Preparations for the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition race are already well under way after organisers set off on a route-finding expedition in southern Chile soon after this year’s race – and race director Stjepan Pavicic is hoping to find a spectacular route into a region where the race has never been before.
The most recent edition of the race, the eighth, was run last month on the southernmost course in the event’s history – but Pavicic plans to move back north for the ninth event and is assessing a very special region to decide what lies in store for competitors in February 2011.
“To plan the 2011 edition of the race it is important that we consider the route at least a year before,” said Pavicic. “Every year there is a challenge because there are many areas to explore, but six months ago I studied the maps of the region and I have one strong idea of where we can take the race next year.
“It is important that we do this exploration now and decide what is and is not possible. We will then have other expeditions to look at alternative areas and hope to finalise a location soon so we can begin to work on plans for the next race early.”
The race is designed to test competitors to the limit but also to run through areas that focus on the environmental issues facing the region, which is why the 2010 race travelled through the Wildlife Conservation Society reserve of Karukinka, to raise awareness of the beaver infestation problems in the area.
The final race route is never revealed to competitors until 24 hours prior to the event and it will be no different for 2011 – but if this exploration is a success, Pavicic hinted, the route is set to be more remote than ever and could involve some significant kayaking stages in glacier-fed fjords.
“There are many spectacular areas of Chilean Patagonia to explore but for many years I have dreamed of taking the race closer to the ice field,” said Pavicic. “I want to give competitors the chance to live the experience of the ice.
“This is a massive area of ice – the third biggest in the world after Antarctica and Greenland – and there is a very big region that we have, called the fjords, which has some incredible scenery. We have never taken the race into this area before, and it would be nice to go there.
“We have 40,000km of coastline in Chile because of all the islands down in the southern Patagonia region, and there are many, many places we could go. It is very remote, we have many options in this area – and in a few weeks I should have a better idea of what we can and cannot do…”
The 2010 race route, which followed in the footsteps of explorers Charles Darwin and Ferdinand Magellan, took competitors south through the flat pampas and rolling hills of Chilean Tierra del Fuego, over the Darwin range and across the Beagle Channel through the southernmost point a race has ever reached.
The previous event explored the region’s wild west coast, following a path from the spectacular Glacier Grey in Patagonia’s main tourist region, Torres del Paine National Park, down through the fjords, dirt roads and valleys of the region to the southernmost point on the mainland American Continent at Cabo Froward.
