May!). Then the teams will have a 30-mile trek down the river, where they will first raft in the Duckies and then riverboard the infamous House Rock Class IV rapids. Following the water section, they will be trekking again. Scott doesn't expect them to be doing any biking until Day 3 since the first mountain bike leg isn't until Checkpoint (CP) 12.

Scott said he hoped they would be in the Duckies tomorrow morning, and he mentioned that the race directors are enforcing strict dark zones on every water section (or "leg") for safety. That means if the teams don't reach the water by a certain cut-off time each night, then those teams will be forced to overnight on shore and wait for daylight to begin that river leg.

Pre-Race Pics

Check-in successful

After a slight flight delay in arriving to Montana, Scott & Shan made it to Big Sky Resort on Sat. a.m., the HQ for this year's Primal Quest race. Throughout Sat & Sun, all 82 teams were subjected to gear checks and skills tests. Each team was also issued a SPOT device, which will be used to track its whereabouts throughout the race for safety and for our entertainment.

Racers had to don their climbing gear and demonstrate their proficiency by ascending to the top of a ski resort chair lift. Scott said that Team Shasta received special kudos for their climbing gear set-up, which I told him should be expected given his mountaineering experience!

Teams also had to prove their water skills by righting a tipped kayak in a lake and passing hypothermia tests since the water temperatures are expected to be frigid, given all the late snow in the mountains this year.

The Pre-Race Meeting for all teams was held on Sunday where teams received course maps and a briefing from course directors on rules and safety. Race start begins Monday at 10am MT.

Primal Quest '08 - Montana

Countdown to PQ Montana 2008 (June 23 - July 2):
2 days, 19 hours, 18 minutes, 58 seconds



Extended Weather Forecast - Big Sky Meadow Village, MT
Weather Warnings
Today - Jun 20: T-storms / Hi: 71° Lo: 42°
Day: Slight chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 71F, humidity 20%. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Night: Mostly cloudy skies. Low 42F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow - Jun 21: AM Thunderstorms / Hi: 78° Lo: 42°
Day: Slight chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 78F, humidity 15%. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.
Night: Cloudy skies. Low 42F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Sunday, Jun 22: T-storms / Hi: 75° Lo: 37°
Slight chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 75F and low 37F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.


Monday, Jun 23: T-storms / Hi: 71° Lo: 40°
Slight chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 71F and low 40F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.


Tuesday, Jun 24: T-storms / Hi: 75° Lo: 42°
Slight chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 75F and low 42F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday, Jun 25: T-storms / Hi: 75° Lo: 40°
Slight chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 75F and low 40F.


Thursday, Jun 26: T-storms / Hi: 72° Lo: 44°
Chance of thunder with light rain showers. High 72F and low 44F.


Friday, Jun 27: Cloudy / PM Sun / Hi: 80° Lo: 54°
Cloudy skies. High 80F and low 54F.


Saturday, Jun 28: Fair / Hi: 86° Lo: 58°
Mostly clear skies. High 86F and low 58F.

Sunday, Jun 29: Fair / Hi: 91° Lo: 58°
Mostly clear skies. High 91F and low 58F.

Denali Summit

Scott and Aaron atop Mt. McKinley
May 16, 2007
20,320 feet
(highest point in North America)

For more photos, go to:
http://www.mountainwaz.shutterfly.com