Raid the North is in its seventh day, as teams of adventurers make their way through the mountains and forests between Kaslo and Trail.
As of Thursday morning, WildernessTraverse.com, who have been in the lead since the race began Saturday, completed checkpoint 17 and was paddling their way down Lower Arrow Lake.
In second place was Wild Rose, a Canadian team with two racers from Calgary, one from Revelstoke and one from Cranbrook.
However, according to the leaderboard available on the Raid the North Extreme website, Wild Rose failed to complete checkpoint 13.
DART-Nuun-SportMulti, from the U.S. was in third place, six checkpoints behind WildernessTraverse.com.
Local team Kootenay Kaos was in seventh place, having just completed checkpoint ten.
The field notes on the Raid the North website from Tuesday said, “The local team Kootenay Kaos just blew through CP7/TA3, all smiles and red trucker caps. Dustin seems to be filling the role of team motivator, pushing them through a quick transition and on their way into the Valhalla trek to Ice Creek Lodge, the crux of race.
“I asked them about any secret local route choices, but it seems they plan to tackle the same route as the lead teams have attempted — south of Beatrice Lake and along Demers Lake.”
It was reported yesterday that teams were struggling in the stretch of the race in Valhalla Provincial Park. Several teams opted for a shorter route that bypassed the park.
One team has pulled out of the race for medical reasons.
Earlier in the week teams faced challenging weather, but field notes said that racers were coming through checkpoints “cold, wet and hungry but spirits are still high.”
The race is expected to wrap up in Trail on Sunday.
For up-to-date race results visit the website at raidthenorth.com