Charity adventure race

Charity adventure race

source:http://www.fieldskills.com/

Elegant Resorts launches Travel Guide Experiences

Leading luxury travel company Elegant Resorts has recently launched Experiences – the second in a series of Lifestyle Guides from the experts in luxury travel. Offering a tempting array of extraordinary and memorable travel adventures around the world, the brochure is divided into themes of Explore and Inspire, Body and Mind, Exhilarate and Sports.

Commenting on the launch of the guide, Nathan Philpot, Managing Director, Elegant Resorts, says, “Our clients are increasingly seeking luxury holidays rich in experience. This may be in addition to their two week ‘fly and flop’ luxury beach escape or perhaps to be taken in combination with it. It could be as adventurous as a jungle trek through Langkawi’s rainforest, or as indulgent as a five-hour private Retreat Suite spa experience for 2 in the British Virgin Islands. No matter what you choose, it will be truly memorable and special.

With the attention to detail and knowledge of the luxury world for which Elegant Resorts are renowned, clients know they can rely on us for the holiday experience of a lifetime. Moreover, whether they are looking for exploration or inspiration, exhilaration or introspection, with Elegant Resorts they know that they won’t have to compromise luxury along the way.”

Highlights from the Explore and Inspire guide include: Sea Kayaking through the estuaries of New Zealand; Catamaran Cruise to the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef; Elephant Safaris in Botswana or “Elephant Whispering” with rehabilitated elephants in South Africa, and Hiking to Taktshang Goemba (Tigers Nest) In Bhutan, set on a sheer cliff above the Paro Valley.

The Body and Mind Guide offers: Holistic Spa experience at the Six Senses Destination Spa in Thailand; Mayan Healing ceremony at the Zoetry Parais de La Bonita in Mexico; Explore the Maldives in greater depth at Alila Villas Hadahaa – with photography, natural environment and cultural three day trips; Venture into Medici tunnels whilst staying at Villa San Michele in Florence and Stay on a working Sri Lankan Tea Estate in one of four Colonial bungalows.

The Exhilarate Guide offers Space Travel with Virgin Galactic and journeys currently planned to start in 2011. If you just can’t wait that long, try the Zero-gravity and NASTAR space experiences. You can also try to fly with the blades aerobatic squed in Scotland; Explore the waterfalls and glaciers of Argentina via boat trips, tours and treks across the ice; Heli-skiing in Blanket Bay, New Zealand, and Horse-back safaris in Tanzania’s Serengeti. Sports fans can use the guide to discover some of the top sporting events for the coming year from tennis and golf to horseracing and rugby.

Copies of the guide will also be available on www.elegantresorts.co.uk, where it is downloadable as a PDF. Forthcoming additional guides include Families and Spa.

Photos by Dirk Groeger: www.flickr.com/photos/mountainspirit/181685307 and by Frederic Salein: www.flickr.com/photos/fredericsalein/2909435526

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre makes its debut this week with a chilling adaptation of HP Lovecraft's celebrated story of horrors beneath the Antarctic ice. This 75-minute radio drama brings the story to life with a cast of professional actors, original music and exciting sound effects. The result is a gripping tale told in a manner that Lovecraft himself might have heard coming across the airwaves of the early 1930s.

The HP Lovecraft Historical Society, creators of the silent film The Call of Cthulhu and many other strange things, produced the recording. Troy Sterling Nies was enlisted to compose original music. With assistance from his son, Storm, Nies also recorded the sounds of genuine North Dakota snow and ice to bring realism to the production. The HPLHS enlisted a cast of professional Los Angeles actors to join them for recording sessions. The final recording was treated with the HPLHS proprietary Mythophone technology to bring the feel of 1930s radio to modern audio equipment.

In addition to the recording itself, the CD version of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: At the Mountains of Madness features photographs from the Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition, a newspaper clipping about the expedition, and a reproduction of a page from Danforth's sketchbook, featuring drawings of the Elder Things and their horrific city. The HPLHS has also made available an MP3 recording of the show, so those seeking immediate gratification can purchase, download, and listen to it without delay. Last, the HPLHS took Darrell Tutchton's dramatic album cover artwork and produced a handsome, yet horrific, poster suitable for framing.

