Team Rainbow Nation [click for bio]

What a night..... this is turning into the Eco Media Challenge.

Our camp at the race restart was smack dab in the center of a full blown desert sandstorm. At 2am I woke to find our Berber tent flailing in the wind and sand absolutely everywhere. All media were scrambling to gather what they could and head for the shelter of the trucks and the one tent that remained solid — a very loose experience.

"The Spanish team Cepos has jumped to the lead by over 5 hours. The success of this team has been a suprise to everyone as at last year's Eco-Challenge in Australia they were forced to withdraw..."

This morning we loaded into our Moroccan Military Chopper to make the 1/2 hour flight through the Atlas mountains.. We have jumped ahead of the competitors to camp 2. The plan was to take a small chopper hop back up the course to see teams on the rappel section but unfortunately our chopper has broken down and we are stuck. The areas the competitors are now traversing are so remote that no roads exist and helicopter is the only option for us to view them. Several eager photographers have employed local mountain guides equipped with mules and have set off on their own adventures. The trek will take them some seven hours hours each way in the hope of finding some action.

	Media transports

The lead teams will arrive closer to us late tonight as they approach the waiting Berber Horse leg.

Whilst we endured desert sand storms a lot of action was also taking place up in the mountains.

The Spanish Team Cepos has jumped to the lead by over five hours. The success of this team has been a surprise to everyone as at last year's Eco-Challenge in Australia they were forced to withdraw.

The lead teams traveled through the night having to negotiate a series of mountain rappels that would be considered difficult even in daylight.

Several of the leading teams have become lost in the Mgoun Gorge during the climb up to 3000m at PC10. Cepos' take over of the lead team demonstrates that precise navigational skills are crucial and these guys obviously did not make the mistakes that others did..travelling well in the dark with next to no sleep.

Top-10 as they stand
1 Team Cepos Spain
2 Team Wild South Adventure NZ
3 Team New Zealand
4 Team Outback Canada
5 Team Porelle
6 Team Aussie
7 Team Vail
8 Team Adventure One
9 Team Argentina
10 Team Idaho


— Chris Vile, Mountain Zone Correspondent

[Eco Home] [Daily Action Index] [MountainZone.com Home]

© Copyright 1998 The Zone Network     all rights reserved