Organizers of the Primal Quest adventure race have announced that will begin this Saturday, ending months of speculation over whether the race is really ending its five-year hiatus.
Between 2002 and 2009, Primal Quest was considered one of the most prestigious and difficult adventure races in the world. It was frequently compared to the Eco-Challenge and the Raid Gauloises. The last event was staged in South Dakota’s Badlands.
In August, Primal Quest Expedition directors on the company website announcing that the 400-odd mile amphibious trek was being revived. “We’re are using this first event to reconnect to the original motivations for creating PQ, to re-centre, and rebuild from there into the following years,” PQ co-founder Maria Burton said in the statement. The 2015 event is set to take place around Lake Tahoe, on the California/Nevada border, and will include trekking, mountain biking, paddling, climbing, rappelling, and caving over seven days. Lake Tahoe was also the site of the 2003 event.
With the opening date for registration now official, PQ directors hope to put certain fears about the race to rest. “There was a lot of speculation about who was behind the race, and whether or not it was actually going to happen,” Kraig Becker . “That was an understandable reaction at the time, as we’ve been teased more than once about a potential new Primal Quest race.”
Starting Saturday, prospective competitors can fill out the necessary entrance forms, proving that their four-person teams are certified in first aid, water skills, rope skills, and deepwater rescue. Parties interested in taking one of the 40 spots available for the race will be asked to make an online deposit via PayPal of $2,000 toward the total entry fee of $8,000.