The southernmost adventure race on the planet continued to build on its reputation for being one of the longest, hardest, most isolated expedition races in existence. This year teams tackled Tierra del Fuego, the far-flung Darwin Mountains and the famed Beagle Channel. It was a race filled with wild weather, untouched wilderness, animal encounters and endless treks. In a race as challenging as this, only the strongest teams could rise to the challenge.

Report and all photos Copyright © 2008 Nathan Ward

The winds whip across southern Chile with icy fingers, coming straight off the cold waters that surround Antarctica and flowing over the mythical mountain ranges, deep ocean sounds and forests of Patagonia. This is the home of the Patagonia Expedition Race, one of the most remote and challenging races in the world. It lives up to its name, feeling more like a wilderness expedition than simply an adventure race.

Eleven international teams tackled the course this year and the unrelenting wilderness crushed all but the strongest, most experienced teams. Those that survived to complete the course experienced some of the most incredible terrain on the planet - unexplored valleys, high mountain passes, dense forests, open scrublands and wild oceans.

This may not be a race for mere mortals. Are you tough enough to try it? Here is the scoop on how it all went down this year in southern Patagonia.

Southern Patagonian Chile - Punta Arenas

The 2008 race started in the quaint downtown streets of Punta Arenas, the capital of the Magallanes Region and biggest town in southern Chile. As the starter's gun sounded, 11 teams pushed pedals and biked toward the sea - teams included:

Authentic-Nutrition.com France/USA
Canarias-Adalucia Spiuk Tenerife Spain
UnTamed Adventure USA
Team Touareg Turk Turkey
Quasar Contra Master Brazil
Medilast Sport Lleida Spain/Chile
Team Littleton Bike and Fitness USA/Canada
Club Patagonia.com Argentina
Montagne Team Argentina
Punta Arenas Chile
Raid 74.org-Sky Airline France

After a short ferry shuttle to the famed island of Tierra del Fuego (TDF), the gates dropped and the race was on. The first challenge was 78 miles (126 KM) of rolling dirt roads, mountain biking through TDF past gauchos on horses, herds of guanacos and historic estancias. In the past, PER courses have included bike legs where the infamous Patagonian winds have turned the riding into headwind induced bouts of suffering. Luckily, this year the winds held off and it was smooth sailing under mostly sunny skies.

Even with the weather cooperating, teams found the competition stiff and 3 hours soon divided the first and last teams on the initial leg. At CP1, the Medilast Sport Lleida team, a mix of Spanish and Brazilian racers, came in first and quickly headed into the first night trek, a short 11 mile (18 KM) wilderness walk.

Race organizers said this was just an "easy trekking section" but the fun had already begun. The route was laced with mgote, clumps of stiff Patagonian grass that twists ankles at will. Maybe it was the distraction of the grass, but one team got totally turned around in the dark and trekked the wrong way just before the next CP, wandering around until dawn saved them.

Running from Big Cats in the Night

Another team, Littleton Bike and Fitness from North America, reported running into a puma, the huge cats that are common on mainland Patagonia, but supposedly have never made it to TDF. They heaved logs at the big cat and hiked a big circle away to get out of its territory.

Thick with mud from recent rains, the next mountain bike section was dirty but straightforward, leading the teams into the longest trekking section of the race - 68 miles (110 km) of trackless wilderness. At this point, the Spanish-Brazilian team still led the race, fueled in part by the spirit of a sexy Chilean reality TV star who was constantly trailed by enthralled South American media.

All the teams hiked into the wilds here, but only 5 teams came out the other side. It's not a surprise really, the terrain is extremely tough - deep bogs, river crossings, forests, blown down forests, hundreds of dams built by the rampant beaver population in TDF. This area is monitored by the Wilderness Conservation Society (www.wcs.org or www.karukinanatural.cl) and included in a new national park named Karukinka.

The Endless Trek Ended Most Team's Chances

For some teams, it must have been like entering a black hole. The race maps were rather basic satellite images without any contour lines. For expert navigator's, this wasn't a problem, but the less experienced teams just got lost. Some retraced their steps out, but one team got really off track. Team Untamed Adventure from the USA spent several days wandering in the wilderness. To their credit, they didn't give up until one racer's feet got so torn up from being constantly wet that they had to call in a helicopter evacuation.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the huge trek, teams started to emerge from the wild - waterlogged, blistered, hazy and battered but still running. The remaining teams reached CP4 within 4 hours of each other and after stuffing their faces and drying their feet by the fire, headed out into the next mountain bike section, riding south toward the big mountains and watery passages of southern Chile.

The Authentic-Nutrition.com team left CP4 first with the Spanish-Brazilian team hot on their heels. At this point, there were 5 teams out in front racing for the lead and the other 6 teams? Well, here is what the PER organizers said "The current status of the remaining teams is unknown. They are completely alone, in the middle of nowhere in the island of Tierra del Fuego."

