ADVENTURE RACING
2015 was another positive year for adventure racing at NPBHS. The year kicked off with the inaugural Round-TheMountain run, going around Mt Taranaki on the tracks over 2 days. This was held at the start of February and on the rst day teams travelled in wind and rain from North Egmont to Waiaua Gorge hut, with times ranging from 5 hours to 7 ½ hours for the journey. Day two saw the weather clear to a stunning day and the decision was made to go up over Fanthams peak as part of the journey. A long climb saw the team enjoy stunning views of the rime-ice plastered summit of Mt Taranaki and the surrounding countryside. Then it was down to Dawson Falls, and back around the mountain to North Egmont. A couple of weeks later the Pureora timber trail was the destination. This 85 km mountain bike ride incorporated a range of fantastic riding, mainly bush-covered terrain, heaps of single trail, amazing swing bridges, and a rich history of logging and development. The ARC 12-hour was the rst major race on the timetable. Based from Waihi Beach, the course started with an ocean raft section followed by a bike ride north to the start of the rst trek. A scenic coastal section leading to a steep climb brought the teams to the bike transition, and this ended in the Karangahake gorge via a mountain bike park, Waihi township, and other checkpoints. Another trek including tunnels, mine shafts, and a tyrolean rope traverse saw the teams back at transition for the nal leg, a mountain bike ride up Mt Karangahake and back. The downhill ride off the top was a great way to end the race. In the schools’ event Calum Sutherland and Danny Jones took line honours. In the mixed event NPBHS/ NPGHS took out the top 3 places. First were Cory Sutherland, Nick Trowbridge, Lisa Newman, and Demme Simkin, followed by Josh Turner, Sam Evans, Kerryn Jansen, and Charlotte Jones, with Noah Jones, George Tvrdeich, Hannah Weise, and Bronwyn Prestage not far behind. Three senior boys, Alex Trowbridge, Steven Mead, and Dean Coplestone all completed the kayaking (and 32
longer) version of the race and did well. In the juniors, Oak Jones, Nathan Whittleston, and Jack Elliot performed credibly. Not long after the ARC was the Taranaki 6 hour race, based at Opunake this year. Raft building and paddling, clay bird shooting, paddleboarding, and retrieving an item underwater in a cage occupied by a large eel were amongst the activities that complemented the usual trekking and mountain biking. The senior race was hotly contested with Calum Sutherland, Jack Boon, and Danny and Oak Jones taking out the title ahead of Cory Sutherland, Nick Trowbridge, Josh Turner, and George Tvrdeich. Always a key event on the calendar is the NZSS 12 hour Adventure Racing Championships, or GO 4 12 as it has come to be known. This year saw 6 teams head across to Kuripapango on the Napier Taihape road. Ahead was 12 hours of adventure – mountain trekking, river rafting on tube rafts, stream bashing, problem-solving challenges, and the usual mountain biking. NPBHS managed to keep its perfect record in the tournament intact, we have won the senior race every year the race has been running (10 years). Our Hillary Challenge team of Noah Jones, Josh Turner, Sam Evans and Cory Sutherland dominated the eld with a convincing victory. In third place was the team of Calum Sutherland, Jack Boon, Angus White, and Danny Jones. In the juniors, Jason Bond, Gavin Bishop, Oak Jones, and Sam Weise won the junior section comfortably. Interestingly, they had the 7th highest score out of all the teams. The next major event was the Hillary Challenge, which is covered in a separate article. Suf ce to say we narrowly missed out on the title, but were pleased to maintain the perfect record of always nishing in the top 2 in the competition. Well done Noah, Josh, Sam, and Cory. While the Hillary Challenge is seen as one of the pinnacle events of the year, passionate adventure racers don’t want to stop the fun and the challenge. Only a couple of weeks after Hillary Challenge, Sam Evans, Josh Turner, Calum Sutherland,