Saturday, November 6, 2010

Doble Avalancha 2010 day one




This past 23rd and 24th of October saw the 6th running of the Jacha Avalancha, a massive mass start race down the two trails we've been working on here in Sorata.  This small town lies below two high passes at the base of the enormous Illampu massif, and is the freeride wonderland of the mighty Bolivian Andes.
                    
          
Saturday it began from the Cumbre, the pass on the road coming from La Paz.  Rising from the Altiplano and Lago Tititcaka one arrives to the pass that forms the south american continental divide, with high peaks and rolling ridges that drop off down the eastern slope and into the Amazon basin. A twisting two track climbs up from the paved highway, to the start of the course on a high ridge directly across a glacially carved valley from the 6400 mts peaks of Illampu and Ancohuma.




Smoothed over by successive waves of ancient glaciers, the ridge today has a hard packed surface with a bit of short grass, quite nice for carving down on two wheels. We used to just freeride the ridge, but a couple years back began cutting a track in to give it a bit more flow, with trails traversing around the bigger rollers on the ridge.  It is a classic ridge ride, with sections of sweet trail in there. Lots open freeride, technical trail sections and several short climbs make for a course with lots of passing oportunities, demanding the skills of a well rounded rider. 


The start is at 4270 mts, after 16 kilometers we come to the bottom of the canyon, at 2520 mts. A steep half k of climbing and you arrive thoroughly worked to the cheers of the crowd at the finish.  

This year it was held under sunny skies, with 50 of the most dedicated rippers in Bolivia competing for the title of the Jacha. When they had all assembled on the ridge, the group shouting of 3...2...1...Sorata!!!! was let loose and everybody  sprinted off down the ridge. New face Pedro Ticona of Team Mayhem took an early lead, with Mauricio Jordan, Jubert Guachalla, Pipo Hauser and Ben Mauze in the chase group.
Pedro's daily commute from outer El Alto into the center of La Paz and back paid off in the rolling knuckles section of the ridge, where one bombs down the ridge then has keep the speed up to carry momentum over the inevitable up. Mauricio was right there duking it out with him, biding his time for the long downhill section to come where he hoped his superior downhill prowess would give him enough of an advantage for the final climb out of the canyon. It was not to be. Though he was able to get ahead of Pedro, on the last hike a bike Pedro ran a straight line up the ridge "like a wild animal" and took the lead. He then proceeded to blaze the long descent ahead of the dh champ. When at last Mauri was able to catch up, Pedro dislodged a large square rock which double flatted his opponent. 

After finishing the downhill, negociating the minimalist bridge over the river and cruising up the climb, he arrived to the finish with a time of 45 and a half minutes. Second to the line was veteran Gravity guide Jubert Guachalla, finishing a solid run 2 minutes back. Third was Ben Mauze, riding for Andean Epics. Last year's winner Pipo Hauzer also flatted. For me, this was the first year of not competing (pesky shoulder separation some time back), but i was able to ride sweep, take some pictures and enjoy a nice afternoon with no mishap more than flat tires to report.


Part two coming soon.




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