The Most Remote Mountains in Patagonia

That said, we journalists jumped in a truck to find the leading racers, trying to keep up with them as they entered the northern fringes of the Darwin Mountains and headed toward the ocean at La Paciencia and the Almirantazgo Sound. The front teams were moving so fast that they raced through the next CP before we even get there. Despite 5 days of round the clock racing, just 5 hours separated the remaining teams.

On the southern fringes of Chile, the land breaks up into sharp mountains separated by deep ocean channels, the magic land of the Magallanes and the famed Magellan Strait. From here the racers were meant to cross the first peaks of the Darwin Mountains, kayak across the Almirantazgo Sound, climb through a ropes section, trek through the glaciated valleys of the high Darwin peaks, paddle a section of the Beagle Channel, jump back on their mountain bikes to ride to Isla Novarino south of TDF and climb a small peak for the mountaintop finish.

It seemed a course for supermen and superwomen. The first mountain trek saw the demise of the hard-charging Spanish-Brazilian team. Brought down by a swollen ankle that grew worse by the hour, they dropped out at the first kayak crossing.

Patagonian Winds Whip Up the Sea

Absent until now, the Patagonian winds now reared their wild heads and blew the first ocean crossing into high waves moving across the straight in rapid sets - the most dangerous situation for big boats and kayaks alike. After 2 days waiting for safe conditions, the Chilean Navy called the section too dangerous to paddle and shuttled racers across the water in a gunboat.

Fresh from the rest days, the teams raced into the very remote Darwin Mountains on a route that hardly anyone in the world has ever traveled. Indeed, even the race organizers hadn't been through this section, and it proved the most dangerous. Not for navigating, as the mountains valleys were straightforward, but teams had to cross a deep flowing whitewater stream swollen with the summer rains.

Trapped In A Raging River

While trying to cross the rain-swollen stream, Bruno Rey, captain of the leading French-American Authentic-Nutrition team, was swept off his feet straight into a strainer, a downed tree in the river. He was trapped beneath the water and only the fast action of his teammates saved him. They pulled him out and immediately started a fire to dry his clothes and ward off hypothermia.

Despite the narrowly avoided disaster, the team cruised through the remaining miles of the trek and the ominously named Death Pass to reach the next checkpoint at Yendegaia. 7 hours later the next team arrived, the persistent and determined Team Toureg Turks. They were soon followed by the ever-happy Spanish team, Canarias - Andalucia, and Team Littleton Bike and Fitness who had filmed the event, while they raced it, for an upcoming short film.

No Paddles and the Race Ends Early

Racers once again had to wait as unrelenting winds prevented helicopters from flying, and all the kayak paddles for the next section were on a helicopter. After two days, race organizers had run out of time and had to call the race finished. It was an anticlimactic end, but the disappointment was softened a bit when the PER chartered an antique sailing schooner, the Victory, to sail racers south along the Beagle Channel to Isla Novarino, the intended finishing point of the race.

Teams, journalists and race staff then boarded a Navy ship for the scenic cruise back to Punta Arenas through the Drake Passage to the Strait of Magellan. The people of Punta Arenas came out in force to cheer the teams at the end of race party and wish them well with racks of lamb and many bottles of excellent Chilean red wine.

The PER has earned the right to call itself an expedition race. There are no prizes at the end, not even a free t-shirt, just the knowledge that you’ve traveled to one of the wildest places left on the planet and finished it alive. For the right kind of racer, that is more than enough.

Final Race Results
1st - authentic-nutrition.com
2nd - Canarias-Andalucia Spiuk Tenerife
3rd - Team Touareg Turk
4th - Team Littleton Bike and Fitness
5th - Medilast Sport Lleida - SKY
6th - Raid 74.org - SKY Airline
7th - Punta Arenas - Chile
8th - Quasar Contra Master
9th - Montagne Team
10th - Club Patagonia.com
11th - Untamed Adventure

Preparing for the Race

After watching the 2008 PER, here are some suggestions if you race in 2009.

1. First of all, don't take the name lightly - this is an expedition race where you may not be able to get external support, even if you need it. Be prepared to take care of yourself completely.
   
   
2. Make sure your navigator is an expert. The maps the PER supplies are basic and the terrain goes through challenging mountainous, treed, glaciated, boggy terrain where it's easy to get lost. If you do get lost, you cannot count on running into any signs of civilization as there are very few roads, houses or even trails in this area.
   
   
3. Bring your own satellite phone - Iridium. One team used a race-provided phone and found that it didn't work when they needed it.

2009 Patagonia Expedition Race

The 2009 Race will be held in central Chilean Patagonia near the famous Patagonian Ice Cap and will head south to the southern end of Chile. The race organizers promise savage wilderness, vast wetlands, wild rivers, ocean paddling and unexplored valleys. It's sure to be epic. www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com

Nathan Ward

Nathan Ward is a photographer and writer specializing in adventure, travel, racing and environmental issues. Check out his work at www.nathanward.com.