Shorting the time by almost 3 hrs from the previous lead team, team Tim & Karl (Tim Kuenster and Karl Royer) got through the course in just over 8.5 hrs, AND pocketed the 75 minute time bonus with a speed climb to the summit of Mt. Price. 20 minutes from CP3 to the summit – Yuji and Hans, look out!

The optional CP4 is a bit exposed – people with a fear of heights, and limited climbing experience might opt out, OR, go for a less direct ascent than team Tim & Karl. Full leader board at SleepMonsters here.

There is still time to bump Tim and Karl off their perch – the Desolation course is open through August. Register here.

Adventure On!

“East Bay Orienteers”, a team of very fast and competitive BAOC orienteers, have posted an incredibly fast time on the Desolation short course. Their time of 3:25:05 will be hard to beat. I’d say the challenge is on – can the adventure racing community fight back? There is still time, as this course is open through August. The smoke has cleared, and the mosquitos are gone (well, almost) – get up and experience the Sierra at its best! Register here.

Team “Thomas and Thomas” (Tom and Betty Thomas) posted the fastest time on the long course at 10:08:16, but they are sure to be challenged by a few recent teams where I have not yet received their GPS trackers back.

Results here.

Rich Brazeau, former chief of Primal Quest, is heading out this coming weekend with Jen Klafin of baarbd fame, so look for their results some time next week. Team name…”Black Ink” – Rich are you getting a tat or is it a tribute to the octopus? Whatever…

Adventure On!

Mats J

Registration is open! To register your team, click here.

Event Sponsors: TBD and SleepMonsters

July 1, 2008 – Folsom, California. TrackMe360 today announced the third Mountain-O event in its quasi-series of “virtual races”. The first events took place at Mount Diablo and near Yuba Gap on the western slopes of the Sierra. In the third installment, we are taking you to a magnificent, alpine area – The Desolation Wilderness. This is an an area where you could never, ever, put on a traditional race – permits are limited to groups of 12 – no exceptions. But because of our unique race format, YOU WILL be able to race there with TrackMe360.

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 #3: Desolation Mountain-O

Our third TrackMe360 Training Race takes place in the Desolation Wilderness, near Wrights Lake, off Hwy50 between Placerville and South Lake Tahoe. 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 some cross country travel. The navigational challenge is partly about route choice but more about cross country navigation and efficient route finding across complicated terrain. The venue is nothing short of spectacular. The courses takes you through coniferous forest lands, through sparsely tree covered granite slab slopes onto steeper, rockier alpine terrain. On the long course, a little snow remains up high, and can be used to the racers advantage. Many streams and lakes are encountered on the course- water is plentiful. The long course also features an optional CP (for time bonus) at the summit of Mt. Price, a spectacular, exposed peak in the Crystal Range.

-General Location: Desolation Wilderness, near Wrights Lake, off Hwy50 between Placerville and South Lake Tahoe, CA
-Race is active: Months of July and August, 2008
-Disciplines: Foot only. Some trail, some cross country, minor snow fields, some exposed rock scrambling at optional CP on the long course
-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: 3.5-7.0 hrs (short course) and 6.0-12.0 hrs (long course)
-Approximate vertical gain: 2,400 ft. (short course) and 4,600 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”: TBD (approximately $100 value)

A couple of pictures from the course:

To register your team, click here. If you have any questions, please e-mail mats@trackme360.com