Sailing Adventure in Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden - The sun has set on another Archipelago Raid, which was once again a special kind of boat race. Each team of two sails a Formula 18 catamaran day and night, and weaves through an intriguing sailing course among the Stockholm, Åland and Finnish Archipelagos. Along the way, the competitors have to find 20-25 checkpoints located on beaches, boats, pontoons, and lighthouses as described in the Archipelago Raid Book, but the teams are free to choose their own sailing route between two checkpoints, making for some interesting navigational maneuvers as the teams try to avoid hitting any of the 100,000 islands and jagged rocks along the way.

Martin Strandberg and Johan Örtendahl of Team Thule flourished in these tough conditions, and were announced winners of the Archipelago Raid today. After putting in an amazing effort at this tough sailing event, the team proved they had the right stuff, winning five out of the ten sailing legs. During much of the event, the team battled for the top spot against last year's Raid winners Eric Proust and Romain Motteau of Team Citus, but with team Thule's stellar performance over the last couple of days (winning every leg), Team Citus fell back in the scoring, and had to settle for second this year.

Team Thule started the last day of the Archipelago Raid three points behind Team Citus, but 34 year old Strandberg and 27 year old Örtendahl had a fire in their bellies - determined to take the trophy back for a Swedish team. After sleep deprivation from camping in tents, and physical exhaustion from the effort of sailing (and sometimes paddling) through the Archipelago, Martin and Johan, gave every final bit of their effort, and showed what pure determination can accomplish as they won both legs today, just as they had done the day before.

“It was fantastic, a really tough race. Eric [Proust, of Team Citus] was sailing so well so we had to put 200 per cent to beat him.”, said the overjoyed Swedish skipper upon winning the Raid. Martin Strandberg couldn't keep his excitement to himself, adding “you can’t finish better than this. I think is just an ultimate sailing race. You’ve got everything: nature, sailing, navigation, tactics - everything!”

Another team who truly enjoyed the sailing in Sweden this week were Brits Luke Yeats and Matthew Humphreys of Team Cobalt. The pair finished the Archipelago Raid as the best rookies, in eighth overall. “This has been probably the best organized event I’ve ever sailed at. We had all the organization boats with us all the time and getting all the tents and food arranged in the middle of nowhere and having almost thirty boats through a very complicated course… it was really worth the tough moments.”

William Sunnucks and Simon Farren, of Team Audio Network, also know a bit about tough moments at the Raid. The team put in a great performance as they weaved their F18 catamaran around the Swedish Archipelago over the last six days, but their hopes of an overall win were dashed yesterday after hitting an inconveniently placed rock, pushing them back to third place overall in the Raid. No doubt they will be studying those charts over the winter, ready to give it a go at next year's Archipelago Raid.

RawHyde Adventure Rider Challenge

“And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what

sweet rest there must be in the grave.” – Edgar Allan Poe, The Pit and the Pendulum

Surely, less eloquent versions of Poe’s words ran through terror-stricken minds at the RawHyde Adventure Rider Challenge. Participants witnessed the newest version of the Adventure Rider Challenge, the only competitive big-bike event in the United States, as it continues to evolve in only its third year. Competition is in the form of brutal obstacle courses that inflict physical and mental pounding on man and machine. Until joining the fracas atop Southern California’s Grapevine mountain pass, we’d never seen anything like it. Two days later we were convinced that for anyone who considers himself a true adventure rider, there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.

Adventure riders are the most multi-faceted breed of motorcyclists on the planet. Their idea of a good trip incorporates elements for dirt bikes, curvy sportbike highways, butt-numbing distances and navigational challenges; they need to be fit, skilled and self-reliant. These men and women are the Swiss Army knives of our sport, and their equipment has to be just as versatile. Meeting such wide-spread needs has led to a diverse spread of technology from different bike makers, but if these machines have anything in common, it’s size. None of them are small, and that’s exactly why RawHyde Adventures founder and ARC originator, Jim Hyde, started this thing in the first place.

