Discussion: Wilderness Traverse

OK Folks,

Wilderness Traverse is just a week away. With a sold out race this looks like one of the most competitive races to hit Canada in a long time. Let's get the buzz going what's your prediction for top 3?

Here's mine (and my reasoning)

1st Place: Pentathlondesneiges.com, everytime someone posts one of these lists and Benoit L isn't picked for 1st place I swear he uses that as extra motivation to prove them wrong. I'm not going to make that mistake and wake a sleeping bear.

2nd Place: Team Kinetic, Fast damn fast, and they navigate very well which is going to be the difference maker IMHO.

3rd Place: Running Free, this was probably the hardest one for me to pick. Sorry Phatty. I think this year they get their revenge on Team Salomon - Sunto and pull off third place in this competitive race.

Who else has a prediction? Come'on Hammer I know you're watching from afar and get some picks to put down on paper!!!

Salomon-Suunto, Storm/Beowulf, Shed Coffee Bar and Tiny's own Milton Basement Racers are definitely contenders for the podium as well, and there are teams on the list I don't know well enough (yet) to evaluate. Teams like Spirit, 7 Systems and Random could finish very well too.
http://www.wildernesstraverse.com/index.php?option...

The course breakdown was released to teams this week so I'm not giving anything away here... For the initial 35 km trek, teams with experience and confidence navigating through wilderness areas will have the edge. Speed on trails will be a factor too although they often don't go where the racers want to go, so navigators will need to make intelligent choices about when to leave the trails behind and head cross-country.

Teams that have trouble in the opening trek will end up doing more of the bike section in the dark and will need to pay more attention to their nav. Everyone will do some or all of the paddle in the dark, which is always fun and challenging. Start practising your camp songs!

I think the dark horse is RaceDayRush. Kidding.
But I am interested to see how the old school team of Yip & Covey do. Either way can't wait for the race battle and post party.

Cuts real deep, Tiny. You just made Bob the Beaver cry because he doesn't want to leave Bolton...

When I looked at it a month or so ago I thought there were 12 teams with legit podium chances and a few that I didn't know sooooo?!?! I'll have to look again and then plant my foot in my mouth.

Where's your prediction Phatty? Let's go, step up to the plate my friend....

Phatty, just leave Bob in Bolton..."opps forgot to bring him" and then you get to keep him for longer!

Bummed I am not out there pounding the trails but glad I will be at HQ communicating to the WORLD how you guys are doing. Let me know if you have anyone special that you would like emailed as to how your are doing throughout the race.


1. Running Free (they have the good luck charm with them - the female that was on the winning team last year, and of course I am bias)

2. MBR - these guys are fresh and ready to race! Tyson is back!!!!


3. Storm/Beowolf - With Rob back nav'ing this could be good!

Although the teams that are back from RTNX - could go two ways - either they are tired, or this race will seem so small, a simple sprint....then that will change the game!

See you at check in.

I'm not putting pressure on my team mates to perform well without me - but I am:-). Can't help but improve upon our 5th last year as I'm not there to make the nav mistakes and suck on the MTB section.

Go Spirit!

Oh, and Google Earth...it's apparently what all the kids are doing these days.

Tiny, Nope wasn't watching from afar. I was on a pukefest in Killarney. It felt like my old sickness problems of any AR race over 18 hours. I needed to experience that again to allow me to adjust my picks (although still sick 4 days later). Also, first time back to the AR section of AP in a while. But you are right. I have picks. Here they are...

I agree it is hard to not to pick Benoit and his Pentathlondesneiges.com team given this guy has National team experience in both orienteering and MTB'ing (not to mention a few other sports) but I remember racing against him in French River and the Ontario 'wilderness' gave him troubles and AR is a team sport so I'm going with the s. Ontario gang to do some damage.

