Discussion: Expedition Idaho 2011

is anyone following this race? i can't believe over 100 posts for RTNX and none for this one. the organizers are doing an great job of updating and it seems everyone's gear bins are arriving at the appropriate times.

http://www.expeditionidahorace.com/

I've been following it but without a leaderboard its not as easy to follow as RTNx was. The SPOT tracker which allowed you to see the routes taken by each team at RTNx was great, if the same feature is available for EX ID I haven't seen it. Its just showing where each team is as far as I can tell. The RD blog has been entertaining with updates.
Thule and Seagate are in a league of their own at the moment. Hoping LiM can rally.

Crazy fact #1- At least three teams have members who raced in RTNx...

It does appear they are having SPOT issues as teams appear to have moved backwards in time and space. They are now back to 8/16 loctions. But the blogs are fun to read.

I think the Attackpoint discussion on RTNX was popular because we weren't getting much info from the race organization so we were trying to piece things together for ourselves. When events provide good live coverage, spectators can "hang out" on the race website itself.

Really curious to hear racers feedback on the race's unique format. Also seems like lots of 'challenges' that I'm not into. Esp. in an xped race.

Wasn't able to follow it due to Wilderness Traverse. What are some examples, Gold Panner?

survival quest did seem a bit gimicky, but the TAs sounded well stocked with volunteers, hot food and gear bins...

Slacklining, Gondola rides, building rafts/sailboats, legos (YES legos), building fires, a cut off to reunite lead teams with back of pack, sleep (off the clock)(pretty sure the lead team Thule got close to a 24 hour rest) and restart in the AM for the final bike ride to the finish. BUT I am looking forward to talking to friends that raced it. There was talk amoungst folks there to have a adventure tourism 'race' next year.

Different...

Adventure tourism "race". Bash we could rock that. We're pros at Adventure race vacations now.

That is true - although I'm afraid Mrs. Tiny would push us too hard. She's become an animal!

The Spots were nothing but trouble. I thought that the Survivor Quest would be hooky but it ended up long and hard. It was fun watching one teammate try to tell the other how to put legos together. The 2 "O" sections took nearly 4 hours. The first was on a O course and the second required really close nav. It was also fun to see the different ways to build a raft, bottom line simple is better. Building the fire is a nice skill to have. Nobody complained about all the food they got. FYI to Gold Panner, everybody said you would hate it.(laugh).
The section took10-16 hours so it was a real part of the race.
The top teams got stopped for the simple reason that they were to fast. Even with the rests and a extra trek Thule were 15 hours ahead of the fast time.
Nobody complained about the gondola ride that took out a 2 hour climb.
I don't know about the top teams but from 5 on back they loved the race and the format. The race made sure that they could do as much of the course that they could.
The final night Dark Zone made for a great finish. The teams finished and then walked thru 2000 music fans drinking beer. It was wonderful to see the handshakes,high fives, and beer being handed to the racers.
Also all the bins made it on time.

I am sure everybody has heard somebody got hurt at the race. That was my wife Paulette Kirby. She will be fine. She had a simple bike crash and ended up with 3 broken ribs, cracked sternum, and broke 2 vertebra, one in her neck and back. She got airlifted out in a basket and will spend 3-4 months in a brace.
She is looking at Untamed for her come back.

So sorry about Paulette's accident, Randy. That must have been very difficult for you to deal with as you were filming the race. Please give her a (gentle) hug from the Canadian AR community. Wishing her a speedy recovery.