Riding huge, heavy bikes through gnarly terrain is big time work – and big time fun if you have the right attitude. You have to embrace that it’s supposed to be hard and that you aren’t going to finish without some scratches, but not everyone wants to mercilessly beat their machinery for the sake of competition.

“People like competition, they either like to watch it or be in it,” Hyde says. “These GS bikes are like modern day cowboy stuff.”

That’s why Hyde designed the ARC to welcome all riders with open arms. Roughly 500 miles of paved and dirt roads were spread out over the two days. Each night featured a Rodeo section – The Pit and The Pendulum, respectively. Over the years, Jim has developed a five-tier categorization of terrain for his adventure rides and it’s safe to say that the competition portions are pure Cat-5. Participants are able to register as an Adventurer and simply ride the prescribed routes, or as a Challenger if they’re gluttons for punishment and want to compete in the Rodeo at day’s end.

“The Challenger is a guy who hangs it all out there and risks life and limb to show everyone how good he is,” says Hyde. Of the 197 entries, the majority of which were riding bikes from title sponsor BMW, 40 of them registered as Challengers to test their mental and physical strength against what Jim called the most difficult courses yet.

Check out the RawHyde Adventure Rider Challenge Video and see how tough the BMW F800GS is and how difficult these obstacles were.

The Pit

Most of the adventure riders on hand elected to camp at the RawHyde facility where provisions were made to comfortably accommodate the throng of motorcyclists. Of Oceans and Dirt was the theme for the weekend and the camp awakened to a 300-mile counterclockwise loop toward Santa Barbara and the cool weather of the Pacific Ocean for Day 1. Our troupe followed maps and GPS coordinates along scenic ridgelines and riding through swarms of mating ladybugs - the fornicating insects crawling maddeningly across goggle lenses, down collars and inside helmets. Once the trail dropped down out of the mountains, however, sunshine and crashing waves were the worst of it.

Adventure riders share a strong identity with one another, many travelling together or at least connecting with a fellow voyager somewhere along the way. Day 1 closed with a team challenge emphasizing cohesion necessary for the completion of the task. Scored on time, the fastest team from Point A to Point B wins – the only problem is that everything between lies down a steep, rocky ravine with nothing more than a few wooden boards to span impassible gaps. Del Christensen spends most of his time as a RawHyde rider coach and guide, but he’s the man responsible for developing the hellish ravine. Perhaps he’s a connoisseur of American literature because standing at the top, the Pit certainly invokes an idea similar to Poe’s abyss - an embankment so steep many riders bulldogged their machines to the bottom.

Easy laughter and subdued excitement filled the outdoor tent as we gathered for the rider’s meeting. Del’s assurance that even BMW’s largest machine could pass seemed to be good enough for riders who were anxious to get underway. The majority had already formed three-man teams so those of us who hadn’t were put together to make a trio. I was joined with Chad Yoshitomi and Joe Egan who, like me, were first-timers at the ARC. Baseline scoring is determined using one big bike and one small bike per team. Larger bikes are obviously a disadvantage in this situation, so teams with two big bikes were given a two-minute deduction and teams with only small bikes were penalized. Anything that’s not a 1200GS, GS Adventure or comparable older model is considered small. Armed with my F800GS, the choice was between Chad’s heavily armored R1150GSA, which would give us a standard setup, and Joe’s Honda XL650. Bolstered by Joe’s disregard for mechanical damage, our makeshift squad opted to travel light - penalty be damned, we’d throw that bike across the finish line if need be.

"In other conditions of mind I might have had courage to end my misery at once by a plunge into one of these abysses; but now I was the veriest of cowards."

As the group broke and made for the staging area, we had little idea what was in store. All we knew was that the entry was so steep that a rope was run through a snatch block and around a tree limb to help lower the bike into the crevasse. Chad was to be our runner, controlling our descent as we rode the bikes down and then following on foot through the two-thirds of a mile to provide assistance. The only rules were that both bikes and all three members had to cross the finish line - working machines optional. I lined up first, my entire confidence split between a 47-year-old auto technician from Alaska and a slightly frayed climbing rope. I shouldn’t have worried as both did a fantastic job and kept me from rocketing headlong to the bottom with a simple, controlled landing. Before the rope was halfway up the hill to start with Joe, I was already forcing my way down the trail, bouncing off the sides and down dried rock waterfalls.

