Sample Untamed Switzerland Stage
For this case study, we'll consider Day #2 from Untamed Switzerland 2008: the Mt. Rigi stage. This
is told from the perspective of Grant the race director.
6:45 AM Wake Up
After nearly 8 splendid hours of sleep at the host bed & breakfast in Luzern, I woke up
and quickly threw on some clothes to head down for the traditional Swiss breakfast of muesli, local cheeses,
and fresh bread. I find one person is already seated at breakfast, looking over their maps for Stage 2 as they
drink Swiss cappucinno. We distribute the maps and checkpoint locations the night before each stage, so
participants can take their time reviewing route options and preparing the maps. It's not uncommon to see a map
or two at breakfast and sometimes people discuss strategy. We've got about 45 minutes until we need to catch our
train to the start location for the stage, so I eat a few bowls of this really good chocolate muesli cereal
(kind of like Cocoa Crispies mixed with Kashi) and then head back to my room to get my backpack and gear
together. My plan today is to follow along with Val Nordquist through the first part of the day;
she's a good friend of mine and what better way for me to keep tabs on the stage and get some good photos,
not to mention the fun and exercise to be had on the mountain. So I'll shadow Val on the stage and hope
I don't cramp her style too much -- I certainly won't assist her with route selection.
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8 AM Train Ride
It's a quick train trip to the town of Arth-Goldau, where Stage 2 will begin. While in transit,
we provide the participants with a briefing on what to expect on the mountain, it goes something like this
:
"OK everyone, the weather forecast is partly cloudy today . . . but as we saw yesterday forecasting weather here
is a very imprecise science. The higher you get in terms of elevation, the less fog and clouds you're likely
to see so make sure you have sunscreen . . . but also keep your warm weather gear handy as the winds are
notoriously tough at the summit of Mt. Rigi and we froze our tails off up there last week confirming the course.
The snow line is right around 1300 meters and snowshoes will be a big plus from that point on. There's an old
mountain cog railroad track from Arth-Goldau to Rigi summit; if you elect to follow the tracks for part of your
day today, beware that the railroad is still active! Watch out for blind turns etc. As for avalanche danger
on Rigi, the checkpoints are all well clear of the dangerous Northeast approach of the mountain; our approach
will be from the Southeast but you can see on your maps all the topo lines coming together in the northeast.
Avoid that area. It will be obvious, so it's not a real concern today. Finally, the lodge at the summit
has great food so treat yourself once you get there -- they have soups, strudel, and my favorite: french
fries."
Once we arrive at our destination, Arth-Goldau, the Stage officially begins.
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9 AM And We're Off!
The start of these Stages is always amusing because it's tough to navigate the streets and alleys
of a town; the topo maps are very accurate, but it's a challenge to get oriented and started in the right direction
when all you have are strange buildings around you. Val takes a direct approach to solving this problem: she gets
out her compass and follows it as close to due West until we're clear of the town and starting up the wooded
slopes of Mt. Rigi. Sometimes we're on roads, sometimes we're on trails, sometimes we're in fields shared with grazing
sheep, and we end up hopping at least one fence and going down one dead end.
It's only about 15 minutes of confusion until Val has us on a trail and moving
towards Checkpoint 1. The pace is brisk, but we're not running -- Val's strategy is to conserve energy
for all the climbing we have. Arth-Goldau is at 450 meters above sea level; Checkpoint 1 is at least
800 meters higher than Arth-Goldau, so we have a steady diet of UP in store for us to CP 1!
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10 AM Bushwhack En Route To Checkpoint 1
Somewhere between the start and CP 1, Val and I had a coversation:
Val: "So Grant, if you're shadowing me to the summit do you have to go where ever I go? "
Grant: "Um . . . yah. But I won't follow you off a cliff or anything. Should I be worried?"
Val: "That's what I figured. So if I want to bushwhack straight up this slope to save time
en route to CP 1, you'd have to follow me?"
Grant (getting concerned): "Um . . . yah. I'd try. You mean through all that dense vegetation?"
Shortly after that, Val sprung off the trail and started bushwhacking straight up a very steep
incline. Thank goodness for trekking poles!
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11 AM Still En Route To Checkpoint 1
We stopped our bushwhack and found some trails that Val liked to take us the final way to CP 1.
For these first couple hours, we had been steadily gaining elevation. I don't think there was a single
down-hill step on this approach. The views to the South were spectacular, and Val stopped to enjoy
the sun and pose for the picture you see to the right. We joked that we would make it the poster shot
for future Untamed Switzerlands, so she'll be glad to find it included here.
Right about now we encountered Scott and Beth, two other participants, who were approaching CP 1 in
the same fashion. They had taken a different route to get this far, but it was
fun to see the two groups team up to sort out the quickest route for the final push to Checkpoint 1.
The participants in an event like this are usually NOT the super-competitive types; it's common
for people to team up, or discuss strategy and help one another in a fashion that you wouldn't see in a
cut-throat triathlon environment. Adventure racing is cool like that. Of course, people like to go
as fast as they can but it's the sense that you're racing against yourself and your own limitations --instead
of the other participants -- that makes for a really positive and fun environment.
Shortly after joining forces we arrived at Checkpoint 1.
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12 Noon On to Checkpoint 2
With CP 1 behind us, and a few other teams in the same area, it was a party on the mountain above CP 1. It
had been a significant climb but the views were amazing and made it worthwhile. The air was crisp enough
that if you stopped moving for a few minutes, you would be quite cold; but while we kept moving and
exerting ourselves the temperature was just about perfect. Checkpoint 2 was next, not too far away,
and beyond that Checkpoint 3 was Rigi summit another 600 meters above CP 1. If you're adding things up,
the total climb for this second stage would be around 1600 meters in total.
