BSARU Win International Category of the Dolomiti Rescue Race 2016!
This event, which includes technical and endurance tests, was conceived primarily to create an annual occasion to meet en masse with the teams of all the regions of the Italian Mountain Rescue Service. The ultimate aim is to have an opportunity to get together outside the usual pressure-cooker environment of a Mountain Rescue operation. It is open to international Mountain Rescue Teams as well, hence our involvement.
To summarise the race : teams of 4 run a 17km route which climbs 1250m (4060ft) and descends 1440m (4680ft), carrying two 60m ropes, climbing helmets and harnesses and other safety equipment. In this you have to complete a 200m knife edged ridge roped section, a 40 m abseil off a mountain and assemble and run with a stretcher for the last 1km. Simple really!
BSARU entered a team for the first time in 2015 and were overcome by the welcome extended to us by the residents of Pieve Di Cadore, where the race is based, and all of the Italian Mountain Rescue Teams taking part in the event. As a result when the invitation came through for the 2016 race we were keen to enter again, though family and work commitments prevented one of our 2015 team from going. Our 2016 team included last year’s entrants, Duncan Buchanan, Ian Stark and Bob McKeand plus Peter Gibson as the newbie. A couple of quick team training sessions on speedy abseiling were organised and we arranged to fly out a few days ahead of the race so that we could enjoy some via ferrata climbs in the stunning mountains of the Dolomites whilst practicing some of the technical skills that would be needed in the race.
Our thoughts that we would be more relaxed by going early were almost scuppered when we turned up to our pre-booked hostel at 8pm to find it closed and with no answer to our ringing on the bell. Ian finally managed to attract the attention of the caretaker by throwing pebbles at his apartment window only to be told that the place was closed, the water was off and directing us to find a hotel. A hurried call to the Dolomiti Race supremo, Marco Da Col, and a visit to him at the local mountain rescue base quickly resolved the problem. One phone call from him and suddenly it was all a big mistake and the hostel was open and our beds would be ready in 30 minutes! Only in Italy!!
Two glorious days followed where we tackled the via ferrata Albino Michielli Strobel and the via ferrata degli Alpini. in the mountains around nearby Cortina (the famous ski resort). Literally meaning iron road, via ferrata are climbs in the Dolomites where cables are attached to steel pins embedded in the rock in the more difficult sections. Where there are no suitable footholds there may also be ladders and metal rungs attached to the rock on some of the more vertical sections. It means that with a climbing helmet and harness plus a safety lanyard to clip on to the cable, people can climb on some of the steepest and highest routes without having to carry ropes and other climbing equipment. You do however need a head for heights as the potential drops on many sections of these climbs are substantial.
After two days in glorious sunshine we headed back to Pieve di Cadore to reacquaint ourselves with the ancient stretcher we were borrowing again for the race. Then it was on to the pre race safety briefing which gave us a chance to watch the video of the previous years race, reminding us of how difficult the race would be. After a restained time at the pre-race social it was off to the hostel for a relatively early night.
On the morning of the race we were up at 6am in order to be in the town square for 7am to catch the minibus up to the start. Whilst initially a bit cloudy at the start, it cleared as teams went through the obligatory kit safety check, to show the very steep initial 800m climb that we faced after the initial 300m dash across flatter ground from the start. I preferred the ignorance of last year!
A quick countdown and at 9am all 34 teams were off in a quick dash to get to the start of the steep climb. Here everyone settled down into a grunting and puffing stream threading their way up through the tree covered mountainside on a narrow path. The leaders were no doubt running but most were walking as fast as they could. This was all about teamwork, and with selfless sacrifice Duncan (Diesel Duncan) took on the carrying of my rucksack in addition to his own, which already contained one of the two 60m ropes that the team had to carry. The brief respite of some flat land when we reached the alpine meadow, Plan De Antelao was followed by more steep climbing onto the ridge where we faced our first technical test.
Here we had to put on helmets, harnesses and our safety lanyards to race along a knife edged ridge whilst attached to a safety rope bolted along its length. I believe the views from here are fantastic but was too busy moving along as quickly as possible to notice them. A slippery steep descent from this ridge then led to a fantastic long run along mountain tracks across the mountain where the team made good speed whilst also being filmed from a helicopter during part of it! This lung bursting run ended at a mountain hut on the mountain side where we faced the next technical challenge.
This challenge involved using the two ropes the team had carried to abseil 40m down the mountain and before the next running section. Thankfully our practice sessions meant that this went smoothly and more speedily than we had managed the year before. A hurried retrieval and re-packing of our ropes once all our team was down the abseil then we were off on a knee crunching run on vertiginous paths down through the trees. This run seemed to go on forever, particularly for one of our number who not only suffered cramp twice but also got stung by a bee. Finally the trees ended and we came into the edge of the village of Pozzale where the slope eased slightly as we continued downhill on a road. As we turned onto a track again, we knew we were approaching our final technical challenge, which was to assemble the stretcher we were to run the final leg with.
Great teamwork meant that this was done with alacrity and we were off downhill again. Thundering down the steep roads and stepped pathways into Pieve Di Cadore we could see the team ahead, and were closing on them. Despite a herculean final effort, charging up the steps and round the buildings into the main square, we couldn’t quite catch them before the finish line where we were greeted to a hero’s welcome by cheering crowds!
The outcome of all that effort? Border Search & Rescue Unit’s team won the International Category of the race beating teams from Poland and England!! An achievement that we are all really proud of.
After all that effort we then had to refocus our energy for the next major challenge, the post race party which lasted 4 times as long as our race and required a different sort of stamina. 70 proof Polish vodka anyone? Needless to say the Italians know how to party!
We all can’t wait till next year (though only for the race of course, the rest is just stuff you have to get through)!!
Bob McKeand Training Officer