1) MBR ( the team hasn't been the same without Meridian)
2) Pentathlondesneiges.com
3) Running Free
4) Salomon-suunto
5) Team Kinetic

Although like Bash said there is a bunch of others that could be in there as well. Yeah it is has been a long time since there was this much depth in a 24 hour AR in Ontario.
OK now back to watching World Orienteering Champs in the French Alps. This is going to be one crazy tough week of navigation and mistakes will be a plenty!

Fine, here are my predictions although they might not be what you're hoping for, Tiny...

- Team Spirit: FB forgets to bring beer to the race, realizes it last minute, doesn't do the maps properly after searching far and wide for an open beer store, team engages in a mutiny

- Milton Basement Racers: Tiny pukes 30 minutes into the first trek stemming from all of the pressure that Hammer has now laid on him. Nosnhoj sees this and ralphs in sympathy, Tyson's head is spinning from realizing that he spelled his name incorrectly on his race jersey, and M&M is left shaking her head at sadness of her team's situation

- Running Free: LaFemme can't concentrate by the time the race starts after so many pre-race hours of being mesmerized by The Harps steely, competitive stare. Reeling from the intensity, she runs head first into a tree. Relentless tries to carry her but his 40L pack is too full to add on more weight.

- 7 Systems: Logie trips and rips the crotch of his tights completely off in the first trek on some barbed wire. Later, he falls into some poison ivy, making the bike and paddle on a sufferfest on his nether regions.

- Pentathlondesneiges: Letourneau's not the same as he once was as he's become such a sensitive man with the birth of his first child. Missing his boy so intensely after 18 hours when the sleepmonsters descend upon him, he falls to the ground to cradle a log that he swears looks like his child. Tremblay is so inspired by the beautiful scene that has unfolded before him, he stops to write a folk song about it.

Kinetic: DogRunner hoots and hollers aloud throughout the first trek at cruising along in such a beautiful landscape in 1st place. 2 hours into the bike with this cacophony continuing, Francis' concentration can no longer take it and he steers his team into a labyrinth of snowmobile trails that sucks them in for hours.

Storm-Beowulf: MrsGally is livid at losing 3 minutes due to going east rather than west around a small pond during the first trek. MrGally loses his maps in the confusion and searches frantically with Millar. Storm creates an elaborate logistical plan to find them, and does of course, but the hours it takes them leaves them chasing the lead pack from far behind.

Salomon-Suunto: Hansel and Goose are instrumental at setting a new AR record for paddling speed, both in water and over portages, with two pieces of dead weight (aka. Leanimal and Phatty) in tow. They then carry P & L on bike racks behind them and pop each into specially designed Salomon 100L packs for the trek. With Herculean strength and the tenacity of hyenas, they burst through the chaos of the other teams, securing Bob the Beaver for yet another year to be enjoyed by Esme, Issac, and little Weeanimal.

Take that to the bank!

Sweet, I love it.

OMG! I have never laughed so hard at an AP report. Can't wait to see how much of that comes true. I think you might be dead on, on a couple of predictions there Phatty. I won't say which ones though. :-D

Tough to call the podium with so many tough teams, but if I were a betting man I got my money on Running Free. They have something to prove after issues early in the race last year.

We will be stopping on Sunday with Dex to see how my prediction turns out!

1. Pentathlondesneiges
2. Kinetic
3. 7 systems
4. Running Free
5. MBR

and then I will be out to prove myself wrong.

Does anyone else keep reading "Pentathlondesneiges" as "Pantalondesneiges"?

Snowpants.com?

I just thought is was a pharmaceutical

Maybe I'm the only person who didn't know this till just now? It's a new race in Quebec City in late February. Sounds pretty good.

"To participate at the Pentathlon des neiges you must complete these 5 disciplines without stopping; running, biking, cross country skiing, skating and snowshoe. The race unfolds like a triathlon, continuous and the transition time is included in the final time.

3 formulas to participate : solo, tandem-relay or team relay."

"...and you must be wearing snow pants during the entire race. Or pants made of snow."

How about if Benoit's team wins, we ALL have to go to the Pantalondesneiges in Feb. It does sound like a great race!