Worried that I hadn’t seen Joe in awhile, I stopped and headed back on foot. I only made it a short distance before the 34-year-old software engineer tottered across one of the slapdash bridges, his grin showing from beneath his helmet. A special surprise waited at the final obstacle where strategically placed ambushers pelted us from above as they launched water balloons like hand grenades. A cool splash of water was nice when facing the off-camber rock shelf with an abrupt log crossing, but for a few tired men, the loss of traction from wet tires caused more trouble than it was worth. We managed to get everyone out with relative ease. A few hang-ups, blisters for Chad from running in his boots and some simple tip-overs for Joe, who only had 10 months of dirt riding experience, and our Size Doesn’t Matter team was in far better shape than some of the others. Sitting in the shade and watching other teams come down was almost as much fun as riding it, and we witnessed skidplates and crash bars held on by a few bolt threads – some carried out by hand.

RawHyde Adventures is the official BMW Off-Road Academy so it’s no surprise that a pair of Jim’s certified instructors were fast enough for second place. As a measure of fairness, the Platonic Spooning Buddies were disqualified. Two Kabooms slipped into the vacated spot which left the final podium step for Two Jerks and a Squirt. Once the time adjustments were made, it was the Knights of the Flaccid Lance claiming the top spot with an impressive time of 5:52. By the end of the first day, all competitors had a much better idea of what they were in for, but the anticipation of the event’s headline challenge loomed overnight.

"To the right - to the left - far and wide - with the shriek of a damned spirit."

The Pendulum

The second day’s ride headed east, a shorter loop than before, but this time away from the cooling ocean breeze and into the scorching desert. Riders endured triple-digits temps as they followed one of several optional treks. A full day netted roughly 200 miles with shorter variations available. Randsburg was the refueling stop for man and machine as the party passed through for lunch in small groups. Again, in order to be back in time for the evening Rodeo, competitors had to cut out early and return to base camp. Being a team player is one thing, but motorcycling is ultimately an individual sport and so the second challenge was designed to test each competitor’s skill on their own machine. Some riders already had a reputation after successful (or not) performances in years past. Others, like me, were eager to see where we stacked up in the world of big-bike wrangling. Ultimately, this was the opportunity to demonstrate what we could do.

Aside from the name, this year’s event actually shares nothing with Poe’s classic. Inspiration can come at any moment, and while most of the two-wheeled treachery spawned from the depths of Jim’s imagination, the initial seed was actually planted by the movie First Knight where Richard Gere negotiates a deadly pendulum. From the saddle of my F800GS the course looks more like something out of an Indiana Jones flick – piled logs, sand traps, wood ramps and mud pits. About halfway through, the pendulums hung in pairs of two from large wooden scaffolding, four sets spaced just far enough apart to get the largest bikes stopped before hitting the next. They comprised one of 10 sections, each worth 200 points. Nine were scored using a version of trials rules - foot dabs were worth 10 points, getting hit by a pendulum docked 25, out of bounds snared 50 and a crash was a devastating 100 points. A perfect run would net 2000 and infractions were deducted from the point totals which were sorted for individual placing.

As with the day before, a steep descent was first out of the gate. The entire track was built on the side of a hill and onto the flat ground below, so riders dropped into the course like a massive dirt half-pipe. By the time I slipped my Beemer’s front wheel over the edge it had turned into a single dry rut. My Dunlops scraped for traction, found little and the bike slithered in barely controlled chaos down the hill. As merely a transfer from staging to the actual course, survival was the goal here, but some riders would never make it to the first segment. Those of us who did found the sole timed portion where riders raced around a motocross-style layout. One uphill, off-camber left turn was particularly bothersome, another example of how the course became increasingly difficult as powerful engines and wide tires started to break down the soil. The eventual winners were some of the first riders out, proving that although sometimes going first is a bad thing, having a fresh track turned out to be a major benefit.