The trees were sparse now, but the snow was plentiful, and as we looked up the mountain we could tell it was
time to put on our snowshoes. Val and I took a left turn that the other teams turned right at, and we soon
found ourselves alone on the exposed upper reaches of Mt. Rigi. There were no real trails , tracks, or
signs of human existence up here . . . the solitude was beautiful and the views breathtaking. Everything was
blanketed with snow.
Checkpoint 2 was located at an old bench about 30 minutes from CP 1; we weaved through some snow drifts to
find it ahead of all the others (there
were no other snowshoe tracks around). Val and I then set our sites on the push to Rigi summit.
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1 PM Rigi Summit
The legs were in lactic acid overload for the final push, but we reached the summit and savored the
views for a few minutes. Rigi summit, Checkpoint 3, has a small train station and
a couple restaurants at the top, so we eagerly headed for the hot food. Waiting inside the
summit restaurant were Val's family and Jill (my wife);
we include instructions and time estimates for spectators for each stage of Untamed Switzerland, should
they want to meet up or experience the fun. One reason we chose Rigi for Stage 2 was because of
the excellent public access, making it attractive for non-racers to follow the action and join in the fun.
They had ridden the train up and had been waiting for about 30 minutes until we arrived -- and they confirmed
that we were the first racers to arrive. We paused for 15 minutes to eat
some good food and enjoy the views and good company at the summit.
Val and I decided to part company at this point,
as Val's family (including their 1 year old boy!) were going to hike the flat part together
between CP 3 and CP 4; Jill was going to join me for the trek off the mountain, and we decided to wait for the
next bunch of racers to arrive and travel the rest of the way with them.
In a few minutes Scott and Beth, along with Tom and Deb, walked into the Rigi summit restaurant
with big smiles on their faces. They had taken a few detours, but made it safe and sound and were eager to
sample some Swiss mountain food.
Another observation to make at this point: in a conventional "race" where every second counts you wouldn't find
participants taking time to sit down and eat. While the meal at Rigi summit was far from
leisurely -- I think Tom and Deb
wolfed down their soup in about 10 minutes -- it was still a fun social opportunity and everyone took a pause
to appreciate the magnificent views all around. The atmosphere at Untamed Switzerland is more about the
experience, the beauty, and the challenge . . . the precise time you cross the finish line seems less important
when the landscape is this impressive.
From the Summit, Jill and I joined up with Scott and Beth for the afternoon portion of the Stage. The
four of us were off to Checkpoint 4, a high alpine farm named "Museralp."
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3 PM Museralp
The trek to Museralp starts with a long flat stretch along the Rigi ridgeline and railroad track; the
views are fantastic from up there! Scott and Beth navigated us down (we were just shadowing them -- can't
give them any assistance!), and they chose
about the hairiest trail off that ridgeline you can imagine. To their credit, it was the shortest
distance, but it involved several aluminum ladders down cliffs and very steep and slick places. We kept
the snowshoes in our packs (try going down a ladder in snowshoes!), and put our faith in Scott and Beth's
map skills.
We eventually emerged from the steep wooded trail to arrive at the top of
the high mountain pasture known as Museralp!
The views were stunning, probably the finest of the entire day, and we paused a bit to take it all in.
We could look out and see the finish location for the Stage at the port town
of Weggis -- it was far below us.
Checkpoint 4 was at the bottom of the pasture so we headed down and found it, then set our sites
on Checkpoint 5. While you may skip any Checkpoint in Untamed Switzerland that you want (and
incur a 3 hour time penalty),
Scott and Beth were eager to get all the Stage 2 Checkpoints and so we kept up our pace (just speed hiking
at this point -- with the emphasis, I'd say, on hiking and not necessarily speed)
towards Checkpoint 5.
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4 PM Checkpoint 5 and the Stage Finish
An old complex of mountain lodges, known as "Gallen," marked the Checkpoint 5 location and we found it
in pretty short order after CP 4. The trails were narrow and windy at this point, but mostly flat so
our knees got a break from the steep ups and downs from earlier in the day. We also stopped to
take a lot of pictures during this stretch.
From Gallen, it was just gentle downhill slopes to the Stage finish at the town of Weggis along the shores of
Lake Luzern. The clouds from earlier in the day were long gone and we had spectacular views of the
mountains encircling the lake.
While traveling through the outskirts of the town of Weggis we had a chance to appreciate the
traditional architecture of the
area, with wooden chalet-style buildings dotting the countryside and local farms all arond. Some
houses had lush gardens, including
a few dramatic tulip beds in full bloom. It was a great way to wind down the Stage!
The finish of the Stage was the port of Weggis; to return to our hotel in Luzern,
we would take the ferry across the lake. Our official stage finish time would be recorded by the
timestamp on our ferry tickets, so once we bought our tickets we were able to relax at the waterfront
and appreciate the scenery. We joined Tom and Deb (already there for 30 mins or so -- they
won every stage in 2008!) and soaked in the sun, even making time for a snack before our ferry arrived.
The Stage ended around 5 PM for me, a full 8 hours after we started and my distance was around 12 miles
in total -- it doesn't sound like that fast a pace, but I was making forward progress for nearly the entire
time except for a good 30 minute break at Rigi Summit and some short backtracking at a few tricky navigation
spots. The concensus from the 2008 participants was that Stage 2 was the "easiest" of the Stages in 2008, but
didn't skimp on beautiful scenery and was a great workout as well as a lot of fun.
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