Earlier this year, Chile played host to the 2016 Santa Cruz Andes Pacifico Enduro. And from all reports, it was an incredible mountain biking event of super-epic-enduro proportions. The British Queen of downhill and enduro racing, Tracy Moseley, took the honours in the Women’s category, and Mark Scott also did Britain proud with second place in the Men’s category. What’s particularly special about the Andes Pacifico event aside from the remoteness and highly technical nature of the trails, is that entries for the race are strictly limited to just 100 riders, making this one of the most exclusive mountain bike events on the planet.
The event itself has been running for four years now, and it serves to showcase some of the best riding in the Chilean Andes mountains. The race begins at an elevation of 3550 metres, and over five days of racing works its way down to sea level on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. During those five days of racing, competitors descend a staggering 12,000 vertical metres. For those playing at home, that’s more than the elevation of Mt Everest!
Jerome Clementz raced the 2016 event, and cites the challenges of the technical singletrack as the main drawcard of the Andes Pacifico Enduro. With the course traversing ancestral trails originally carved by cowboys and Indians, there’s a certain ‘rawness’ to the riding that gives the event its unique appeal. The stages cross over ten valleys of different geographies, landscapes and vegetation, keeping riders on their toes as the trail surface changes from start to finish.
Sound cool? Get excited and check out the movie from the 2016 Santa Cruz Andes Pacifico below!