Victoria Evans Sets Solo Rowing Record, the 2022 AAC Awards, and More Stories to Start Your Week
From the inspiring to the tragic, this is GearJunkie’s wrap on exploration and adventure news of the week. Here’s what you missed and a few things to look forward to.
On March 24, a 35-year-old barrister from London broke the world record for the fastest female solo row across the Atlantic. Victoria Evans is one of 11 women to accomplish the feat, according to ExplorersWeb. Evans set sail from the Canary Islands on February 11 and arrived in Barbados after 40 days and 19 hours of rowing. Her time to cross the 2,559 nautical-mile distance outpaced the standing record by 9 days.
The young lawyer began training for the challenge 3 years ago and raised 24,000 GBP for Women in Sport through her self-started nonprofit, Sea Change Sport.
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The American Alpine Club (AAC) hosted its Annual Gathering and Benefit Gala in Denver on March 25-26. The summit welcomed mountain athletes and climbing activists from across the States to discuss current policies and culture, build initiatives, and celebrate the most significant accomplishments within the sport.
The gala, emceed by Cody Kaemmerlen and Meagan Martin, recognized outstanding achievements in conservation, climbing, and service to the climbing community. Big wall buddies/legends Mark Hudon and Jordan Cannon acted as keynote speakers. A full replay of the benefit is available at americanalpineclub.org.
2022 AAC Climbing Award Recipients
- Joe Terravecchia: Robert and Miriam Underhill Award for outstanding climbing achievement
- Sean Bailey and Natalia Grossman: Robert Hicks Bates Award for outstanding accomplishment by a young climber
- John Heilprin and John Kascenska: Angelo Heilprin Citation for exemplary service to the AAC
- Rick Reese: David R. Brower Conservation Award for commitment to preserving mountain regions worldwide (posthumous)
- Arlene Blum and Steve Roper: Honorary Membership for advancing climbing in lasting and significant ways
- Pat Ament: H. Adams Carter Literary Award for excellence in climbing literature
- David Nyman: David A. Sowles Memorial Award for going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperiled in the mountains
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On Saturday, March 26, a fast-moving wildfire near Boulder, Colo., forced the evacuation of nearly 8,000 homes and 20,000 people. By 5 pm MST on March 27, firefighters had contained around 35% of the blaze, and officials had lifted all evacuation orders. There were no reports of structural damage or injuries related to the fire.
At the time of writing, all thoroughfares except for NCAR Road had reopened. Trails in the region remained closed, and information about those closures is available at OSMPTrails.org.
The City of Boulder lifted all evacuation notices for the NCAR Fire at 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 27. All evacuees may now return to their properties. Boulder lifts all NCAR Fire Evacuations at 5 p.m. https://t.co/SetzAKAHN7 pic.twitter.com/ohoUYA5ZPC
— City of Boulder (@bouldercolorado) March 27, 2022
The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season launched off the start line this weekend with the downhill comp in Lourdes, France. Amaury Pierron (FRA) and Camille Balanche (SUI) took top posts in the men’s and women’s races, respectively. See highlights from the event here.
Petropolis, Brazil, is next up on the UCI MTB calendar, with XCO and XCC races from April 8 to 10.
Scott Miller, Paul Cox, Joe Mann, and Wally Werderich are ultra-distance canoe racers, and next spring, they’ll attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest paddle down the Mississippi River. Miller and three other teammates attempted the 2,300-mile feat in the spring of 2021, but inclement weather stopped them just 130 miles shy of the mark.
The 2023 crew announced their goal early last week under the team moniker “Mississippi Speed Record” on Instagram. Training and fundraising are already underway. Learn more and pick up some supportive swag at mississippispeedrecord.com.
Speed Record: Team Completes Fastest Paddling Effort Down Mississippi River; 2nd Team in Hot Pursuit
Saturday, March 26, saw the long-awaited return of the Valencia Trail Race in SoCal. Characterized by elevated single track, rolling hills, and panoramic views of the Santa Clarita Valley, the VTR offered up 50K, half marathon, and 10K competitions.
L.A. runner Chris Espino took this year’s 50K in a course-record-breaking 3:59:17, more than 30 minutes ahead of the silver medalist Jerry Garcia (GearJunkie can neither confirm nor deny the latter’s proclivity for The Grateful Dead).
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Up next week on the global adventure racing circuit:
- The Great Aussie Hike (AUS) – 2-day, 100km team relay event
- Northern Traverse (GBR) – 190-mile coast-to-coast ultramarathon
- Lakes Traverse (GBR) – 60-mile ultramarathon
- Raid in France Spirit (FRA) – 93-mile team adventure race, part of the European Adventure Racing Series and a World Series qualifier
- X-Adventure Dunsborough (AUS) – largest off-road triathlon Downunder, segmented into a 1,500m ocean swim, 12k trail run, and 20km MTB
- Touquet Raid Pas de Calais (FRA) – 2-day, team-oriented run/MTB/rollerblade/canoe race
Who Owns a Sport? Debate Around Adventure Racing World Series Heats Up
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