This is very entertaining to read - I wish we could all converse out on the course like this!! BTW Phatty I 've softened with age and am actually too nice now...LOL

Ah ah ! great discussion Guys!! I think there are a couple outsiders like outeractive, clinique du pied equilibre and even Running free Old school! It's goona be a great show!

But my money is on team Light N Motion.. oh no wait this is Expedition Idaho..

What is with everyone letting Salomon-Suunto off the hook as the favorite to win especially coming off a solid 4th at RTNX??? They're recovered and they love that damn beaver. ALL the pressure is on them (sleep well the night before phatty).... If I HAD to bet methinks:

1. Salomon-Suunto
2. Pentathlondesneiges
3. All out war from 6 or 7 others.

Also, there's no way there's going to be the time gaps we saw last year between the top teams. I think the top-5 or so will be only be seperated by an hour.

Like Lee, I am out to prove my predictions wrong.

WOW!!!

Sooo tough... I look at the 3 key elements for success in this race, Nav, Fitness, Experience. Then I look at just the teams where I 'know' two or more people and I think, depending on how it plays out, Salomon, R.F., Storm, Shed, MBR, Pantaloons, Kinetic, Clinique, 7 Systems, Spirit could all fight it out ... and then there's the 'dark horses'?!?!.

I have to give the nod to S-S for the reason's Harps noted
Then I'll go with the Pantaloons in hopes that it puts a Hex on Benoit's Nav :-)

I'll also predict that only 7 of these (10) teams finish the whole course!

It's going to take Spirit about another 2-3 hours at the start of this race to fully recover from last years Nav-bobble.... but we'll be finishing strong :-)

Nice try, Harps. I'll sleep the night before go time as soundly as Weeanimal does after her Daddy reads her a bedtime story...with no thoughts of pressure what so ever, thank you very much. We have nothing to prove. YOU and your band of merry Running Free'ers, however, have much to prove. Clearly, people have high hopes for the current AR title holder for ALL of Ontario...being the OARPS winners and all.

With all these great teams coming to WT, I think I am as nervous as when I did Untamed and Robyn Benincasa was there.
Maybe I'll just bring my autograph book & blackberry and tweet and upload pictures to facebook the whole race. :-)

At the very least there maybe a wrestling match for Bob the Beaver at the end that may make for a great youtube video.

Wrestling match? Go FB!

Someones gotta step up and pick themselves!!! Confidence, you gotta have confidence!

I'll step up and pick myself for the wrestling match! :-)
.. been a few, uh, decades... but I still remember a few moves...

1. Team Stray Cats - Some new, some old - one good pace takes the lead over a bunch of nervous hot heads.
2. Running Free - a bunch of old schoolers looking to have some without the pressure.
3. Storm-Beowulf - Back together and ready to rock. I could put these guys in first as well, only because I think Cathy can carry the whole team to the finish herself, but Rob may have some ring rust.

Long time reader first time poster on Attackpoint; this discussion was just too tempting! I can point out one Quebec based team that will be crazy fast: Outeractive. My top three guess would be:
1- Penthatlondesneiges.com: Ben Letourneau… 'nuff said. Plus Stephanie Lajoie is a super strong female racer.
2- Outeractive: Pat Lussier and Charles Huot are strong, experienced and super good navigators. Apparently, Patrick's brother is even stronger… now that is scary!
3- Suunto Salomon: They are strong, good navs, know Ontario races/terrain and are always out there battling for top honors.

The heat will be on with pressure from the Running Free, MBR, Clinique du pied and all the others strong teams I don't know as much about. I am soo looking forward to be out there with this strong field to prove my predictions wrong! Go Kinetic go!

Wow! It's been a few Years for me but I've been dreaming of this AR stuff again....

Pete, love your predictions but you have it all wrong!
It'll be hard to beat Pentathlondesneiges as always! Ben has some extra energy boilling for this one after the Extreme!

Good to see all the old names still at it. I wish I could be there.
Good luck to all, I'll be checking it out from the comfort of my couch!

