Primal Quest

Primal Quest is an expedition-length adventure race that has been called one of the difficult athletic events in the world and is cited as the most prestigious expedition event in North America. [ Leadership in the Wild, Forbes, June 26, 2006, p. 37] The race once featured the largest prize purse in adventure racing, and has been called the Super Bowl of adventure racing. [Primal Quest to return in '06, possibly through Colorado; Adventure racing's premier event could bring unprecedented TV deal, Summit Daily News, August 4, 2005, P. C1] Each race lasts up to ten days, with winning teams completing the course in approximately six days. Each team is required to have four members and must be co-ed.

Each team is required to carry a GPS monitoring device allowing race organizers and spectators to track each team real-time via the Internet on the [http://www.ecoprimalquest.com Primal Quest] website. This device does not offer any navigational assistance to the teams. In an emergency, the teams can use the tracking devices to signal for help.

Race history

The first Primal Quest was held in 2002 in Telluride, Colorado. In 2003, the race moved to Lake Tahoe and 2004 featured a course on San Juan Island, in the State of Washington. CBS broadcast highlights of the race in 2003 and 2004, the first expedition adventure race to be featured on network television.

Primal Quest was not held in 2005 but returned in June 2006 to the Utah desert where racers faced a course of approximately 420 miles and temperatures exceeding 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Returning to the roots of adventure racing, no support crews were permitted for the racers, requiring teams to carry more gear and up to three days of food. Disciplines included mountain biking, trekking, horseback riding, technical rope skills, mountaineering, kayaking and white water swimming. Primal Quest Utah was broadcast internationally as four one-hour episodes on ESPN2 and a one hour recap and finale on ABC Sports. Barrett Productions produced the video.

Primal Quest Montana 2008

Primal Quest 2008 is being run in the Gallatin National Forest, near Bozeman, Montana, starting on June 23. The course extends approximately 500 miles and will include more than 100,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain, advanced whitewater kayaking, and snow over much of the higher elevation sections, in an area with the highest population density of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.

With many navigational landmarks buried under unexpectedly heavy snow, the race coordinators made a controversial decision to allow teams to carry GPS navigational devices. These are to be carried in sealed bags. If the bags are opened, the team will be penalized. Previous Primal Quest races have not allowed the use of GPS navigation. The effect could be to level the field, as the topmost teams often include world class professional navigators who are skilled at working with map and compass.

During the race the teams can be tracked [http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/leaderboards-and-tracking/map.php at this website] . Updates are provided by a SPOT satellite messenger placed on one member of each team. Updates are sent over satellite to race tracking and leaderboard software which updates approximately every 10 minutes during the race.

Previous races

=2002 Telluride=

#SoBe/SmartWool - became Nike ACG/Balance Bar in 2003
#Team Montrail
#Team GoLite

2003 Lake Tahoe

#Nike ACG/Balance Bar
#AROC
#Team Seagate

2004 San Juan Island

#(tie) Seagate; Nike ACG/Balance Bar
#
#Holofiber

2006 Moab Utah

#Nike PowerBlast
#GoLite/Timberland
#Merrell/Wigwam Adventure

2008 Montana

#Nike
#Merrell/Zanfel Adventure
#Bones

External links

* [http://www.ecoprimalquest.com Primal Quest Home Page]
* [http://www.racingwithgiants.com/NonFramesSite/Primal%20Quest/Primal%20Quest%20Home%20Page.html A variety of Primal Quest Videos]
* [http://thegearjunkie.com/adventure-primal-quest-adventure-race Photo essay on the race]
* [http://thegearjunkie.com/videos?vidID=0 Video of the 2006 race]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458298/ Information on 2006 Primal Quest Video]
* [http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~wilsonda/TeamEffectivenessAR.pdf Study on Primal Quest Participants]

2008 Primal Quest Montana Team Websites

* [http://www.dancingpandas.com/ Dancing Pandas]
* [http://www.racingwithgiants.com/ Racing with Giants]
* [http://www.teamenduringfreedom.com/ Team Enduring Freedom]
* [http://www.racestlouis.com/ Team Join Parents]
* [http://www.teampuravida.com/ Team Pura Vida]

Notes