left - runners approach the summit of Avalanche Peak
right - leaving the summit
left - following the ridge, the summit of AP is upper left
right - at the finish
YNZC ran the Avalanche Peak Challenge on Saturday. This 22k mountain race is held at Arthurs Pass, NZ. It climbs 1,100 metres to the summit of Avalanche Peak (1,833 metres), heads along a spectacular ridge, then descends a scree run into the remote Crow Valley. After following a trail of sorts down the Crow River, it ends with an extremely stony run out along the Waimakariri River to the finish at the Bealey Hotel. YNZC managed all this in 3 hours 17 mins and finished 27th out of approx 170 runners. After the race, there was time for a couple of post race beers and chat with fellow competitors.
Addendum - Your Correspondent is now back in the UK. In case any readers were wondering, he flew out of Christchurch 24 hours before the earthquake that struck on Monday. So he was very fortunate indeed not to be caught up in it. Many of the runners at Avalanche Peak were based in Christchurch. So the news is sad and rather sobering.