More on World Rogaining Champs 2010
We blew it before the race even started. We gambled on gear, and left some cold/wet weather gear out of our packs in an effort to reduce weight.
We’ve been outdoors in New Zealand often enough to know better. These islands in the South Pacific Ocean are notorious for changeable weather, and we *always* pack gear for cold/wet weather just in case. I don’t know why we changed our policy… were we over-awed by the occasion?
Our race was going well. We were happy with our speed, handling nutrition well, and our navigation was accurate. When the weather began to deteriorate, just before dark, we added a layer of thermals and carried on comfortably, albeit in the shelter of some hills, until about 11:00pm Saturday night. Then we climbed onto a hill and into the wind just as the rain began in earnest and the south-westerly cranked up a notch. Robb was getting colder and colder and by 2:30am he’d been quiet for two hours as he concentrated on just moving. We were collecting checkpoints along the ridge line, completely exposed, getting hammered. We agreed our situation was bleak, and struggled through another out & back checkpoint before we found a shred of shelter.
We dropped into the relative protection of a forested gully at #103. Here we reviewed our options and it was a clear choice: safety first. Our route plan involved another 2-3 hours exposed to the wind. Rain and low cloud was reducing visibility, making night navigation significantly more difficult. Robb was shaking badly. I was only slightly better. We were both wearing everything we had with us, and it wasn’t enough. To continue would risk hypothermia. We were too cold to stop anywhere outside, even out of the wind. The hash-house was 6km away, at the bottom the of the hill. Safety first.
At 3:30am we bailed out. I didn’t choose the best route down the hill, but I got us back to base. We covered the distance slowly - I suspect we’d switched off a bit and lost our intensity - arriving at 5:20am. After hot food, hot drinks, and an hour indoors we hadn’t warmed up. We jumped in the car with the heater going, and changed into what dry clothes we had spare. After another hour we had defrosted and forced ourselves back on the course.
Four hours of race time lost. Ouch. I do not regret the decision to bail out, but I do regret that we put ourselves in the situation where it was necessary.
