On Monday, Team Haglöfs Silva will be on the starting line for a big challenge in the Far East. Regular team members Björn and Robert, together with Corrinne Smith (NZ) and Rob Preston (AUS) will race the highly competitive Xtrail Expedition race in China, part of the Adventure Racing World Series. Some of the best Adventure Racing teams in the world are on the start list, including multiple world champions Seagate (NZ), Columbia Vidaraid (ESP) and Estonian Ace Adventure (EST). In the first edition of the Xtrail Expedition, held in September 2016, team Haglöfs Silva finished 3rd, this year we will do all we can to perform even better!
The race will take place in the Altay-region in northern Xinjiang province of China. Its northwest connects to Kazakhstan and Russia and its northeast border with Mongolia, taking us to regions that are not normally accessible to tourists be they Chinese or foreigners. The area is strongly influenced by the Kazak and Mongolian culture and their agricultural and nomadic lifestyle. The surroundings include the Altai mountains, with peaks up to 4500m the great Kanas lake and the Gobi Desert.
Xtrail Expedition is a 500 km non-stop unsupported race with the disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting and rope skills. The race course is unmarked, and teams will use maps and compass to find their way, day and night. The course will pass through mountains and desert landforms and the exact journey is kept secret until 24hrs before the start.
Race start is around lunchtime (local time) June 5th and first team is expected to cross the finish line after 72-84 hours of non-stop racing. We will be doing our utmost to make it there as quickly as possible!
Last year, the Xtrail race had great live coverage, with GPS tracking where dot-watchers all over the world could follow the progress of the race real time. We expect top coverage from the media and GPS again this year.
Follow our progress in China
http://xtrail.arworldseries.com/ and www.arworldseries.com
Team Haglöfs Silva, photo: ARWS