Back Country Travel

Here is a link to one of the best articles I've read about back country travel and the Risk/Reward side of it. Unfortunately the article was tied to the death of 3 snowboarders who were from Seattle, but it sheds a bit of light into what we get out of the adventures we take!

Here a couple of good quotes ...

"The public—mostly people who aren't likely to try backcountry snowboarding or skiing—only hears about the backcountry when people die or are injured. But people play and survive in the backcountry regularly. More importantly, people take risks in everyday life far away from the dangers of the mountains, and many of those risky behaviors are much more likely to kill than backcountry snowboarding. People drink, smoke, or eat themselves into early graves. All of those behaviors offer some form of reward; otherwise people wouldn't take the risk in the first place."

"Anyone interested in the backcountry is naturally more of a risk taker than someone who is inclined to get his kicks on the couch playing Wii"

Happy New Year! What will 2008 have in store for Adventure racing?

Now that we have set foot into 2008 we can all start planning out our life and race calendars. What exciting things will you fill your calendar with...with a child on the way my priorities will shift, however both JVG(the wifey) and I are ambitious about keeping adventure racing and adventure in general as a part of our lives. I guess it will always be part of our lifestyle, but kids tend to shift priorities a bit.

DART-nuun will again focus on international expedition, however I will personally focus on local racing this year and perhaps one international race. A couple of series we have highlighted to participate in locally:

-BEAST (Lottery)

-Big Blue

-Wicked (hopefully back to life in 2008...see Gorge Games comment on CP Tracker series)

-Momar

-Checkpoint tracker Series (National Series)

and internationally:

-Baja Travesia (Baja, Mex)

-EcomotionPro (Brazil)

-Bull lof Africa (South Africa)

-XPD Portugal

In the mean time I'll be sticking to weight training and some long slow distance on my feet and in the saddle. Winter has hit here in the Pacific Northwest and the skiing has been great! Here is a shot of JVG snowshoeing on Christmas day at Steven's Pass. See you in the hills.