From the inspiring to the tragic, this is GearJunkie’s wrap on exploration and adventure news of the week. Here’s what you missed and a few things to look forward to.
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The defending U.S. Adventure Racing Association (USARA) National Champion adventure racers have a new team name but maintained their winning ways at the Berryman Adventure Race over the weekend. Members Mari Chandler, Justin “Biz” Bakken, and Brian Mayer of Team Toyota Tundra won the 18-hour race on Saturday, April 9, their first race together in the 2022 USARA National Point Series and their first race since their win as WEDALI at the 2021 USARA National Championship.
“[The Berryman Adventure Race] was a tough race with good competition, but the course was beautiful,” said Brian Mayer in a post-race interview. “There was ice forming on the boat as we paddled.”
They traveled 92 miles and crossed the finish line in 17 hours 46 minutes. Their next race is the Chasin’ the Bone AR in Greenbush, WI, on the USARA NPS Calendar, and they plan on racing the Maine Summer Adventure Race regional championship.
Olympic gold medalist and climbing’s single most decorated competitor of all time, Janja Garnbret, clinched her 32nd career gold at the IFSC World Cup opener in Meiringen. U.S. star Natalia Grossman claimed silver, and little-known Swiss climber Andrea Kümin took bronze. On the men’s side, Japan’s Tomoa Narasaki and Yoshiyuki Ogata took gold and silver, respectively. France’s Mejdi Schalck took bronze.
To the surprise of some, Garnbret announced that Meiringen will be her last World Cup Boulder competition for the year, though she will return for the Lead competitions later on in the season.
“The Olympics last year were a pretty hard take on physical and mental preparation, so I feel that I need a little time off from comps and this year is the perfect year to do that,” she announced. “I already have [the Olympic Games in] Paris in mind!”
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