From there the course entered Pucker Hill, and then onto other sections like Thunder, Gopher Track, Headwall, and, of course, Pendulums. From a distance, the long pipes wrapped in foam looked fairly simple, and my confidence was high. However, as I stared lengthwise down the heart of it I was informed that it too was a no-dab zone, and stopping was impossible, as the futility began to sink in. From behind tinted goggles, the late-afternoon heat pounding my shoulders, my eyes struggled to focus, preferring to take it all in as a criss-crossed latticework of rope, wood and swinging metal.

"The agony of suspense grew at length intolerable, and I cautiously moved forward, with my arms extended, and my eyes straining from their sockets…"

I revved the Parallel Twin, wagged my clutch fingers and lurched into the mayhem. The first clipped my rear end as I tried to halt in the now seemingly tiny space between. No good. The next banged into the Beemer’s front end and I was 0-for-2. This ineffectual cadence continued for the remainder of the section, and what I thought would be an interesting chore wound up just pissing me off. Unfortunately, there are no second chances, and though I wanted to turn around and try again, I was waved forward by the RawHyde staff and sent through the remaining tests, irritated that the Pendulum had won.

In Poe’s version, the subject narrowly escapes the pendulum and is forced again to face the abyss. Fortunately for us, after the second challenge was finished the only thing left to conquer were some ice-cold kegs of beer.

Be it masochism or simple RawHyde loyalty, the men and women around camp seem unanimous in their intent to return. From a participant’s standpoint, the whole thing works very well as a long weekend event, but as Jim explains it, fine tuning the Adventure Riders Challenge has followed the arc of his infamous pendulum. Riders complained the first year because there wasn’t quite enough regular riding. Then, with three days of seat time in 2008, for many it was simply too much time away from work. But this year the public reaction has leveled out, a testament to RawHyde’s ongoing efforts at perfecting the blend.

“I think this is the best we’ve done so far,” Jim says, reflecting on the solid turnout and his developing network of repeat customers. “I’m strongly inclined to do exactly the same thing except change the layout a little. It’s very real world, these are the types of things these riders will face.”

Pausing, he adds, “It’s also a lot like childbirth, you forget the pain.”

source: www.adventureriderchallenge.com

Surfing Wamberal, New South Wales, Australia

Surfing Wamberal, New South Wales, Australia

Perfecting Your Off Road Driving Skills - Practice Makes Perfect

Honing The Building Blocks Of Rock Wheeling

From the September, 2008 issue of 4Wheel & Off-Road
By Kevin McNulty
Photography by Kevin McNulty

If You Think Back To The First Time You Sat Behind The steering wheel of a four-wheel-drive, maybe you can recall the excitement of your first adventure, how you became hooked, and how you thought about perfecting your off-highway driving skills. Perhaps your four-wheel aspirations weren't about conquering the toughest rockcrawling trails or wheeling up the tallest peaks; maybe they were just about being able to explore the backcountry with confidence and skill, knowing that if you found yourself in a tough situation you would have the ability to skillfully and successfully negotiate your way out of it.

Whatever hobby or sport we consider our passion, there was a point in time when we knew very little about it, and for some of us, four-wheeling was that sport.

Anyone can get in a truck and drive, but do they know how to read the terrain ahead of them, and will they know how to react and handle the vehicle and its suspension when it's placed in precarious or dangerous positions? Do they know how to safely spot another driver over an obstacle? Reading a vehicle and terrain at the same time is a skill that's learned from hands-on experience. Basic driving skills are used on the trail, but many factors of automotive physics need to be addressed and there are literally hundreds of other things to consider when driving off highway, such as knowing when it's appropriate to clutch, brake, and accelerate.

Wheeling doesn't always have to be extreme and hard-core, and the staff here at 4-Wheel & Off-Road is always looking for trail time of any form, so when the opportunity to ride along on a rock training clinic for novice four-wheelers popped up, we jumped at the chance. Tom Severin, president of Badlands Off-Road Adventures, holds training clinics and overl and adventure outings around California and the Western U.S. Severin is certified by the International 4-Wheel Drive Trainers Association and is a professional 4WD off-road training instructor with more than 40 years of experience. To top off his credentials, he's an easygoing, nice guy and a fun person to hang out with on the trail.