Gaucho Derby: the WilderDays

Day three of the race began with most riders strung out between Vet Station Two and Vet Station Three, high in the mountains.  Canadian Nichole, cursed with a wretched pack horse who kicked and would not follow, had already pulled the pin on the day's riding and taken a carry forward to Vet Station Three, but those still riding were showing signs of struggling, too.  The bad weather which had started with heavy rain and strong winds on the afternoon of day two had driven several riders to a standstill, so when the snow storm blew in early on the morning of day three, many riders had already been stationary for some time.

As the snow fell, some riders pushed on, trying to make their way down the mountain, while others stayed put waiting for a weather window before they attempted to ride again.  All riders were limited to ten kilograms of gear and they had to carry enough food for ten days, too; the pack horses were only carrying feed for the horses in case it was needed above the treeline.  That's ten kilos for a tent, warm clothes, cooker and food - no joke and not much margin for error.

At the very front of the race, Marie and Corie navigated well to make it safely to Vet Station Three but they were on their own.  The Adventurists sent gauchos into the mountains ready to guide the riders out as soon as the weather improved, but there was really no choice for everyone left on the mountain but to sit out the weather as night drew in.  Erik Cooper*, event manager and hustler extraordinaire, somehow managed to rescue one rider on his horse (I know, I might not believe it of anyone else but where there's Erik, there's a way).  He then set up camp in the relative shelter of the forest which some riders were able to find through the storm and lit a bonfire using... toilet paper.  You really can't make this stuff up.

Sadly, some people were really suffering - Warren, Linda, Roberta** and Zsofia had to be evacuated by chopper and taken to the nearest medical facility in El Calafate.  Understandably the official social media accounts then went pretty quiet, as the organisers scrambled to do the important job of ensuring the safety of all involved.  Roughly half of the riders had to backtrack to Vet Station Two, simply because it was the safest and easiest way to get back to the steppe.  

This chain of events raises some interesting questions for the race.  This is a pioneer event, so the riders know what they have signed up for in terms of the adventure element, but it is still a race and I have it on very good authority that a lot of the riders want to win.  Several concerned friends of Marie and Corie were at pains to point out on social media that Marie and Corie had in fact done exactly what was required of them according to the rules and were keen to confirm that they would not have any lead compromised by the events of the past few days.  It's a tricky one.  How do you balance the adventure side of things with the race?  Something I'll look at in a later post, I think...   

Anyway, the Adventurists have hit the reset button as far as the course is concerned and have come up with a solution that will allow the race to continue tomorrow.  Once the riders get going, I suspect the race atmosphere will have changed somewhat.  We're already seeing new alliances - Hannah Bickett has teamed up with fellow Englishers Louise Daly and Laura Redvers, who hail from the Ledbury hunt and I suspect there will be more.  Watch this space!

*If you'd like to follow Erik (and I recommend you do), he posts lots of attractive photographs of himself and his friends in incredible places on instagram @erikcooperadventurist.  He also leads expeditions in Mongolia, so if you want to see Mongolia guided by someone who knows and loves the country and is good in a crisis, there is no-one better.

**I think - the Adventurists refer to "RL" which I think is a typo, but happy to be corrected