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kabbie_cache
08-28-2007, 11:02 AM
Anybody here ever done this ? No I do not want to do it myself, just came accross it today. This is sick in a bad way, LOL.
http://www.arrowheadultra.com/


Who is tougher than the Arrowhead?


Only the toughest dare apply!



***Update: The 2008 event is open for registration until November 15, 2007 closing date. The Minnesota DNR has set the participant limit to 75 overall and changed permit and trail marking requirements which contribute in part to an an entry fee increase. The gear check begins Sat. Feb 2, 2008 with a pre-race meeting on Sunday and race start of Monday Feb 4th through Wednesday the 6th. The selection of participants will be made before December 1st and a waiting list established for drop outs. See the registration form and rules pages for details.
The 2007 event was the coldest, ugliest race yet with only 10 finishers of 46 starters. The trail was bad just north of the checkpoint near Elephant Lake. We thought the groomed part of the trail south of Myrtle Lake would be better, but it was actually worse. The official temp at the airport during the start was -28F and -35F at low spots on the trail Monday night.
Check the http://www.arrowheadultra.com/bullet_clear.gifBlog (http://www.arrowheadultra.com/blogger/blogger.html) for more details. Please also check out and join our new Message Board http://www.arrowheadultra.com/bullet_clear.gifForums (http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/arrowheadultra)
The Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a non-profit human powered ultramarathon on bike, foot or skis, covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. The course follows a scenic, hilly, State multi-purpose trail under extreme winter conditions the first Monday of February.
Completing the course is no small feat as winter temperatures in this area of Minnesota have been known to reach a record -60F degrees. No wonder the locals have dubbed their town the "Icebox of the Nation" and "Frostbite Falls".
There will be one race check point serving hot soup and water at a cabin about the midway point by Elephant Lake near the town of Orr. Otherwise, racers are fully self-supported with a cutoff time of 60 hours. Each racer is required to carry mandatory food, water and gear as outlined on the rules page to cover the 3 days and 2 nights outdoors. Participants and volunteers must review the http://www.arrowheadultra.com/bullet_clear.gif Handbook (http://www.arrowheadultra.com/handbook.htm) information on winter camping, frostbite and hypothermia before entering the event.
The race will have a few costs for permits, insurance, awards and other incidentals which we will pass on to the racers. There is no purse; however, every finisher receives a unique Arrowhead trophy. Every participant receives an Arrowhead t-shirt. Extra t-shirts can be ordered at the pre-race meeting. There will be three entry categories- bike, run or ski- that the racer may choose at the start of the race depending upon the trail and weather conditions. In addition, we will track times for fun and posterity in Overall, Men's and Women's categories, as well as the coveted Myrtle the Turtle award.
Above all, everyone is expected to enjoy a fun, challenging event!
The Arrowhead 135 Mile Ultramarathon is a founding member of the Badwater World Cup aka the "BAD 135" 135-Miles Worldwide initiative organized by AdventureCORPS, the producers of the Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile foot race from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA. These events will join in a series with several new, unique, human-powered races that traverse 135 miles in extreme environments and conditions, including the Brazil 135.

TML
08-28-2007, 11:19 AM
I have a friend (Josh Peterson aka deathrider) that completed it last year. Most brutal thing he's ever done.

Shawn Jeppeson (jitterjepp) has at least entered it I know.

I love winter camping, and I love riding, but it's not in my near future, I know that. :crazy:

RichZilla
08-28-2007, 11:28 AM
Yeah, one of our LCR guys almost bought the farm there last year. I bet he goes back for more too.

That's how LCR rolls...

berrywise
08-28-2007, 11:34 AM
I had a lot of fun following along with the live race recaps last year. I know I don't have the stones to finish something like that. Didn't someone lose some toes?

jitterjepp
08-28-2007, 01:53 PM
I went but I didn't finish. It's tough for sure but if you keep plugging along and make the halfway cut off point you should be ok. I had been working outside doing construction work in the cold for a few months. I was beat down from working in the cold all day long when I went up there and had just barely gotten over the Flu.

When the race started it was -22 without the wind chill. I got about 30- 40 miles and crawled into my sleeping bag and slept for about 12 hours. When I woke up I felt really good and took off pretty good but because I zonked out for so long I missed the cut-off.

Because of the temps there you may want to take a few things into consideration. My cables froze up and the springs on my derailers were too cold to work. I had to get off the bike and manually shift it. Hand warmer and toe warmer packs helped too.
I think you are required to have 15 lbs of gear as well. They do weigh it and they do have experts there checking all your gear and bike and they actually weigh your sleeping bag and have an expert look it over to see if its the correct temperature rating.

As far as the riding goes...its snow. It's like riding on sand. My advice is to get as far as you can the first day. The snow groomers came in the morning and after they had passed the trail was much harder to ride. I thought it might be easier once they had passed because I thought a piece of heavy equipment would pack it down more but that wasn't the case at all. It was much harder to ride and harder to steer through. The time I though I would gain going downhill was all lost because is was so difficult to control the bike that I often went right off the trail and into the trees and many times had to walk my bike down tiny hills. Stay ahead of the snow groomers.

I love crazy long rides and winter so this totally my cup of tea. Pierre and the other guys who put this event on are really great people too who seemed all about enjoying long rides in extreme conditions in the wilderness rather a bunch of hype. It was also amazingly beautiful out there in the middle of winter with the snow piled up on the pines.

I thought everyone I saw up there was pretty dang cool.

My advice is to go do it.

dopey048
08-28-2007, 02:32 PM
I might throw down on this.

kabbie_cache
08-28-2007, 02:39 PM
I dont think I could ever do anything like this.

You have to be hardcore or a little crazy to do this.

dopey048
08-28-2007, 02:44 PM
The only thing that would hold me back is the time off work. Life of a contractor.

batjerk
08-28-2007, 07:00 PM
Iditasport Extreme... Minnesota style... but I'd bet the route is marked better and probably better organized. (At least from what I've read.)