Thrilling competitions in the FULDA Challenge

31st January 2007

It’s the ultimate test for extreme sportsmen and sportswomen: the FULDA Challenge. The arctic multi-discipline event in Canada’s Yukon Territory is held for the seventh time this year. Six of the event’s twelve disciplines already have been contested. Isolde Holderied attends the event as FULDA brand ambassador and on-site tutor.

The FULDA Challenge started with the disciplines car handling and camp building. Together with former Formula One ace Hans-Joachim Stuck, Isolde had designed a two-kilometre course representing a true test for the competitor’s driving skills. A challenge the entrants had to cope with at the wheel of a 250bhp Toyota Camry. In the afternoon of day one, the participants had to erect a tent, thus demonstrating their hands-on abilities. Due to icy squalls and the frozen ground this task turned out to be anything but easy.

On day two, a semi-marathon across the snow and ice of the region around the event’s venue, Whitehorse, took the competitors to their very stamina limits. However, the day’s second discipline turned out to be just as energy sapping: the crossing of a canyon by means of a rope. The athletes had a maximum of just five minutes to cross the 30 metre wide and 12 metre deep Miles Canyon.

The disciplines held on day three of the 2007 FULDA Challenge again asked for the participant’s skilfulness. At first, every competitor had to complete an 8.3-kilometre circuit with a six-Husky team to afterwards compete at a 3.5-kilometre mountain trail at the wheel of an RAV4 off-road car.

“Just as it was the case in the past, this year’s FULDA Challenge again represents an extraordinary challenge,” says Isolde. “It’s impressive to see the competitors cope with the demanding disciplines. All-round sportsmen and sportswomen are the only ones having a chance of succeeding here in the Yukon Territory.”

With six disciplines contested, Simon Euler (Team Germany 2) holds the lead in the men’s standings, with Team Canada’s Jay Cherian being the leader in the women’s rankings.

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