Entertaining thread is entertaining.

For the folks at home, please watch the SPOT trackers and help keep this thread going during the race this weekend. (Starts Sat. 8 a.m. Ontario time.) Dee and I will be doing the same from Race HQ. It's always fun to have some chatter and the racers love reading it afterward.

Hey @TobinWD..
Thanks for all the butt-kicking you've been giving our teammate! Heard great things about what a jerk you've been to her. Looking forward to putting her to the test.

Hey Jay, geeh you're welcome, I think. :-)
It's all up to you guys now! Keep it happy.
Oh yeah and Angry Seagull AR to round out the top 10, or top 5!!!!
Stay away from angry bees!

You people are all mad!
;)

Can't wait to see how this one pans out!

I finally figured out the whole course last night! Took a while but I got it down now. Just enough time to go check out a few route options and drop some food and drinks in key spots.
That paddle on Opeongo will be tough if it's windy...
........ :-)

FB - I will be watching your SPOT closely, if you stand still for more then 5 minutes I know you are looking for that Redbull you stashed somewhere in the bush.

the stuff I'd stash would be somewhat less performance enhancing
... is there an expiry 'time' on nachos and wings?

Several people have talked about dropping in at the race site this weekend, which is awesome! Thought I'd put some spectator info here and talk about our planned live coverage.

- Race HQ will be Stanhope Firefighters Community Centre in Stanhope (of course) which is a little north and east of Minden. Dee and I are managing Race HQ, so one or both of us will be there at all times from Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon. There isn't much nearby. Minden is the main place to go for restaurants, etc. although there are some small places along Hwy 35.

- Visitors to Race HQ are very welcome. We'll have wireless Internet available to watch the race, or you can bring a rocket stick or the like - or just your phone. There are kitchen and washroom facilities, so feel free to bring your lunch and hang around awhile. Babies are very welcome. (These days, that's an important thing for adventure racers to know! Also, Dee needs the practice.)

- Racers will head out by bus early Saturday morning and begin trekking somewhere at 8 a.m. The trek is predicted to take 6-12 hours and there are lots of possible routes, so most of the action on Saturday will be watching SPOT trackers. The trek/bike TA is road-accessible and we could direct spectators there to hang out for awhile. Racers are expected to arrive from mid-afternoon till early evening.

- We expect teams to start arriving in Stanhope before sunrise on Sunday, and they'll keep rolling in throughout the morning. Spectator cheers are always welcome.

- Dee and I may be unexpectedly busy at Race HQ but we are hoping to provide you with all the important info we have. We'll be checking this AP thread, we can be reached using our usual e-mail and cell phone info (also at info@wildernesstraverse.ca), we'll be checking the WT Facebook page and watching Twitter #wtrav. To keep things easy for spectators, our goal is to centralize all the important race updates on the Wilderness Traverse website. We know that not everyone has access to Facebook, etc. and it can be annoying having to check different places to get key info from organizers. This doesn't mean that it's not worth checking the other places but if you only have time to check one place, check the official WT website.

- Having said that, Facebook, Twitter and AP are great ways to keep the conversation interactive between us and the folks at home. For example, spectators are encouraged to post photos to our Facebook page or tweet if they see a team go by. We hope racers will post their impressions pre- and post-race. If you're at home and see something interesting on the SPOT tracker, feel free to join the discussion. Dee and I will be getting less sleep than you and we can definitely use the help!

- Last but absolutely not least, we're excited to have AR photog extraordinaire Luis Moreira lined up, and Breathe Magazine is sending a reporter, so there will be professional quality race updates on their flashblog throughout the race. You can download the Breathe app to your mobile phone.

Looking forward to a fun weekend!

You guys all got me so excited about the race that I've finally signed on to AttackPoint. Of course, I don't plan on logging much of my training though, 'cuz then you'd know my true strength and power! Mwahahaha.

