TrackMe360 Mountain-O Training Race #2 – 100 Lakes
Registration is open! To register your team, click here.
Event Sponsors: iRule and SleepMonsters
June 1, 2008 – Folsom, California. TrackMe360 today announced the second Mountain-O event in its quasi-series of “virtual races”. The first event took place at Mount Diablo in May, and as the snow is melting in the Sierra, we are taking the June race to the sub-alpine area on the Western slopes of the Sierra near Emigrant Gap off Hwy 80. I tried getting a permit here for a “normal event” two years ago, but got stuck in the National Forest red tape, so change of plans – here we go!
What is a TrackMe360 Training Race anyway?
Consider it an opportunity for a fun and challenging work-out in an amazingly scenic place – a place where you’d normally never get a permit approved for a race. The course will bring out the best this area has to offer. It’s a race, but not in the traditional sense. The main difference is teams don’t race simultaneously, and that’s what allows us to race without permits, but a nice side benefit is that people can decide when they want to race (within the race month), to fit their busy schedules. CP markers will be minimal, just a small piece of flagging. No pre-race meeting, no finish banner – just you and the mountain. Could it be any more authentic?
How it works
- -Register for the “race” online at TrackMe360.com
- -Receive the map and a GPS recording device before your chosen “race day”. For safety and redundancy in CP marking, you also get a SPOT satellite tracker.
- -Receive CP coordinates by 5 PM the day before “race day” via e-mail – plot your map.
- -On race day, go race, and the GPS device records your route.
- -Next day, mail back the GPS device and SPOT to TrackMe360.com
- -As soon as the GPS device is received, your results will be posted on the SleepMonsters leader board, “ladder style”, meaning as other people race, the leader board will reflect the order from fastest to slowest teams.
- -After the last day the race is “active”, the winning team is crowned, and all teams’ routes will be posted online in Google Maps, for “post race analysis”.
- -This is all done under the “honor system”, and is considered a training race “with benefits”.
Race #2: 100 Lakes Mountain-O
Our second TrackMe360 Training Race takes place on the Western slopes of the Sierra, near Yuba Gap off Hwy 80 between Auburn and Truckee. Two courses of varying degrees of challenge (short and long) have been designed to showcase the best the area has to offer, with moderate vertical gain and significant cross country travel. The navigational challenge is less about route choice this time, and more about cross country navigation and efficient route finding across complicated terrain. The venue is nothing short of spectacular. It is not as alpine as the high Sierra, but is just about ideal for Mountain-O, with lots of intricate topographic features and many lakes sprinkled throughout the course – water will not be a problem here! There is snow still on the course, but it will gradually disappear (except on north facing steep slopes) through the month of June, and it is totally dense and consolidated and easy to walk and run on without snow shoes. In many cases, the snow makes for easier traveling Both courses will feature some non-technical ridge traversing with stunning views.
-General Location: Near Yuba Gap off Hwy 80 between Auburn and Truckee, CA
-Race is active: Month of June, 2008
-Disciplines: Foot only. Some trail, some cross country, non-technical ridge traverse
-Topo navigation on tear and water proof MyTopo maps – 1:24,000
-Approximate distance: 10 mi. (short course) and 16 mi. (long course)
-Approximate duration: 3.5-6.0 hrs (short course) and 6.0-11.0 hrs (long course)
-Approximate vertical gain: 2,500 ft. (short course) and 4,500 ft. (long course)
-Course designed and pre-run by: Mats Jansson (Aquan/RWG)
-Divisions: Mixed open (any combination of gender and age), team size 1-4
-Registration: $49/team ($39/team if you have your own SPOT)
-Prize: Post race raffle among all “finishers”: iRule inVest (a $120 value)
Parting comments – it is essential to be able to “stay found” by reading the terrain as you travel. If you do this, the navigation is not difficult. The lakes and topo lines provide ample assurance of where you are. Altimeter is essential at times. There will be some hiking up snow fields. Ideally, your shoes should have “sticky” rubber, for safe travel across granite slabs and rock hopping (Salomon’s or notoriously non-sticky).
To register your team, click here. If you have any questions, please e-mail mats@trackme360.com