Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race 2010
The Turba Test - Ready to Race in Patagonia
Rob Howard / 08.02.2010
As yet the full details of the course, which will run non-stop for 8 days, have not yet been revealed but the pre-race gossip is that there will be 9 stages to cover the distance of 600km, and this will include 220km of trekking. (Ed. The winners average 2km per hour while trekking last year …)
The route this year promises to provide competitors with one of the toughest tests in the race’s history – with the course travelling almost the length of Chilean Tierra del Fuego before heading south beyond the world’s most southerly community on the Isla Navarino.
A combination of dusty roads running through expansive open grasslands will provide a test of endurance on the mountain bikes and the rough waters of the Beagle Channel will challenge even the most professional kayaker – but it is the trekking sections through unpredictable peat bog that could be crucial.
Trekking is historically the most challenging – and spectacular – parts of the course and this year will be no different as the route travels past some of the best peaks in the notorious Darwin Range.
In a crucial part of the race planning stage, the organizers spent the Christmas period in the heart of the Chilean mountains, finalizing a trek that will test the competitors to the limit in the latter part of the competition.
Race Founder and Director Stjepan Pavicic, who has explored the Patagonian mountains for more than 20 years, explained: “The trekking in Chilean Patagonia is phenomenal but it is extremely wild. There are plenty of routes to enjoy for tourists, but where we go there’s nothing - just an extreme wild land of bush, bog, forest and mountains.
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