I'm gonna pick my top 5 (even that is hard here!) to be:

1. Snowpants.com (and yes, race sounds pretty cool, think I might do that one!)
2. Kinetic (since both Alex and Ben are fresh and seeking retribution after RtNX)
3. Salamon-Suunto (cuz they REALLY want the beaver)
4. Running Free (cause carrying Ranson WILL tire James eventually ;-)
5. Outeractive (they are strong and fast and train in stealth....)

As for dark horses, there are many, not the least of which is our team: Adrenaline Rush! RtNX was a great warm-up for this by Honsberger and the Mallory's, and I'm looking for revenge after last year's DNF! PLUS, we have a cool theme song: http://youtu.be/sEOLtJZjnEA .... Can't Stop the RUSH !!!

See y'all tomorrow. This is going to be the funnest race in YEARS!

What a thoroughly entertaining read. I was going to give a shout to Outeractive as the one team that everybody seemed to be forgetting but Alex beat me to the punch. Call me biased but my picks are leaning towards Quebec-based teams.

I like the idea of top 5 as well....

1) Pants-made-out-of-snow.com (I am also in for the race and could happily add a pair of cool, flaky, white pants to the wardrobe)
2) Outeractive (fresh, fast, great nav)
3) MBR (fresh, fast, great nav)
4) Kinetic (as above)
5) Salamon-Suunto (biggest fans of the Beaver...if you can take it from Weeanimal's wee hands! Like taking candy?)

I couldn't agree more with Harps -- All out war for down to even top 10! I also agree that teams are going to be coming in closely. I also predict at least one sprint finish. Finally, due to the very nature of the sport, I think at least one team that has not been mentioned in this thread will surprise and shake it up!

Can't wait!

Where's the love for 506? Natural Selection wut!

Could be one of the most competitive field Canada has seen in a while. Nice total number of teams too!

What a hype! :) Looks like everyone is prepared for an epic battle!! Can't ask for much more!
OK here are my adventure racer's predictions:

1- Salomon-Suunto (reigning champs!)
2- Pentathlondesneiges.com (yes I am able to pronounce it)
3- Outeractive (incredibly fast team)
4- Running free (solid squad!)
5- Clinique du Pied Équilibre (let's go guys!)

Dark horses: FB's Team Spirit, MBR, Storm-Beowulf, NaturalSelectionAR.com

...and here are my Québécois' predictions :)

1- Pentathlondesneiges.com (dû à la séniorité de Ben)
2- Outeractive (y courent vraiment vite..)
3- Clinique du Pied Équilibre (eux autres aussi courent pas mal vite!)
4- Rocket Scientists Cannondale (let's go les gars!)
5- Mercators (well, all french names!)

AND MAY MY PREDICTIONS BE VERY WRONG, AND THE KINETIC TRAIN STORM TO KIDNAP BOB THE BEAVER AND HIDE HIM AWAY IN FAR COUNTRY SIDE FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

NSAR would be a very dark horse indeed.

By any chance, might someone who is driving toward the west end of Lake Ontario have room for me to hitch a ride Sunday after the race? I'm actually going to Burlington and can get picked up wherever, but it would be excellent to get partway there. My team will have my gear and bike.

Bash commented earlier in her excellent summary report for spectating...
There isn't much nearby. Minden is the main place to go for restaurants, etc.

So I'll give a MUST visit (especially if you like Thai food) to the Wild Orchid in Minden. It's a quirky restaurant that you get to through an antiques store (right next the town's little bridge in the core. Authentic Thai cooking in Minden ...who knew! ...so don't stop at Subway or the golden arches, you'll be glad you tried it and I guarantee you'll go back.

Interesting! Bob and I were super excited about going there for the first time last October but when we arrived, it was closed - supposedly permanently. We happened to meet the owner on the street who commented that it had been way too successful and he just couldn't keep it going. But I see that TripAdvisor has a July 2011 restaurant review so it must have opened again. I wonder if they'll deliver to Stanhope?! :))

I was at the Wild Orchid two weeks ago, it ( and the antique shop ) are still very much alive and well.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the restaurant that has fuelled our course testing most often - "That Place" in Carnarvon, between Stanhope and Minden near the corner of 118 & 35. Thoughts of their haystack brownie served with ice cream and hot fudge sauce have kept me going for many hours in the bush.
http://www.thatplaceincarnarvon.com/

Hey Gold Panner, are you speechless at the awesomeness of this thread?

