Wilderness ARC Update

Wilderness ARC Update: A 5-day expedition-style Adventure Race in the Scottish Highlands in August. Previous updates can be found on the race website via >event details >news. AR Survey ACE Races and SleepMonsters have jointly created a unique AR survey designed to give direction for the future development of adventure racing in the UK. We need to get as many people as possible to complete this survey in order to get a representative view. If you haven?t already done it and you are based in the UK, please log onto www.sleepmonsters.co.uk and do the survey today! It should take only 10 minutes and there are prizes available too.WARC Entries All teams competing in this year?s Wilderness ARC should have submitted their entry before midnight on Friday. Although we will continue to accept entries after this date, an additional charge will be applied to all entries not fully paid by 2359 GMT on 28 April 2006. The final countdown begins Just a month to go and on Tuesday next week, the website www.wildernessarc.com will be updated to include final details of the course composition, the programme for 27-28th May, final kit list, race rules and a list of teams entered. We will then start to send out regular competitor updates to all team members, separate from this news update. The first competitor update will contain information about kit boxes that we can now hire or sell to competitors. Course update Gary has persevered with his reconnaissance through the extended winter season. Although there will be snow on the ground at high altitude and in the quarries, we expect the temperatures to be warm enough for this not to present a problem. No crampons or ice axes will be on the kit list! However, the snow will add massive scenic value and perhaps even a few bum slides will present themselves for some light relief! Lochaber looks really stunning at this time of year with snow on many of the mountain tops and alpine flowers in the valleys. The gorse is flowering and there are also spectacular forestry variations from majestic Caledonian pines, to bizarre bonsai-like Atlantic oakwoods. We suggest a light-weight camera is a must because there will be views and memories to cherish for many years.   To whet your appetite, we have put together some images exclusively for readers of this news update (there is no link from the main website). Click here: http://www.aceraces.co.uk/wildernessarc/exclusivepictures.htm Swim The swim this year will be a full 1000m with potential for a rest part way through. Like last year, only two people in each team will be required to swim. Kayak We can confirm that all the kayaking is on open flat water and there are some delightful beaches to land on.Gorge activities Last year?s exploits in the gorge were legendary? and we can confirm that there is just as much fun to be had this year ? expect total emersion and awesome adrenalin rushes. Bike There are long, remote and exposed sections on this discipline. Good tread on your tyres will be very helpful. Feet So far, it has been drier this year than usual, so hopefully the trekking will be easier on the feet? although of course we know that the Highlands are never totally dry! There is one particularly isolated mountain on the route from which Gary excitedly phoned me to announce that he could see every single Hebridean Island off the west coast! Raiders of the Wilderness ARC We are delighted to launch the Raiders of the Wilderness ARC event, targeted primarily at adventure sports enthusiasts in the local community. This will run alongside the prologue on Saturday evening (27th). There will also be live bands and a street party in Fort William to celebrate both the Wilderness ARC and the MTB World Cup ? plenty of entertainment for competitors, friends and families. More information will be available on the Wilderness ARC website next week. www.wildernessarc.com ———————————————————————– If you have any news worth reporting please contact Matt – matt@planetfear.com / 0114 2969114 ———————————————————————–

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