Yeti Adventure Challenge Silkeborg
The Challenge Race Begins
Rob Howard / 02.09.2017
While the Masters teams were continuing to make their way back towards Silkeborg on the long course the two shorter races in the programme were preparing to start in the square outside the Radisson Blu Hotel. Overnight the weather had been fine, though chilly, and it was a sunny Saturday morning as the Challenge course teams registered and prepared for their race.
This course is expected to last from 7 to 12 hours and is for teams of 3. Having placed their bikes in racks in the square the teams lined up to start by the small town harbour where the famous paddle steamer docks, but at this stage they had no maps for the day – they had to earn the first of those with some urban orienteering and were soon running around town to track them down and note the number on each.
As with the first challenge on the Masters course last night the aim was to collect and add up all the numbers. Only when the correct answer was whispered to a marshal (so no other teams could hear) would the teams be given their map for the next stage. You have to be good at maps and maths for this race!
Most of the CP’s were easy enough to get but there were two in the fast moving water of the sluice between the river and lake. The one in the middle was particularly tricky to reach, some swam, some linked arms and most waded unsteady through the fast flowing water to get to it.
The second stage of course is a 2 hour MTB Orienteering course in the forests around the town, completing a circuit of Silkeborg Lake, then come a canoe and a bike n’Run stage where the checkpoints are in old underground WWII bunkers. There is another surprise here as teams will be given a candle and some matches to help them find the CP in the darkness!
Before getting back to the finish the remaining challenges are a swimming obstacle course in the harbour and a rope crossing of the river, linked by more running and mountain biking. There is also a rappel in the main square there the race began.
All in all, it’s an action packed day for the 50 teams taking part and on some of the challenges they will later be joined by the ‘Fighter’ class, a 4 to 8 hour introductory race with much less navigation, based around the town itself.
This starts at 11am, at which time all of the 3 races will be in progress and it’s also around this time the first Masters team is expected to finish. Team Yeti have lead all the way and are now on the final paddle into Silkeborg, so it looks like they will finish some 4 hours ahead of the expected finish time!
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