Adventure Racing

Wow! The last three weeks have been some of the most adventurous and fun of my life! And I owe most of it to a new sport I've been training for: Adventure Racing. I'm pretty sure it's an almost uniquely New Zealand thing, so let me try to explain.

During the first team meeting back in September I got a paper with all the skills I would need to have... here's just a few.

• Orienteering
• Mountain biking
• Climbing/rappelling
• paddling/kayaking
• running - with and without full pack
• using a handheld GPS
• using an avalanche transceiver
• knowledge of NZ geography
• basic Morse code and sign language
• first aid
• group problem solving
• ability to memorize
• mental arithmetic
• fire lighting
• knots and lashings
• speed reading

But I'm not an Eagle Scout for nothing! So I went ahead and signed up, and by the next week trainings had started. Meeting at 6am, no matter the weather, to go running or mountain biking.  What were we training for exactly?

Well the main event of the year is called the Hillary Challenge, a five day competition including a 2-day backpack, 2 days of team problem solving activities, and a triathlon-type race the last day. This is the video of my team winning it last year:

 

The competition is a big deal around here. My school is the defending champion for a few years running now, and saying that I train with them gets me tons more respect even than saying I play on the varsity basketball team. I can even get discounts at biking and camping stores :D

In the past month or so we've hiked all over the mountain by our house as well as the Tongariro Range (where Mordor was filmed). I've been more tired than I ever thought I could be, and  done some of the most crazy fun things of my life.