
Primal Quest is an
expedition adventure race that has been called one of the most difficult athletic events in the world and was cited as the most prestigious expedition event in North America. Co-ed teams of four trail run, mountain bike, kayak, climb, rappel and mountaineer all while navigating all under their own power. The race has been in existence since 2001 and has been successfully revived following the loss of adventure racer Nigel Aylott. Each race lasts up to ten days, with winning teams completing the course in approximately six-eight days. The race once featured the largest prize purse in adventure racing.
[Primal Quest to return in '06, possibly through Colorado; Adventure racing's premier event could bring unprecedented TV deal, Summit Daily News, August 4, 2005, P. C1]
Each team is required to carry a GPS monitoring device (without offering navigational assistance) which allows race organizers and spectators to track each team in real-time via the Internet on the Primal Quest website primalquest.org.
Race history
The first Primal Quest was held in 2002 in
Telluride, Colorado. In 2003, the race moved to
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
and 2004 featured a course on Orcas Island, in the State of Washington. CBS broadcast highlights of the race in 2003 and 2004 with a full feature episodic series on OLN. Primal Quest was the first expedition
adventure race
Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo co ...
to be featured on major network television.
In June 2006 Primal Quest was hosted in the Utah desert
Disciplines included mountain biking, trekking, horseback riding, technical rope skills, mountaineering, kayaking and white water swimming. Primal Quest Utah was broadcast internationally as four one-hour episodes on ESPN2 and a one-hour recap and finale on ABC Sports. Subsequent races took place in 2008, Montana and 2009, South Dakota, 2015 in South Lake Tahoe, with episodes on Outside Television. 2018 crossed borders into Canada, and the feature documentary will be broadcast imminently.
Previous races
2002 Telluride
#SoBe/
Smartwool, SmartWool (Nike ACG/Balance Bar in 2003)
#Team Montrail
#Team GoLite (Nike ACG/Balance Bar in 2003)
2003 Lake Tahoe
#Nike ACG/Balance Bar (was SoBe/Smartwool and GoLite)
#AROC
#Team Seagate
2004 Orcas Island
#(tie) Seagate; Nike ACG/Balance Bar
#Tie for 1st, no 2nd place
#
#Holofiber
2006 Moab Utah
#Nike PowerBlast (was Nike ACG/Balance Bar)
#GoLite/Timberland
#Merrell/Wigwam Adventure
2008 Montana
#Nike (was Nike PowerBlast)
#Merrell/Zanfel Adventure
#Bones
2009 Badlands South Dakota
#OrionHealth.com
#Salomon/Crested Butte
#Merrell/Zanfel Adventure
2015 Lake Tahoe California
#GODZone
#Bones
#Journey
2018 Squamish British Columbia
#Columbia Vidaraid GODZone
#Bones
#Quest Racing
External links
Primal Quest Home PagePhoto essay on the raceVideo of the 2006 raceInformation on 2006 Primal Quest VideoStudy on Primal Quest Participants
Notes
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Adventure racing
Multisports in the United States
Multisports in Canada