The Ice Ultra 2016 – Race Blog
PRE RACE BLOG | Arctic Base Camp – Stora Sjöfallet Mountain Centre
It’s February 11th and we’re only one night’s sleep away from the beginning of this year’s Ice Ultra. Our 13 runners made their way today to Gallivare Train Station from their homes and lives all around the world and boarded the coach which will take them to our Arctic Base Camp. From now they are totally self-supported.
Tomorrow morning at 7am local time (6am GMT) they will take their first step on a 230km adventure taking in some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. Through snow fields, mountains and frozen lakes, they will travel a demanding road in challenging conditions with temperatures dipping up to – 30°C. Starting amongst the Kungsleden trail, you will enter a UNESCO World Heritage area so remote that snow mobiles are not even permitted to enter.
Each of them is responsible for carrying their entire kit and equipment during the 230km race, including food, sleeping bag, safety equipment and. The extra, specialist clothing and equipment required to run in such a grueling environment will make an already challenging course exceptionally harder.
These runners will need to be tough.
Thankfully we have some amazing people running with us.
We have record breakers, fundraisers and veterans amongst our incredible athletes and, regardless of their background, they all share having been on an awesome journey to get to this point.
At base camp tonight they will be shown to the conference centre for the evening’s race brief and mandatory kit checks. Once these preparations are done it’s time to mentally prepare and try to get a good night’s sleep.
The Beyond the Ultimate team are ready for them. Every step of the trail has been flagged and plotted and we have a team ready to help the runners through their Arctic adventure.
Tomorrow at 7am local time (6am) GMT the trackers will come online and the race will begin. We hope you can join us here, on Facebook and on Twitter as we follow the runners from start to finish.
Check out @UltimateUpdates of Twitter or www.facebook.com/BeyondTheUltimateLtd on Facebook for regular updates throughout.