I think he's devastated that he can't make it. Too bad 'cause he'd be a great replacement racer for 7 Systems, who are down to three.

..............need to reschedule the family vacation and make it out to this race!

Don't reschedule it - just move it to Haliburton! :)

Yertle, if you're on Facebook, you might want to post there too. Or on Twitter using #wtrav. There are lots of racers and volunteers heading that direction. If you don't find anyone before Friday, just ask us to make an announcement at the race briefing.

From Breathe Magazine today:
http://www.breathemag.ca/news-release/strong-nav-a...

Due to illness, we have a plum volunteer opportunity that was originally snapped up last fall. It's a paddle-in CP to a nice spot where you can swim and hang out with our other volunteer. You probably won't need to spend the night there. Canoe skills and a friendly smile are needed. E-mail me at info AT wildernesstraverse DOT ca.

Whoa Bash that person must be really sick to pass on such an opportunity. Wait a minute. ;-) that's me! :-(

Good luck to all the teams. The Wadd Squad were really fortunate to snap that CP up a long time ago and we were looking forward to cheering you all on but alas an AR-esque sickness from a family canoe trip last week has required us to pass.

If you can provide "ME" the co-ordinates of the CP, i might be able to drum up someone. hehe

east side of Catchacoma Lake, but you didn't hear it from me :-)

by the big lake they call gitche gumee

can you spell it again please?

FB has generously offered his firstborn for this difficult task. Thank you!

Is anyone driving from Ottawa or vicinity to Stanhope after work on Friday? Maybe a volunteer or late-arriving racer?

PhattyJR - a key volunteer who is freshly home from Australia and bursting with good stories to keep a driver awake - is in need of a ride.

I'll pick SS for the win as I couldn't imagine the sleep Phatanimal will lose from a wailing Weeanimal missing her cuddly beaver for an entire year!

I'm volunteering, but have to work in Ottawa on Friday. Does anyone know of anyone heading to the race from that direction after 16:00 on Friday or heading up from the GTA after 22:00 Friday (I could get a bus there).

Cheers!

...what Bash said...and in fewer words...imagine that.

That's a first! :)

As of 5 p.m., we have 19 of 40 teams registered. The race course will be unveiled in 3 hours.

Maps were distributed half an hour ago. The room is buzzing!

Good luck to everyone!!!!! Have lots of fun and I can't wait to read/hear the awesome stories!!!

Maps and course description were posted after the race briefing.

These are the main topo maps. Racers also received supplementary maps showing trails and portages.

Live coverage has started. Race begins at 8 a.m.

Race has started on time. Sun is shining, all volunteers are in place, bikes and bins have made it to the transition area. We have had some SPOT issues (9:48 am) but it is being resolved, all teams should be up and running in the next 30 minutes. Peaceful here at HQ!!!!

At 3:40 a.m., Team 14 Pentathlondesneiges.com crossed the finish line in 1st place! Teams Salomon-Suunto, Kinetic and STORM/Beowulf are in a tight race for 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots. Then Running Free, T.O.A.B. and Shed Coffee Bar.

Nice!!!!! Congrats Ben's and the team.
Congrats to everyone that raced and voluntered.
How was the race?

Barb and I decided to keep all updates via the website, Facebook and twitter so we hope you were following us there and found our updates informative. It is always tricky though to ensure you do not worry loved ones at home with team injuries, so we felt leaving out some of the hospital visits was best!

It was very cool to be on the other side of the fence and being a part of race headquarters (in the warmth and dry conditions). Although I do miss racing I now appreciate so much more the amount of work from the organizers to keep the racers happy (give us what we paid for!) and ensure all teams are all safe!

