Welcome to Mexico!
Your port of entry into Mexico will be the
International airport in Veracruz, Mexico. Upon arrival
at the airport, you will be met by the FAR and Esprit
staff, and we'll begin
our journey to the sleepy rural village of Jalcomulco.
The 2 hour drive will take us through the foot hills of
the Sierra Madres Orientals, past the coffee plantations
of Coatepec and down through the Mango plantations of
the Antigua River Valley… a spectacular visual
introduction to the region. Arriving in town, we’ll
settle ourselves into the pace of village life where
generations of families have lived harvesting sugar
cane, mangos and trapping langostinos (the giant
crawfish the village is justly famous for!). Our hosts
for the week will be the Rodriguez Family whose hacienda
will be our “home away from home” for the duration of
the course. The comfortable bed and breakfast style
accommodation is very traditional in style as a
sprawling 1 story hacienda surrounding and inner
tropical courtyard with access to hammocks, pool, and outdoor bar and hot
showers.
Inflatables and Whitewater Paddling
Technique Whitewater is a challenging element that
more and more race designers are including as a major
element to their adventure racing courses. Often,
paddling skills are the weakness (if not nemesis) of
even the most highly successful adventure racing teams
in the world. This course is designed to give you a
distinct race advantage and give you the training
necessary to excel at one of the most overlooked and often
neglected racing skill. Using inflatable rafts, we’ll
work together in teams under the tutelage of Esprit’s
whitewater guides to develop the essential skills
necessary to successfully navigate class II - III rapids.
Emphasis will be placed on stroke technique, river
reading/ navigation and essential rescue skills for boat
wraps and capsizes.
Swiftwater First Responder Certification
This one day course is designed to compliment your
whitewater paddling skills and enhance your ability to
race in moving water. Emphasizing both self and team
rescue, we’ll learn to use fast, field expedient
techniques to protect yourself and your team on the
water. Jim Coffey, a leading expert with Rescue 3
International and whitewater specialist, will further
enhance your knowledge of moving water and will give you
the training, knowledge and confidence to look after
both yourself and your team mates while racing in
whitewater.
Miles and Miles of Ground to Cover…
Navigation for adventure racing and
orienteering are NOT the same thing. Orienteering deals
with finding precise markers using accurate, detailed
maps. In adventure racing, navigation is about
interpreting ambiguous and sometimes incomplete
information to find distinct (and usually obvious)
points. In adventure racing, the real challenge comes in
route selection, strategy and interpretation of the
information provided.
This one day seminar will start with a
quick review of the fundamentals - map and compass -
before progressing to adventure racing specific
exercises in plotting checkpoints, route selection,
strategy and tactics. We’ll then take our skills into
the mountains for a hands-on field exercise. Lawrence
Foster will take you through a series of
checkpoints and navigation exercises in off-trail
conditions. Learn how to interpret features, estimate
pace, set and follow a bearing and select the fastest
route.
All Tied Up… Rappelling, Ascending and
Traversing Under the tutelage of professional
rescue instructors and adventure racers, you will gain confidence
in your rope skills on this one day fixed ropes course.
Practice belaying, rappelling and ascending using a
variety of techniques and hardware to accomplish your
goal. This course will also focus on mastering the
essential family of knots necessary for competency with
ropes in adventure racing. Put your skills to the test
both rappelling and ascending the 300 ft. cliffs
surrounding Jalcomulco, then challenge the Tyrolesa – a
series of Zip Lines traversing from cliff to cliff high
above the Antigua River.
Technical Skills: Mountain Biking & Flatwater Paddling
In the morning, you will take to the scenic back roads
with Lawrence, Geoff and Trisha. Glean valuable tips on riding
techniques and field repair of your bike, all while
enjoying the surrounding landscape of mango and coffee
plantations of the Antigua River valley. In the
afternoon, switch your pedals for a paddle and work on
mastering your kayaking stroke technique. We will be
refining our technique in kayaks and we will discuss how
to adapt canoes to gain maximum race advantage using
this same kayaking technique.
Beyond
Duck Tape and Moleskin…
Throughout the week of training, we will be
participating in one hour sessions covering the
essential knowledge of preparation and preparedness to
patient assessment and treatment of common adventure
racing injuries. This last day of training will
concentrate of the practical application of these skills
as well as refining your patient assessment and
treatment in a wilderness environment. Training is
provided by SOLO Wilderness EMT instructors who are
experienced rescue personnel with extensive experience
working and playing in the outdoors. Upon completion of
this session, you will receive certification in
First Aid for Adventure Racing.
Putting Your Skills to the Test
This wouldn’t be an adventure race training course if we
didn’t provide the opportunity for you to put your new
skills to the test! This short 6 - 8 hour course will combine all
the skills you’ve worked on over the week (except, we
hope, the first aid!) and will culminate in a
final farewell fiesta in town.
Saying Goodbye…
Depart for Veracruz airport to say our
farewells.
*Note: We do our
very best to adhere to the itinerary outlined above. Activities
specified above may be subject to change based on circumstances
outside our control (eg: weather, water levels, road and safety
conditions).
