Former Champions Battle at Wilderness Traverse 2017

Press Release / 13.10.2017

The largest and deepest field in Wilderness Traverse history tackled a rugged race course near Parry Sound, Ontario on September 30 and October 1. For the past eight years, veteran event director and elite adventure racer Bob Miller has sent racers on a 150 km journey with challenging wilderness navigation and numerous route choices - the premier overnight adventure race in Canada.

WT is open to Coed or Open teams of three or four but in accordance with expedition racing tradition, the coveted Bob The Beaver trophy is awarded to the top four-member Premier Coed team

This year saw the return of three past trophy winners that have raced in various configurations. Team Snowpants and captain Benoit Letourneau owned Bob The Beaver for four years from 2011-2014. Blackbird’s Pete Cameron led his team to victory in 2010 and 2015. The young Warriors were the Top Rookie Team in 2015 and took the win in 2016. Their quick progression from their first overnight race to the top of the podium was chronicled in the feature film “Traversing Wild”. In addition, The Laug Train included two long time winners of the Male category who were competing on a Premier Coed team for the first time.

This year’s race started and finished on the beach at Grand Tappattoo Resort on Otter Lake. Fifty teams sprinted from the start line into the forest for a short preliminary trek. Veteran team Snowpants was the first to return with six rival teams hot on their heels.

Racers biked 25 km east toward more remote territory, mostly following the Seguin Park-to-Park Trail, an abandoned rail line surrounded by forests, lakes and wetlands. Racers pedalled through rocks, sand, mud and the occasional flooded beaver pond. Snowpants opened up a 10-minute gap over the Warriors, who led a tight chase pack of ten teams.

Next up was a 20 km trek through classic Canadian Shield terrain that was largely featureless and speckled with wetlands, beaver dams, lakes and forests. There were just two checkpoints, one on an island that could only be reached by swimming.

Snowpants finished the trek first but hadn’t increased their 10-minute lead over the Warriors and Blackbird. The Laug Train moved decisively into 4th place as the rest of the chase pack began to spread out. All fifty teams completed the trek before darkness, chilly temperatures and sleepmonsters started to take their toll on the field.

The next leg featured 79km of rough backcountry riding over rocks, sand, tangled roots, flooded areas and rickety bridges with occasional reprieves on gravel roads and a maze of snowmobile trails near the end.

Snowpants rode hard and arrived at Pete’s Place Access Point 24 minutes ahead of Blackbird. The Warriors and The Laug Train arrived together a few minutes later. The Warriors had to serve a one-hour penalty for losing their SPORTident timing card so The Laug Train began paddling at sunset in third place.

The Massasauga Provincial Park is a backcountry park where all campsites are only accessible by water. Teams needed to navigate the maze of islands, bays, channels and lakes in the dark to locate two checkpoints.

Some racers used stars to navigate at first but as the night went on, the cold air and warm lake temperature combined to produce thick fog with zero visibility. Many teams got disoriented, some got caught in dead-end channels, several stopped to wait for daybreak and a few returned to the start of the paddle.

To complete the full course, teams had to leave their canoes at a checkpoint and complete a challenging 3-5 hour night trek. Snowpants returned to their canoes first but The Laug Train and Blackbird gained time, finishing together just 13 minutes later and launching their canoes into the fog in hot pursuit. The Warriors hit the water an hour later in fourth. It was a dramatic finish for dot watchers as both Blackbird and the Warriors got disoriented in the fog, while Snowpants flew across the water and The Laug Train navigated the tricky channels accurately.

As a bonfire roared on the beach, Snowpants paddled ashore to claim victory for an unprecedented fifth time. Benoit Letourneau, Liza Pye, Alex Provost and James Galipeau led the race from start to finish. The Laug Train arrived 40 minutes later after an impressive climb through the field. But the drama wasn’t over, as they arrived without their two mandatory canoe safety kits and incurred a 2-hour penalty.

Blackbird arrived an hour later in second place and all eyes were on the tracking map as the Warriors paddled in. They arrived exactly 2 hours after The Laug Train and, after reviewing electronic timing details, the teams were awarded joint third place.

Although the focus was on the Premier Coed podium, the racing in other categories was equally exciting. In an event with a 60% finish rate on full and short courses, both Female teams recorded official finishes. The Speed Bunnies took the win and placed midpack overall.

Top teams in the Open Male category became stronger as the race went on. Eventual winners, Team Adrenaline Day Rush, charged through the final paddle/trek section and passed four top teams to finish third overall. The second Male team, Kinetic Konnection, was last to finish the opening trek but pushed their way up to an eighth place finish.

A Rookie Team award is presented each year to the top team consisting entirely of racers who have never finished a 24-hour race. Six rookie teams entered the race and Team Uphill Both Ways received the award.

Strategy discussions and trash talk have already begun for 2018!

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