Örnsköldsvik, 23 January 2006

Now we are facing a new exciting adventure racing year, and the preparation for the AR World Championship 2006, is going really good. View website
 

ARWorld Series Dates to be Announced

The dates and events in the ARWorld Series 2006 will be announced on the new arworldseries.com website shortly
 

All Teams Home in 2005 Adventure Racing World Championship

All teams in the 2005 Adventure Racing World Championship have arrived home although some a little later than others. Cross Sportswear crossed the finish at 6.47pm and Sierra International at 7.58pm last night.But the Kiwi team Orion Adventure did not arrive out of the bush at TA 10 until this morning at 8.15am. They missed the after party function and are all in good spirits!
 

Merrell finish

Merrell Wigwam have made it to Tauranga Bay in sixth place.
 

Fourth and fifth are in

Port Nelson has finished the race in fourth at 4.21pm 22 minutes ahead of Swedish team Halti who came in fifth.
 
View News in Brief Archive
11-Sep-2010 08:28:43

The Weather has always played a part

24-Oct-2005 13:15:03
 
"The weather is also a major influencing factor. Each year the Southern Traverse has attracted its share of inclement weather which has had an effect on the race course and competitors. With the event this year in the Buller region we may expect to attract more Nelson type than West Coast weather," he says." Some of the bush is a bit kinder as well, being more beech trees and tussock, rather than the unforgiving monkey shrub competitors encountered last year. There is also lots of good single track mountainbike riding which they will enjoy."

The caving section, introduced for the first time, could be testing for some teams with its tight squeezes and narrow passages.

"It's quite unique and while it requires an abseil it doesn't need any physical skill," says Mr Hunt. " It's all in the head and while some people will automatically handle it others will find it intimidating and may have to conquer their fears."

While all the teams who complete the event will be skilled at all the disciplines the winning teams will be the ones who get the navigation right.

Several Kiwi teams have already been training in the area trying to identify where the course might take them. "Some parts are not too difficult to work out," says Mr Hunt, "but we have some surprises as well."

ARWorld Series organisers say this year's race is definitely not 'a Southern Traverse rebranded.'

"The Adventure Racing World Series was set up to include 10 events around the world which act as qualifying races for the ARWorld Championship. It was a conscious decision to have a pool of events which would culminate in a premiere world event."

Mr Hunt says the concept has taken off and adventure racing athletes regard the ARWorld Championship title as a prestigious one to win.

"The two top teams from each race in the ARWorld series will be in New Zealand for the ARWC which speaks for itself. Just over 1000 athletes all up will have raced in the qualifying events which lead up to the West Coast race in November. The competition is going to be intense, with NZ$100,000 and a world title at stake."

Competitors are entered in the 2005 World Championship from New Zealand, USA, Canada, Australia, France, Poland, Czech, South Africa, Sweden, Finland, Brazil, Holland, Chile, Spain, UK, Guatemala, Croatia, Russia and Japan.