Since I had just been down the river I wanted to talk to the search and rescue people before they went out. I could give them ideas of where the bikers might be. I got a hold of 'Daryl', who was the entire search party. I asked him when he was leaving and he said "Well, I just went to get gas and they wouldn't give it to me on credit." I said "Daryl, come down here and I will give you every dollar in my pocket".

I gave him $75 and wrote him a check for an extra $50 to take those skis back to the cabin. I gave him some food just in case the bikers needed it. Daryl deserves a tremendous amount of credit. This wasn't his responsibility as he is just a local resident and was risking his health and snow machine to go look for people he didn't even know.

	"Pat Norwil won the event by skiing straight through those storms - it was a remarkable feat..."

He did find them and they were safe and sound. They spent three days at a cabin, which fortunately for them was stocked with food. They too were waiting for a trail that never came. Finally, after it rained and then froze they were able to ride their bikes. They pushed close to 100 of the 125 miles between checkpoints. Up ahead of me, Pat Norwil won the event by skiing straight through those storms - it was a remarkable feat that extremely few people could have accomplished. Roberto Ghiondi was second and the first foot person.

A major reason we all do this race is because it is a wilderness event with very little invasive race support. If there were a checkpoint every 10 miles or helicopters flying overhead to keep tabs on us, it wouldn't be the same. I do this event because I know there isn't going to be someone looking for me. It is up to me to get through it, and that self-reliance is what makes this experience unique. Though we pay the price when the conditions are bad, I don't think any racer would want it any other way.

'Give up hope' isn't a pessimistic statement, it's optimistic - you can do anything if you make it happen. Self-reliance is not something you want your wife to experience during childbirth though. I made it back to Seattle in plenty of time to see our beautiful baby girl, Maisie, come into this world for some adventures of her own.

Thanks to the following companies for making my trip possible and enjoyable.

Patagonia www.patagonia.com
HydraGo www.hydrago.com
Fischer Skis www.fisherskis.com
Leki Poles www.leki.com