Yesterday afternoon, three men in helmets and climbing harnesses were seen clambering over the seventh-floor roof of New York New York in downtown Taipei. They rappelled down the wall, turning left and right to face the small contingent of press photographers trying to create the most precarious angle to lend excitement to their shots.
The climbers were Michael Maddess of the Action Asia Foundation, Robin Dai (
Action Asia Challenge course designer Maddess, who has visited Taiwan more than 10 times in the course of the last two challenges, has nothing but praise for Taiwan as a venue for multidiscipline outdoor sports. But the local sports community has been relatively wary of the new endeavor.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
This year, organizers are still in a rush to get the complex race together before the starter's gun goes off at dawn on Nov. 16. But information for local participants has gone on-line much earlier than on previous occasions, with a Chinese-language handbook for the event already available to provide information to locals thinking of participating.
This has been in response to criticism from local teams that they were not given enough time to prepare for the competition, which draws heavily from expatriate communities in Hong Kong and Thailand.
In Taiwan, no effort has been spared to bring Action Asia to a wider community in the face of a high degree of specialization among practitioners of various sports.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSRONG, TAIPEI TIMES
"We all want to be an expert," said rock-climbing specialist Robin Dai. "If I am best in my field, I don't want to compete in another discipline where someone else is the expert. So I stick to my patch and protect it from encroachment," Dai said jokingly. He is leading a team of 20 climbers, sponsored by mountaineering store Tin Shan Lou (
Addressing the issue that many Taiwanese, even if they are athletic, are often not familiar with rope skills, Dai said that a two-hour training session on Nov. 8 at Tapaoyan, a well-known rock climbing location in Taipei's Peitou District, would provide basic skills for those who have never abseiled before.
"It will get them over initial fears and during the race they should have no problems," Dai said.
Maddess said he hoped there would also be an introduction to kayaking skills at Fulung on Nov. 15 to give racers a feel for the boats before they took to the oars in earnest.
While the Action Asia Challenge is certainly about competition, Maddess and Dai both want to take the emphasis off winning as the primary goal of the event. There is plenty of room for people with little or no experience of adventure racing, they said, and the course has been designed to allow for different skill levels.
Most of the major obstacles will also have a bypass trail. Though using this will put competitors to the back of the rankings, it still gives them a chance to complete the course.
"If at the top of the ropes, you feel Route One is too frightening, we will offer you an easier route. If that is still too frightening, well, you can always skip the obstacle and come back next year to compete," Dai said.
The challenge for Maddess is to find a balance in the course's design so that seasoned competitors are not bored and newcomers feel they have achieved something by completing the course on their own.
Maddess said, in effect, there would be two races going on simultaneously. There are the real competitors who are looking for a high place in the rankings and then there are the others who just want to experience the thrill and excitement of the race.
"Although the course is not too difficult for first-timers taking it at their own pace, it is grueling for competitors aiming for an expected winning time of around four hours 40 minutes," Maddess said.
Five-time Action Asia winner, Ford No Boundaries, will be coming to Taiwan to defend their title and a number of local teams -- who have gained experience over the last few years -- are keen to challenge their position. It will all start at dawn Sunday Nov. 16. Bring your flashlights.
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