The Bergson winter Challenge claims to be the only winter expedition adventure race in the World, but two hours in and sweating profusely, Team Aberdeen Asset Management were beginning to wonder what they had let themselves in for. With nary a patch of snow around and the sun beating down it was not looking like the winter race we had been preparing for by making skiing training excursions to Scotland and France. Here in Poland we were facing the less often practiced discipline of tramping up mountains with temperatures in the mid-teens and skis strapped to our OMM packs. Unluckily for us most of the other teams were expert skiers and were only carrying lightweight racing skis, while we lumbered up with heaver backcountry skis and boots, chosen for the expected deep powder and ease of use.
This was the first chance for the new look Aberdeen Asset Management team to race together and we chose the Bergson Winter Challenge for the adventure, easy accessibility and chance to have a go at something completely different in an AR race – skiing. Getting to Poland was straighforward and the excellent race organisers had arranged airport transfers for us, from Krakow back to the race HQ in the Southern town of Piwniczna-Zdroj, where all competitors in the Masters race were accomodated in a basic but functional hotel, opened especially for the race. Business seemed to be quiet in the hotel industry in the area as the much needed snow to keep the local ski runs functioning seemed to have disappeared at an alarming rate and we really had to squint to the high summits to make out any glimmer of snow. Despite this, we did not know what lay on the higher summits and the organisers insisted that there would be some skiing, or at least we would be carrying our skis on the first ski section…
The race maps were as usual premarked, custom maps with lines drawn directly between checkpoints like an orienteering map, which on first glance was very confusing as they crisscrossed and several checkpoints and transitions were used on multiple occasions, but with further study it all became clear and it proved an excellent navigational aid even if the original cartographers hadn’t been 100% accurate!
The race began with a 5km orienteering section around the town of Piwniczna-Zdroj, with teams free to choose any order to collect the 6 controls. As it turned out one direction made it easier to find a misplaced control than the direction Aberdeen Asset took and we lost a few minutes on the lead teams by the time we got back to town to collect our ski-loaded packs for the first ski/hike section.
Here we began the sweaty climb up onto a ridge separating Poland and Slovakia, with stunning views all around and little snow to slow us, we began to pick up some places, eventually travelling with Polish team Speleo Salomon and Swedish team Extreme Sports swapping positions as they attempted skiing while we ran down the hills nearly as quickly. Shortly before reaching the first control Warren Bates gave John Laughlin a thorough introduction to racing with Aberdeen when he turned around abruptly to tie a shoe lace and his sharp metal ski edge came crashing down on John’s nose, creating a bloody scene, but thankfully no bone breakage. Nick Gracie then joined in the torment by swinging a bit too aggressively with his ski pole and brushed John’s eyelashes with the tungsten carbide tip! Still no serious injury caused and soon after we were able to try out our skis for the first time, with moderate success and control, while some of the more gung-ho skiers with perhaps too much adrenaline and testosterone spent as much time blitzing down the trails as they did picking themselves up when they hit rocks, trees or barren snow patches. Some picked up injuries in doing so that would cause them grief for the rest of the race, most notably Michael Lindnord of Extreme Sports, who had a haematoma on his thigh the likes of which hasn’t been seen since a certain Helen Jackson in the ARWC 2007.
Darkness quickly approached and our first important route choice. As non-skiers it seemed obvious to us to take a straight road followed by steep scramble to the next checkpoint, rather than taking a longer but more gradual ascent that may have suited the skiers. We were not alone in taking this route, the Swedes, now separated from us, choosing the same way, however, somehow we managed to lose half an hour on the teams that went the other way and dropped to 11th place!
The first rope section, that are a real feature of this race, was a simple 15m caving ladder climb alongside a wooden tower, with an abseil off the other side. Nick Gracie got a torrid introduction when the safety line, meant to protect him, was pulled taut too quickly and the karabiner on the end smashed into his mouth breaking a tooth in half. The downhills were also taking their toll, with hardpack trails and heavy packs carrying skis, boots and unnecessary winter kit, Iona was really feeling it as shin splints became increasingly painful.
Not too long later we were back at Transition A, which happened to be the hotel that the race was based in. We were allowed back to our rooms with access to all our remaining kit, and most importantly, our beds. We had planned to get sleep banked early on, so we could push on through in the later sections on the race, when others began to flag. In no time at all, three hours in the sleep bank was deposited and we were off on our bikes. It felt extremely strange getting on our bikes to find we were last place in the race but with fresh legs and brains we were soon overtaking teams and in no time arrived at Transition B, to complete a white water rafting task. Changing in rapid time, overtaking another couple of teams in transition by dispensing with the optional wetsuits and getting straight to the front of the queue, we were on the raft in no time. The task was to paddle upstream through a hanging gate, then turn downstream through some more gates and then complete a circuit round a large rock before paddling hard back upstream for one more gate, then coast downstream for 100m more. Simple really. Apart from that rather easy to say but difficult to do circuit of the rock, which we totally managed to screw up, gaining 15 mins penalty in the process. Nevermind, most other teams did the same but we were quickly out on foot for the biggest trek of the race.
