Arthurs Pass - Avalanche Peak Race

After the blowout I had at last year's Avalanche Peak race I was determined to complete the race in good style this year.



With perfect conditions on the day and an excellent atmosphere amongst the competitors I couldn't have asked for a better incentive to run a good race. This year for the first time as well Carolina had entered in the women's tramping section.


Carolina at the start of the Tramping race.


The ascent of Avalanche Peak.

Carolina near the summit of Avalanche Peak.

I took the ascent of Avalanche Peak a bit slower than last year, chatting with a guy from Dunedin for quite some time. I eventually arrived at the summit in around an hour and a half. I felt good running along the ridge and the mountains had started to come out as well. Descending the Crow Scree was an exciting affair. Being a bit further back in the field than last year, there were more people on the scree, and despite all the warnings and generally everyones best efforts there were still some large rocks flying about.

Dropping off of the Avalanche Peak summit.


On the ridge heading towards the Crow Scree.


The descent of the Crow Scree.

The descent of the Crow River was what had hurt me last year, but this time it was OK. I eventually caught up with Carolina on one of the river flats just before fording to the true left and we managed to get a couple of photos. The bush track linking to the Waimakariri was a delight to run on to and it was only when I started running down the river gravel that I began to feel some tiredness in my legs.


Catching up with Carol on the Crow River flats.

The last section, once the road bridge came in to view seemed to take a while, but I managed to run the lot and even some of the final steep climb to the finish line at the Bealey Hotel, finishing in a time of 3h 43 min. Unfortunately, as I was getting the car back at the time I missed Carol winning the women's tramping section in a time of five and a half hours, which was a great result.

Carolina on the short climb to the Bealey Hotel.



Just about to cross the finish line!

The full results can be found here: http://res.nz.eventdirector.net/CHCMA/SITES/318/ZUSER/APCResults11.pdf