WORLD’S TOUGHEST RACE RETURNS WITH MOST SOUTHERN COURSE EVER
• New course in remote wilderness creates world’s toughest ever race
• Field of 15 teams – including UK, USA, Japan, Switzerland, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Russia, Germany, Spain, Argentina and Finland
• Follows Magellan and Darwin routes through Chilean Patagonia
January 20th, 2010
The Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race returns for its eighth edition next month (February 9-17) with the reigning champions taking on the biggest field in history on a course that will create the toughest and most southerly adventure race ever run.
Last year’s event, won by British team (and newly crowned Adventure Race World Champions) Helly Hansen-Prunesco, proved its reputation as the wildest race in the world when American Team Calleva became lost and had to be rescued after surviving on berries for four days.
This year the event will mark Chile’s Bicentenary with 600km-plus of trekking, kayaking, climbing and cycling in the footsteps of explorers Ferdinand Magellan and Charles Darwin through the stunning Tierra del Fuego region of Chilean Patagonia.
Race organizer Stjepan Pavicic said: "Every year we explore new areas of Chilean Patagonia to make the race as scenic, wild and unexplored as possible, always at the limit of the possible. The historic average of teams crossing the finish line is below 50%, last year’s race edition it was as low as 30% – so this year is going to be interesting!
We have tried to develop a route with historical significance and one that will give competitors the best – and most challenging – experience of the most remote and pristine area of Chilean Patagonia.
But the value of this race is not only in the physical and mental challenge; it is also in spreading a message to preserve this region. This year that message will be even stronger as the race will pass through Wildlife Conservation Society’s reserve ‘Karukinka’, the conservation area we collaborate to preserve and develop in a sustainable manner."
Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco will lead a 60-strong field of men and women that includes teams from 12 nations all battling for the pride of victory. The ‘Land of Fire’ will provide competitors with challenging terrain of white-capped mountains in the Darwin Range, freezing glacier-fed waters in the legendary Beagle Channel and unpredictable sinking moss, known as peatbog, widely found in Patagonia.
The race, which is supported by the Chilean government and is the only adventure race partnered with an Olympic Committee, will donate all funds generated beyond the operating budget to conservation projects in the region. This year the event will be widely broadcast around the world thanks to a new partnership with broadcaster Hatch TV and distributor Quattro Media.
Video News Release on YouTube:
FOR HI-RES IMAGES, PLEASE CONTACT WG Media
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND CONTACTS
ABOUT WENGER PATAGONIAN EXPEDITION RACE
The Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race is an annual adventure race which takes place in the southern-most region of the world. Top-ranked international teams compete in spectacularly rugged and climatically diverse terrain in the Chilean Patagonia region located between southern latitudes 49º and 56º. Extremely physically and mentally challenging, the event test competitors to the limit on bike, kayak and foot as they traverse plains, mountains, glaciers, native forests, swampland, rivers, lakes and channels, guided only by their mind and spirit and driven on by their physical stamina and experience. Past routes have incorporated the Southern Continental Ice Field, the Torres del Paine National Park, the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego, the Darwin Range, and the Beagle Channel.
ABOUT CONSERVATION SUPPORT
The Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race aims to raise awareness of the need to preserve the fragile terrain of Southern Patagonia. The focus is on educating the global community about the environmental issues facing these isolated and virgin territories, developing sustainable tourism and working to avoid the exploitation of natural resources by non-sustainable industrial activities.
The 2010 race passes through a 300,000ha Wildlife Conservation Society conservation area called "Karukinka", the largest terrain of this kind and one with the very last protected sub-Antarctic forest reserves on earth.
ABOUT WENGER
Wenger was founded in 1893, in the famous Swiss Jura region. It has developed around a passion for innovation, precision and expert craftsmanship and is best known as the maker of the genuine Swiss Army Knife. Today, the company produces approximately 250 styles of their famous pocketknives, as well as butcher's and professional catering knives known the world over. In 1997, Wenger Watch SA was founded in the hotbed for Swiss watches, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. In just 12 short years Wenger Swiss watches have developed a reputation for reliability, multi-functionality and performance. Within the last eight years, Wenger established relationships with a small number of industry leaders who began manufacturing Wenger-branded products that embody the characteristics of the world famous Swiss Army Knife in the footwear, tent, backpack, sleeping bag, computer mobility and travel gear categories.
CONTACT AND UPDATES
For more information on the race and to discuss story ideas or broadcast requirements contact:
Ann Meidinger, Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, Punta Arenas, Chile
e-mail: ann@patagonianexpeditionrace.com
Tel: +56-61-613 893
Will Gray, WGMedia, London, UK
e-mail: wgmedia@gmail.com
Tel: +44 7950 213064
Nancy Harrison, ATMS, Wellington, USA
e-mail: nancy@atmstravelnews.com
Tel: +1 970 568 7423
To follow the race as it happens, visit:
Official website: www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Patagonianrace
SELECTED TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
Team Helly Hansen - Prunesco (UK) - The reigning champions return with same team to defend the title. Female member, Nicola Macleod, is a reigning Adventure Racing World Champion.
Team Eddie Bauer (USA) - Druce Finlay and ex-Marine Valentin Chapa return after their epic battle for survival in 2009, bringing Druce's father Robert Finlay and Paulette Kirby, the oldest woman to compete in WPER 2010.
Team East Wind (Japan) - This is the first Japanese team ever to compete in WPER. Masato Tanaka, the team's captain, has been a professional adventure racer since 1994.
Team Switzerland (Switzerland) - Bernard Hug, captain of the first Swiss team to compete in WPER, has competed in 10 Iron Mans, the Raid World Championships, and the Adventure Racing World Championships.
Untamed New England (Canada) - Team member James Cameron is a wind energy engineer, passionate environmentalist...and does not own a car!
Gear Junkie (USA) - Famous outdoor gear reviewer Stephen Regenold, also known as the Gear Junkie, will team up with three 'Yoga Slackers'.
Team Nord Water (Finland) - This Scandinavian team has two female members, Ingrid Stengard and Noora Pinola, a first for WPER.
Fast and Light (UK) - Team member Simon Fisher has an unlikely profession for an adventure racer - he is marketing manager for junk food giant Krispy Kreme Donuts.