In January 2022, after organising the first ever South American Championship, Race Director Nelson Yañez was delighted to have brought a world class adventure race back to Chile. The 2 day race called VulcaniAR took place in Pucón in the North of Chile’s Lake District and was a big success with the racers taking part.
British racer and former World Champion Nick Gracie said, “The welcome and the way Nelson Yañez and his family looked after us was quite amazing, and it was a stunning and beautiful place to race.” Yañez was inspired too and wanted to bring a full length Adventure Racing World Series expedition race to Chile. (Only one has taken place before, the Tierra Viva race in 2015.)
Since that race in 2022 Yañez has raced at the South American Championship in Paraguay, and at the Malacara expedition Race in Brazil, observing and learning. (The former Navy Marine is also a former elite orienteer and South American champion, and has raced in and organised many endurance events, including over 120 adventure races in the Colombia Challenge series over 15 years.) At the end of last year he travelled with his team to South Africa to race in the Adventure Racing World Championship.
With that experience behind the Tierra Indomita team, the dream to stage a World Series Qualifier becomes a reality this weekend, when the Tierra Indomita Vulcania race takes place from Pucón. This race will be 450km, with the course open for 6 days, giving teams plenty of time to explore the surrounding azure blue lakes, fast flowing rivers and waterfalls, national and forest parks, and the glacier hung and active volcanoes of the region.
Since Monday, the athletes have been arriving in this outdoor and adventure paradise. In the words of Vulcania's first promotional video, "God made the world in 6 days because he wanted to rest on the seventh day in Pucón." The town is on the edge of Lake Villarrica and overlooked by the Villarrica Volcano, which is the most active on the continent and is currently erupting.
Yañez is looking forward to hosting teams and racers from around the world. "We are very happy with the response and we accepted the challenge of stepping it up to a new level as we always want to improve," said an excited Yañez. His team are looking forward to welcoming 15 teams from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, France, Canada, Spain and of course, the best of Chile.
Teams will only find out the course just before the start, but know they will summit a volcano and pass by a high glacier on one trek! The terrain at the top has no vegetation, no streams, just volcanic ash for miles … so navigation will definitely be challenging.
The level of competition is world class with teams such as Vidaraid (second at the recent World Champs), Uruguay Ultra Sports and BROU and Black Mamba from Brazil. However, with his past experience in navigation in the area Yañez says; "no one will find it easy and anything can happen."
The race will have satellite tracking with Tracktherace and you will also be able to follow the action through the Tierra Indomita AR and Adventure Racing World Series social media pages.
South America is getting ready for the first big adventure party of the year and it’s the first chance for the continent's athletes to win a place at the AR World Championships in Ecuador at the end of the year!
You can follow the live tracking at https://tracktherace.com/en/sports-events/adventure-races/tierra-indomita-vulcania
Live coverage will be on all social media channels @tierraindomitaar and @arworldseries
