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”Good Luck, everybody!”
You’d think Inspector Closeau was around, mais non, it’s Pierre-Etienne Leonard of WCup Issy les Moulineaux who shouts out with his great French accent. This kind of team spirit that actually transcends the usual competitive barriers between teams is very emblematic of Arctic Team Challenge. Here even the closest competitors are considered friends. Obviously, the second the cannon goes of to signal the start of Arctic Team Challenge, it’s kill or get killed, but right now, just before start, there’s still room for solicitude. And if this year will resemble the previous five years, kindness will prevail as much as competitiveness. But enough of this sentimental crap. We’ll leave the boo-hooing to the sob sisters.

Today’s race started in the greatest of weather. Even if it’s been sunny for a few days, today is much warmer than the previous two and the teams were all psyched about today’s stage where they have to canoe to the foot of Polheim’s Mountain, climb the 1,000 m high mountain and canoe back to Tasiilaq. It’s a picnic.

A couple of hundred people had gathered at race start and many ran along with the teams from the starting point to the harbour to see the teams sail off. The bloodthirsty crowd had hoped for at least one team to tip over and fall into the icecold water, mais non, all teams got off to a great start.

The race is on.

This year there is a general feeling that we have some ace teams around. That makes it a lot more exciting for the runners but obviously also for the spectators.

We like girl’s teams
Girl teams are always popular at ATC and Arctic Ladies will probably not be an exception. Yesterday Anna McCormack was ill and throwing up but today she feels much better: “We’ll just take it easy and steady,” she says. “We’re a stronger team this year,” Pia Nielsen tells us,  “but seeing how strong the other teams appear to be we will probably race against our time from last year rather than race against the other teams.”

B.Lo
After seeing the comparison to J.Lo on yesterday’s race news, Bernice’s team mates have started calling her B.Lo and are even contemplating a new motto for the team, “Fire down B.Lo”. Bernice may not be too thrilled about that but she’s a big girl - she can take it. Feed the Machine feel comfortable about the canoe and are not worried about today’s stage.

Fire down B.Lo

The Fast, The French and The Furious
Our French friends are also comfortable about the prospect of today’s stage. They are used to canoing in 2-person canoes but are not worried about being four in a canoe. They intend to do some fast racing today.

At the time of writing, all teams have made it to checkpoint A2 and are on their way further up the steep mountain. We’ll be back later on today with more race briefings from Stage 1.

eastgreenland.com were the first at checkpoint A1, closely followed by the other teams

And the winner is…
At 2:19:40 AM this afternoon, Team Eastgreenland made it across the finish line as the first team of the day. At this time, some of the other teams were still on top of the mountain. “We took our time at the top. It’s so beautiful up there with a view of icebergs, lakes, mountains,” said Ben Bardsley upon arrival.

Team eastgreenland at the finish line.

However, the rules of this stage of ATC is that when you get near the top of Polheim’s Mountain, the timer is shut off so that people get a chance to enjoy the view from the top (and to ensure that someone doesn’t plunge 3-400 meters to his deaths if he make a wrong turn during rush hour on top of the mountain). Most teams take their time while they are up there to enjoy the exceptional view. This also means that we will not know the ranking of the teams until tonight.

TODAY’S UNOFFICIAL RANKING (it has yet to be confirmed by the judges)

(Due to wind conditions, the last five teams had to padle a longer route. This has been adjusted in the final times).

1. eastgreenland.com                       02:55:26

2. PharmaNord                                 03:12:25

3. WCup Issy les Moulineaux             03:29:45

4. Neriusaaq/Thomas Kristensen        03:40:18

5. Intersport Iceland                         04:08:13

6. Arctic Ladies                                 04:28:37

7. Feed the Machine                         05:24:03

8. Pihl A/S                                       07:36:48

Rocky Mountain High
“Wow, it was hard and steep. The top was soo high! But it was a very good first day,” says Pierre-Etienne of WCup Issy les Moulineaux and continues: “We came of to a good start and came in second in the canoe on checkpoint A1, but we could not keep up with the Eastgreenland.com or PharmaNord up the hill. But then again, they know the route from the past two years. We might just be back next year…” Matthieu and Gauthier chip in: “We’ve had one important lesson: It’s a very rocky country!”

Pierre-Etienne: “Oh, and can you write that I want a baby for my girlfriend Jessica?”

Beaming Ladies
“I’m very pleased with our performance today. We did a lot better than last year, and I’m very proud of my team. We were very surprised that we passed the Icelandic team in the race to cross the fjord,” says a beaming Team Captain Amma Kleist. The Ladies also participated in ATC last year, and Amma was very glad to be back up on the Polheim’s Mountain once again, describing the feeling as one of the biggest rushes you can have. Polheim’s Mountain is steep but they were not at anytime worried because they all felt they had the situation under control. The new girl Anna is a great asset to the team as she adds some hiking and mountain skills to the team - and the rest of the Ladies can show her the terrain here in East Greenland.

The Unstoppable Machine
“We were a little surprised how technical it was, but there were safety spots were there needed to be, and that made it a spectacular experience,” says Jayson Browne, and continues: “We went on a little detour that made the trip down the mountain rougher, but it was like a ride at Disney World!”

The team felt they started out a little slow and “we took a different route and we paid for it.” The lack of mountaineering experience didn’t take that much of a toll on them, because there were safety ropes were there had to be. “However, we miscalculated the amount of supplies to bring and we have to remember that next time,” ends Jayson.

PharmaNord
After the race we talked to the new team member of PharmaNord, Henrik Jørgensen. To Henrik, this was a very different experience because he is an orienteering runner. He was given the map of the trail they were going to follow, but he didn’t use it much since his team mates knew most of the way. When he got to the peak of Polheim’s Mountain, it was an amazing experience. Overall, the trip went by at a good pace and everyone could keep up. The whole thing was very rewarding to Henrik, because he learned a lot about the terrain, and he felt he added something to the team with his orienteering experience. He very much looks forward to the days to come and to play with his team mates.

Principal Photography: Erwin Reinthaler

Updating: Karl Andreassen & Jesper Kunuk Egede

Additional interviews and photography: Jesper Sand Mortensen

Ben Bardsley climbs the Polheim’s Mountain

A connon is fired at the start of the race

This is a place you don’t want to look down…

Every bit of the stage is a marvel of nature

At race start, spectators make sure to make the impressions last

Where else do you get a view like this?