Big shout out to Barb and Bob for handling some stressful moments so calm and collectively. They also had a "race" of their own after being awake for more then 35 hours (I was TOLD at 1:00 am that I was looking fragile so I was summoned to get some sleep!). Congrats to all racers once again Wilderness Traverse was a huge success! I will see you next year back with my team on the course.

Dee was amazing. At 7 months pregnant, she worked at race HQ for 18 hours on Saturday, returning early Sunday morning for another long shift. There were virtually no breaks in the action. She handled most of the Facebook and WT news updates while I handled most of the radio/phone communications and leaderboard updates. It was non-stop and we were so lucky that a racer with Dee's experience was in that role since she needed no explanations - just got down to work. As the first person inside the door, she also got a stream of questions from people who thought we were involved with the triathlon next door. (What the odds of *that* happening in a village so small that it doesn't even appear on Google maps?)

Dee and I have both watched races at home so we wanted to provide a good spectator experience. As it turned out, we could have kept a 3rd person busy at times when things were really hopping. (I got zero sleep.) We made it a priority to keep the leaderboard up to date since spectators could check that information against the SPOT tracks when we were too busy to write updates. The SPOTs worked pretty well and I was sorry we didn't have more time to watch the race there. Often when we looked at SPOTs, it was to research a problem, e.g. "why hasn't the final team reached CP3 yet?", "where is the team who just called us on the radio?", etc.

Awesome fun and kudos to all the racers. As predicted here, it was an exciting, closely fought battle, particularly in the top ten. I haven't yet checked to see whose predictions were closest. If it was you, maybe you should gloat a bit below. :)

Thanks to Bob for making this all happen.

Hmm, looks to me like ActiveSteve predicted it best. He got the top three right but reversed 2nd and 3rd place.

Congrats to all on the weekend! Huge thanks to Gstix, Bash and Dee and all of the other volunteers/staff -- incredible race coverage!! Talk about adding hype and excitement! Finally, congrats to Steve for the most accurate prediction! I guess we all now have to raid Quebec city in Feb 2012 and have Eastern Canada adventure racers represent at the Pentathlon des Neiges..right on the plains of Abraham! Looks like a looped course. I wonder if Carnaval is at the same time?

This year it wasn't. Probably it's too busy then. But you're right - we should go!

You're probably right that it's too busy then....check out the "extreme activities" that take place at Carnaval....ice canoe racing! (I think Benoit Letourneau used to do that.)

They all sound super fun.

http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/en/carnival-2012/extreme...

On the pentathlon note, there is a "summer" pentathlon in Victoriaville: Inline, Running, MTB, Paddling and Climbing. FUN!! Quebecers love their multisport!
This race is on Sept 10 weekend...that's the 5th fun race on that weekend!
http://www.granddefi.qc.ca/

Jumping back to original topic, It would be fun to go to QC next Feb. I will def. keep it in mind when winter comes.

*gloat* *gloat*. Okay, so I'm not able to win the race myself, but at least I have the skills to spot the right talents! Congrats to all the teams on a great race, and happy to see that my predictions were the closest to the mark! I'm still working on my race report and sorting through my pictures, but once I have that done, I'll post it all up here, as well as the FB page :-)

See y'all at LR&S. Now, 1 week to go till my Iron-distance tri!

Alrighty. Got both the blog post and the pictures up and running. Check 'em both out.
Race Report: http://activesteve.com/node/533
Slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/activesteve/sets/7215...

Thanks, Steve! I've been posting links to photo albums to our Facebook page and on our Live Coverage page.
http://www.wildernesstraverse.com/index.php?option...

I may do the same with race reports later on. Since most people are posting them online, I assume they wouldn't mind...?

Leaderboard was updated yesterday to include SportIdent splits at unmanned CPs, plus I updated the finish times to the exact SI times instead of "volunteer's watch" times. Nobody's rank changed but some finish times were adjusted by a minute or two.