April Adventure Racing Camp provides fun, excitement, and challenge for all

Pura Vida Adventures hosted its first three day adventure racing camp of 2009 this past weekend on April 17-19. Over the three day camp participants learned how to read and paddle whitewater in inflatable kayaks, basic river rescue skills, proper rappel technique, rope assisted climbing , land navigation, utm plotting, and map reading.

Team Tantric at the river

Participants in this camp ranged from age 39- 72 and brought everything from intermediate adventure racing experience to no experience at all. In addition to the skills taught above classroom sessions talked about team dynamics in adventure racing, essential gear, types of races and what to eat. The camp participants were also offered technical gear advice, and advantages and disadvantages of different water treatment options, headlamps, electrolyte replacement, and knives from gear guru and owner of Looking Glass Outfitters, Phil Hoffman.

Team Tantric negotiating the rapids

Day one of the camp focused on whitewater including classroom sessions on what to wear and water reading technique, as well as, learning river rescue skills in a land based environment. The afternoon course work on the river was the highlight of the day as participants had the opportunity to practice the skills they learned in the classroom first by negotiating the class II rapids of the lower Green River, and secondly by having the opportunity to practice river rescue skills such as rope throwing rescues and whitewater swimming. The day ended with a discussion of the types of adventure races and gear demands for various races, including the ten gear essentials of adventure racing.

Stan Grochowski river swimming in the whitewater swimmers position

Reb McCown rappelling

While day one had found participants swimming in whitewater day two first saw participants suspended on a rope in mid air as they learned appropriate rappel and rope assisted climbing techniques. The afternoon was spent in the classroom learning how to use a map and compass. These classroom techniques were then applied and improved later that day as participants split up into two teams and navigated their way through a orienteering course, whose points they had plotted while learning UTM gridding. Day two would prepare the teams well for their five hour adventure race on Day 3.


Sinead Ingersol navigating in the backcountry

Sunday morning began with an opportunity for participants to share their experiences from Sat evenings land navigation course, as well as ask any additional questions they had about navigating. After a short break to prepare for the race the two teams Chaos http://www.teamchaosar.com/ and Tantric were given there maps and passports and given an opportunity to review the race course. After some final directions from the race director. The two teams headed to the start of the race.

Team Chaos at checkpoint 4 of the bike leg

The race was a rogaine style event with a maximum five hour time limit. For every 5 minutes late after 5 hours teams would lose credit for one points. Positioning would be determined fist by most points reached after penalty time followed by the total time on the course in case of a tie for points earned. The course comprised both trail navigation as well as off trail navigating and consisted of 4 foot points and 5 bike points. The teams were off after a split start where Chaos began on foot and Tantric began on bike.

Four hours and fifty minutes later the rookie master's team Tantric crossed the finish line after grabbing 4 out of 5 bike points and 2 out of 4 foot points. Finishing the course not only in under the allowed for time but showing that they had learned quite a bit of land navigation by grabbing one of the two off trail navigation points.

Team Tantric finishing the race

Team Chaos finished in a time five minutes faster and nearly cleared the course missing just one bike point to ensure they made it back to the start in the allowed time.

After the race the two teams shared their experiences and a graduation ceremony was held for all adventure racing camp participants.

Rich Ingersol of Team Chaos http://www.teamchaosar.com/ summed up the adventure racing camp with these simple words "thanks for a great weekend...definitely had a good time and learned a lot."

Pura Vida Adventures has additional three day racing camps scheduled for May 29-31 and June 25-29th. In addition interested participants can schedule their own camp date if they have three or more people and can choose to come for one or two skills specific days for any camp. Inaddition to the three day camps, Pura Vida Adventures offers five day comprehensive camps in the Spring and Fall. Please call 772-579-0005 or email contact@pvadventures.com for further detail.

Transylvania County North Carolina and Surrounding Area offer Rock Climbing Opportunities for All

From beginner to expert, from bouldering to multi pitch leads Transylvania County and the area surrounding Asheville has climbing opportunities that will provide challenge and adventure for participants of all ability level. Although this area of North Carolina is dominated by traditional rock climbing; there are opportunities for mixed and sport routes, which can be difficult to find without getting some information from local climbers.

For those novice and intermediate climbers looking to improve their skills you need to look no further than Cedar Rock, the Sunwall, and South Face of Looking Glass. These areas offer opportunities for top rope climbing as well as moderate lead routes with good protection. The “super classic” Nose route at the Sunwall is a must do for any climber who is competent and comfortable on a traditional four pitch lead of class 5.8 climbing.

Those climbers who are looking to stay close to the ground will find bouldering opportunities around the north and south face of Looking Glass.
For those looking for a guided rock climbing experience Pura Vida Adventures, offers guided rock climbing trips for beginners and instructional courses for those interested in learning more.
Additional information on climbing in the area can be found in “The Climber’s Guide to North Carolina” written by Thomas Kelly. Regardless of your ability level be safe, use good judgment on the rock, and know your limitations.

Joe Moerschbaecher is the owner of Pura Vida Adventures and works as an adjunct faculty member in Brevard College’s Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education Program. He can be reached at contact@pvadventures.com.

Step by Step Explanation on performing a self rescue in Open Water

The technique described below is for performing a self rescue with a paddle float and bilge pump in open water.

The information here is not a substitute for instruction from a competent professional, but is rather a guide to use when practicing this skill. It is recommend that you practice this skill first in a controlled environment such as a pool and master it there, prior to practicing it on open water. The self rescue technique needs to practiced often to keep proficiency once it is mastered.

Equipment needed:

sea kayak

pfd

spray skirt

paddle float

paddle

bilge pump

Self rescue ocean/sea kayak

1) Perform proper wet exit
-----Grab the grab loop and pull
-----Push boat off like a pair of pants
2) Hold kayak and paddle on water surface
3) Flip kayak right side up
4) Grab paddle float place fully on paddle blade
5) Inflate paddle float
6) Insert other end of paddle under bungee and deck line (2/3 of paddle in bungees)
7) Climb onto kayak with stomach on stern deck, using one leg on paddle shaft for assistance. Note weight should always be leaning toward paddle float
8) Place both feet in cockpit, maintain a low center of gravity
9) Rotate body into proper sitting position rotating toward paddle float
10) Bilge water out of cockpit
11) Put sprayskirt back on
12) Remove paddle from under bungee cord and breakdown paddle float
13) Secure bilge pump and paddle float and continue paddling

Pura Vida Adventures offers instruction in this skill, as well as other skills used in sea and ocean kayaking, including navigation, chart and tide reading, eskimo roll, ocean entry and exit, expedition planning and logistics.

In addition to our open water kayaking courses we also offfer whitewater kayaking instruction courses.

Please contact us if interested in learning more about our services. contact@pvadventures.com 772-579-0005