The trek was a beautiful tramp around some hilly terrain on a series of waymarked trails, a real feature of this area, indicating perhaps that these trails were rather more popular in the summer months. Under an unseasonally strong sun it felt like summer to us and the only taste of snow was on the highest summits and on the High Tatras Mountains which shimmered in the distance. Down at lower levels the sun had us sweating with exertion as we tackled a two part rope traverse across a river, the slack line creating a steep last section to pull ourselves up, but with a bit of safety rope use and some team work we managed to help each other across and back onto the trek along a stunning ridge.
After a bit of castle exploration, as the sun began to wane we set about tackling the ‘ropes park’. Here we were faced with four ropes problems, and we had to tackle one each. John was lingering at the back approaching the ropes and before he knew it he’d been volunteered to take on the “hardest challenge”, a 120m angled jumar ascent. Long as it was, at least he was upright and it was just a case of getting in a rhythm and presevering. Warren, however, had opted to complete the supposedly easier 50m tyrolean traverse, but as this involved holding himself in a situp position for far longer than is comfortable in a climbing harness that was doing nothing for any future family prospects, he was suffering for every inch along that rope! Meanwhile, Iona was completing a rock climb in super quick time and Nick was completing a straight forward vertical jumar. Once off the ropes we headed up into the night and the highest hill of the day, passing a floodlit ski resort and tempting Carlsberg beer tents. The long hike was taking its toll on Iona’s shins but she bravely soldiered on and eventually we returned to Transition B to collect our bikes.
The next bike ride was a 100km of near constant road riding, with a hilly start but flat latter half that had us struggling for inspiration to stay awake until the dawn rolled around and the traffic began to thunder past keeping us on our toes. The night had passed relatively uneventfully and not long after dawn we arrived at a good wake up call, a 30m jumar and abseil. We worked well as a team to efficiently kit everyone up, carry out the task and get moving again and soon afterwards we trundled up the final unrelenting hill into Transition C, a large mountain hut with hot soup and beds on offer. We decided it was a good idea to get a bit more sleep before venturing out onto the next 15km but hilly trekking section. A quick half hour of shut eye and we were off hunting for checkpoints in the forests surrounding the transition, finding ourselves in 5th position by this stage, but throwing away a massive amount of time by slack navigation, allowing the Ukranian team behind us to make substantial inroads into our lead.
A slick transition and we were back on our bikes heading back towards Transition A, our hotel. Unfortunately, to get there we had to complete the longest and hilliest ride yet with a couple of rope sections and two hike-a-bike sections to tackle. Feeling good after our earlier sleep and not being slowed by Iona’s bad shins on the bike, we were able to push on, work together and pass the teams that had snuck past due to our slow trek stage. Turning up the tempo as we climbed with the Ukranian’s we left them reeling and hit the next checkpoint, hidden in a dark forest, and swiftly moved on before they appeared. It was the last we saw of them all race. The final hill was the highest and involved a good half an hour of pushing up an ice covered track to the summit hut where we were faced with a rigorous gear check, that some teams had fallen foul of. From here it was a fantastic 4km of downhill ‘hike-a-bike’ on deep snow covered tracks that were intermittently rideable and intermittently bike swallowingly deep. As we descended, the falling snow turned to rain but the Paramo Velez jackets we had on were superb at keeping us dry and comfortable even when we hit the roads and were blasted with spray from each other’s tyres at 40mph.
Back in transition A for the final time, we grabbed another hour of shut eye and set off on the final 38km trek/ski at dawn, feeling fresh and confident of holding our 5th position, but unable to really push for a higher position as the teams in front were just out of reach and Iona was already putting in an incredible effort to surmount the pain from her shin splints. Pushing any more was only going to be detrimental in the long run, so we used the trek as an opportunity to debrief on our race performance and discuss plans for the year ahead. It was another stunning, warm day and we were happy taking in the views and craic, though conscious to keep a decent pace to prevent being caught by the Ukranians again. A brief stop in at another mountain hut filled us up with tasty chicken broth and the option to take our skis for the remaining 23km. Given the minimal good skiing conditions we’d had previously we declined the chance to carry our skis again and headed off on foot, though after a while of trudging through deep powder we began to think we may have made the wrong decision, however, we later found out that the only team that had taken skis hadn’t been any quicker than us on foot. Unfortunately the decision to scoff the chicken broth may not have been the wisest either as all four of us started to suffer with cramping guts and initiated our own methane production line, making things just a little unpleasant.
Our final rope challenge was another rope traverse, this time across the river 200m from the finish line in Piwnicna-Zdroy. In the late afternoon sun we took our time and worked on practicing setup techniques and unexpectedly rescue techniques, as Nick Gracie’s climbing harness began to disintegrate midway across as a result of some earlier damage. With Nick hanging by one leg loop, but in no real danger, we had to use the often carried but rarely used rescue line to actually rescue him and pull him back to dry land. Nick, calm throughout, seemed to chill out even more thinking he’d managed to get out of completing the traverse, however, it was not to be and the rope technicians insisted he borrow another team harness and complete the activity! Eventually we all got across and wandered the last few metres to present ourselves on stage at the finish line in the town square to an enthusiastic crowd, almost, but not quite, numbering into double figures!
The race was an interesting start to the season and a worthwhile exercise for testing out the new team formation. We finished 5th, with eventual winners Navigator Suunto Poldim of Poland holding off the experienced Speleo Salomon into 2nd place. The Bergson organisers did a great job, putting on a well run, great value and professional race which we’ll be looking to go back to in 2009.
