Posted: July 22, 2004

Adventure Racing: American Teams Line Up For The 2004 Southern Traverse

July 22 2004: Several American teams are among the international line up registered so far for the 2004 Southern Traverse which is being raced on the West Coast of the Southern Alps in November

The West Coast Development Trust is principal sponsor and $40,000 in prize money will be allocated to the top three teams. First place wins $30,000 and free entry to the 2005 Adventure Racing World Championships. The runner-up will win $7,000 and $3,000 will go to the third team home.

Three first time entries from USA - OAGear.com, Flight and Cranksport.com - will bring experienced adventure racing competitors to New Zealand for the event.

Race director Geoff Hunt is pleased with the strong offshore interest.

"It is great to see these teams entering and in most cases it seems to be a kind of mysticism relating to the Southern Traverse which is the attraction."

OAGear.com captain James Molaschi says he has wanted to enter the Southern Traverse for some time.

"Two years ago I told myself that only three races mattered in life. The Beast of the East, Raid the North Extreme and Southern Traverse. One to goŠ"

Cranksport.com leader Justin Callahan wants to finish an expedition length race 'and the Southern Traverse is the one I want.'

He claims to have a strong and experienced team which can go all the way to the podium.

International teams including Emergency Architects from France and the UK team Aberdeen Asset Management who competed in 2003, have indicated they will be returning, along with other teams from Autralia, Denmark, Russia and Japan.

The Go Lite Timberland team which is an American and Kiwi mixed team looks impressive. Led by US ski patroller and river guide Billy Mattison the team includes 24-year-old Kiwi Aaron Prince, who made Southern Traverse history in 1996, when at 17 he was the youngest competitor ever to enter and complete the event.

"In that race he competed with his mother Viviene Prince in a Canadian team," says Geoff. "But his real coup was three years later at Nelson when he was only 20. That year he competed with the big guns Steve Gurney, Nathan Fa'avae and Kathy Lynch to win the race. He is an outstanding athlete and holds the record as the highest New Zealand finisher at any World Orienteering Championships."

Some very strong New Zealand teams will be in the field and one to be watched will be a new team of Franz Josef glacier guides.

"Team Monteiths will be very much at home racing in their own back yard," says Geoff.

Monteith's captain Dayle Stevens says the 2004 Southern Traverse is an incredible opportunity to race alongside big name teams in New Zealand and test their abilities in their own territory.

West Coasters Duncan and Hamish Hamilton heading up Team Kathmandu will also be race favourites racing on their home turf.

"But they will have to go hard against last year's winners Team Bridgedale. The Murray Thomas led team is tough competition and they are currently preparing to compete in the world championships in Newfoundland in Canada."

Course planning is on track and Geoff and his team have had some challenging times checking out possible routes.

"We have had three trips to the West Coast of the Southern Alps and one more to go. The DOC application for consents is in and all the course directions and timings have been entered into the computer. "

Geoff says they have had some fantastic experiences.

"On one of our checkouts we crossed a 1400m range. We were up and down creek beds and began to worry about waterproofing the course. Finally we decided it would be too hard to waterproof and the section has been dropped."

"We have been down waterfalls on mountain bikes, bush bashing for hours through eight foot high gorse, and on some incredible mountain trekking. It's the West Coast at its best and on some sections we will even have a Plan C!"

Entries for the 2004 Southern Traverse are now open. Registrations on line - www.southerntraverse.com or contact Southern Traverse office direct on 0064 3 441 8215.

Southern Traverse is a premier international sports event management company operating elite events around the world, including the World Championship Adventure Race, the AR World Series and the Southern Traverse.