An Action Packed Start In Åre
Press Release / 13.07.2019
The race will kick off near the top of the Åre Skutan mountain – a famous skiing resort overlooking the village of Åre. To get to the top, our competitors will take the SkiStar cable car so while getting to the start line they will have a chance to enjoy spectacular valley vistas. The ride is very comfortable and it only takes 10 minutes – in complete contrast to their later run on foot. This first stage might be only 8km long but the downhill is brutal – 1100 meters of vertical descent!
Besides the downhill itself, there are two major challenges ahead of them before they come to the first transition that is located in the race hotel Holiday Club Åre. Firstly, they will have to conquer a 60m rappel down a vertical rock face on the side of the mountain. Later on, one of the team members will have a quick break off their feet as they will enjoy a 350 meter zip line ride. So don’t be surprised when our live-tracking will show competitors moving in speeds around 70km/h because that is how fast the zip line gets!
The last section of the stage is a short city orienteering that will take our athletes through some of the coolest locations inside the Åre village. This town is famous for its low-key atmosphere, incredible nature and last but not least it has Sweden’s largest ski-resort. So it is not a surprise that Åre has become a popular summer destination as well. The urban checkpoints are in very busy areas so there will be plenty of fans cheering along the way. For example, one of the checkpoints is located in a local ICA supermarket!
Before changing to mountain biking, teams will have two last rope sections to conquer right in the lobby of the race hotel Holiday Club Åre. One team member will traverse on a rope across the entire hotel lobby while punching the last checkpoint of this stage mid-air! In the meantime, the rest of the team will rappel down from the hotel’s lobby balcony. All this will be happening to the rhythm of a pumping music from the Red Bull Ten event car parked in the middle of the Holiday Club Åre lobby. This will truly be an incredible spectacle!