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| Jared and David with Monkeyface in the background |
So I took a weekend off skiing to participate in Bend Racing's Spring Sting eight hour adventure race. In some sick, twisted sort of way, I don't regret it. How could I? Spending a total of 7.5 hours playing on the natural jungle gym known as Smith Rock is a damn fine way to spend a Sunday in April.
Bend Racing is a small outfit out of Bend, Or that puts on all sorts of races. This weekend's eight hour "sprint" race was billed as a "springtime primer" for upcoming summer season. A couple things I learned about Bend Racing's descriptions: 1) "springtime primer" = cold, wet, and long; 2) "a bit of water" = being partially submerged for 2+ hours; and 3) "fun" = the other thing.
So I guess, first things first, you might be wondering "what is an adventure race?" So far, I've done two in my life, so I call can do is describe my experience. That's because you know almost nothing about the race until you're at the start line...and every race is different. All you really know before hand is what gear you will require to complete the course. Unlike triathlons and most other endurance events, Adventures races are described in terms of time, not distance. You don't know how far you will have to run, bike, swim/raft/canoe/tube before hand. Ultimately, the racecourse itself is up to you and your team. At the beginning of most races, you will be provided a map with identified checkpoints. It will be your job to find the most efficient route between the checkpoints. In addition, most races have portions of the race that require the use of bikes and watercraft. Like I said, everyrace is different, but here's a little more about the 2014 Spring Sting:
A few months back, my good friend and regular ski partner David asked if I wanted to do this adventure race with him. I had done one before, and I had some navigation experience, so I told him I would join. A little while later, our buddy Jared joined us, completing our team. What we knew going into the race was that we would require a compass, mountain bikes, trail shoes, and a "water vehicle." That was about it. While the organizers recommended pack rafts, we thought inner tubes would be just as good...but more on that later.
The race started out in the parking lot at Smith at around 9am. The parking lot would serve as the start/finish line, and the transition area. The air was brisk, but the sun began to shine just as the race began. The first section of course involved finding three checkpoints within a short distance of the lot, and was mostly used to space out the teams. We were one of the slower teams to complete the three checkpoints, and we knew right away it was going to be a long day.
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| A typical "checkpoint" |
After finding the first three checkpoints, we returned to the transition area. The skies were clear and the sun was shining as we debated what leg of the race we would pursue next. Hoping the weather would continue to warm throughout the day, we opted to do the mountain bike first and leave the trek/river section for the afternoon. Jared, our mountain biking expert, charged ahead down the first steep and very technical section of trail, David and I opted to walk our bikes. This would be only the beginning of our long bike-assisted hike.
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| David pursuing a checkpoint on the mountain bike section |
We quickly found the first checkpoint and continue up the hill toward where we thought the second checkpoint was. Turns out, we passed it--our first navigational error of the day. Eventually we found the second checkpoint and we moved on toward checkpoint three. Checkpoint 3 was up at the top of an obviously long, but deceptively steep hill. The surface was loose rock that provided terrible traction. While Jared continued to crush the bike, David and I pushed our bikes up most of hill. When we reached the top, we made our second navigational error of the day. Not believing the single track that dropped steeply off the trail junction was the route to checkpoint 4, we instead dropped down an access road. We flew down the road, quickly putting distance between us and the junction. Only a few minutes later, we were hundred of feet below the junction...and off our desired course. We had to turn around and hike our bikes back up to the junction, adding half an hour to our time. We finally got back on course, and began descending (again). The trail was steep, with many, many switchbacks. We slowly picked our way down grabbing checkpoints as we went. Despite my novice biking skills the Smith trails were incredible, with even more spectacular views. Our spirits were high when we returned to the transition area.
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| Down the Hobbit Hole |
However, our spirits changed as quickly as the weather. By the time we left the transition area, armed with life jackets, inner tubes, and hand paddles, the skies were grey, and a cold northwest wind was blowing through the park. We worked our way down the "hobbit hole"--a narrow crack in a cliff with a few metal staples and a creaking latter to assist descent--and quickly found ourselves at the river. It took us nearly half an hour to blow up our inner tubes with the small hand pumps we had brought. However, eventually our tubes were inflated, and we set off down the river.
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| Hypothermia and Misery on Misery Ridge |
The water was about as damn refreshing as any water I have ever felt. I brought with me a semidry top, which I was wearing over a few layers of nylon. David and Jared just had hardshell jackets. We were all partially submerged despite our flotation devices. We struggled to move down stream as quickly as we could. However despite the healthy flow of the Crooked River, it became clear that we were in for a long, cold section. We found the checkpoints, however, after nearly two hours on the river, Jared was hypothermic. David and I weren't far behind. Jared opted to hike the left side of the river in order to warm up. David and I continued floating.
After close to two and a half hours, we finally reached the end of the water section. The entire team was hypothermic as we exited the river. We fumbled with numb hands to deflate our rafts, change clothes, and consume as many calories as we could. Our words were noticeable slurred as we tried to communicate about our plan. We shared the takeout with a few teams that had pack rafts. It was clear at that point that our choice in water craft was the "fun" option (remember what I said about "fun"?) and not the efficient or safe option. Once we had dried out a little, we continued on along the course. By that point we were nearly six hours into the course.
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| Jared the Knife's Edge Ridge, finding Checkpoint 8 |
We climbed the steep trail below Monkey Face, doing our best to maintain footing with numb feet. Eventually we reached the top of the ridge. The cold NW wind continued to blow as we searched for the last three checkpoints. If there is one word that could describe all three of the last checkpoints, it would be "exposure." Each of the three were set out on the edge of cliffs, with hundreds of feet of air hanging only a few inches away.
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| Jared finding the final checkpoint |
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| Jared exposed in Smith Rock |
To conclude this little trip report, I'll offer a few things I learned from this race: First, if you're doing a Bend Racing event, and the recommend a pack raft, barter, buy or steal a pack raft. Or bring a beach raft and plenty of neoprene. One way or another, stay out of the water, or prepare to be in the water for a long time. Next, have a pump that will quickly pump up your vessel of choice so you don't waste precious time on the river bank. Finally, make sure that the whole group communicates about navigational decisions. We easily could have shaved 45 minutes off our time if we had communicated a little better about where we were going before started off. The last thing is, go do an adventure race.
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| The team, the team the team |
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