Mergeo@MOMAR

Kimberly and Matt

Squamish MOMAR, May 12th, 2007. 30 m rappel, 40 km combined orienteering, mountainbiking and trekking. Results: 15th overall, 2nd between 4 person co-eds. Some pictures from after-race and pre-race day from MTB trails around.

Matt Hayes:

The Squamish MOMAR was the first adventure race of the season for team Mergeo. Squamish calls itself the “Outdoor recreation capital of Canada” and it lived up to its name this weekend. Beautiful weather helped and there were lots of folks in town for the MOMAR race, rock climbing, wind surfing and kite boarding, and almost anything else you can do outside.

Racing for Mergeo would be Matt Hayes, Kimberly Shavender, Peteris Ledins, and John Foy, who is from Vancouver and was recommended by Gary Robbins of team MOMAR. After doing the rappel skills check we checked in and picked up the race packet. It didn’t reveal too much, only that the race would start at Alice Lake Provincial Park the next morning. Dinner, speculating on the race route and order of events, and last minute gear sorting took up the rest of the evening.

Arriving at the race start the next morning the MOMAR staff was setting up a transition area and we were told to set our bikes up there... guess we won’t be starting on the bikes. A ½ hour before the start we got the maps and started studying. We soon found the first 7 checkpoints weren’t on the map; those would be handed out at the race start. The rest of the course would be a long mountain bike on fire roads and some famous Squamish single track, a hike up Mt. Crumpit, more single track biking, a rappel, and a downtown trek that we would receive the map for at CP18. The start maps were handed out to us folded in half in plastic bags and we were told not to open them until the start. This led to 225 people holding the bags over their head trying to see through the paper and get a hint of where to go.

There was a shout and about half the racers tore open the maps and then the loudspeaker said “Wait a minute, I didn’t say go!”. Everyone looked around like they were completely innocent and were just responding to someone else opening the maps. Finally the race started and we were off. Reading the map at a full sprint I yelled to John the clue: “Look for steps and a bench, get wet!”. We were 2nd to the checkpoint and John jumped into the lake to punch the checkpoint. From there we had a steep climb and decent up Debeck’s Hill and a short bushwack between trails. There were several teams looking in the area of the checkpoint, but we found it first. We tried to be quite and punch the CP before any other teams saw it, but someone saw it and about 5 teams started yelling. A quick run back to Alice Lake and we were off on the bikes. Squamish is known for its technical mountain biking, and we quickly saw why. Trails like Pseudo Tsuga, Snakes and Ladders, and the Powerhouse Plunge are rocky, rooty, and technical and we were running as much as riding.

A flagged trekking section up Mt. Crumpit was next. We set a good pace up the climb, catching a few teams that had gone the wrong way or were moving slower. Just as we were catching the first place 4 person coed team, Suburban RUSH – Second Wind, one of their members rolled his ankle. He was up right away though, and I knew it wouldn’t slow him for long. Sure enough, before we were out of the transition they had arrived. A short section of single track took us to the base of the rappel. There was plenty of confusion as several teams arrived at the same time and all rushed to the ropes. After the 90’ rappel, it was back on the bikes to get the maps for the final trekking section. We received a map of Squamish and a clue sheet for this section. Answering the questions would lead us to the final 4 checkpoints. A stop by two of the race sponsors, Corsa Cycles and North Shore Athletics, a trip to the Lily Garden, and a stop in the Estuary birding park and we could go to the finish.

We finished up 2nd in the 4 person co-ed division after Suburban RUSH – Second Wind had passed us in the final biking and rappel section. A great dinner, awards presentation, and after party rounded out a great day. Race Director Bryan Tasaka, the entire MOMAR staff and volunteers, and Squamish put on a great race and we will definitely be back.

Peteris Ledins:

There were some nice episodes of humour: