Mountain Designs Wild Women take on the Tasmanian wilderness, thrive and survive!

The ARWS Legend Expedition Adventure Race this year was located in the small town of Huonville, just southeast of Hobart Tasmania. The event is doing a lap of Australia and The MountainDesigns Wild Women were not only lining up for the third year in a row but defending their title following an historic win at this event in 2024.

Mountain Designs Wild Women L-R Del Lloyd, Amie Munson, Alina Mc Master, Kim Beckinsale

Hot Competition

Kim Beckinsale, Alina Mc Master, Del Lloyd, lining up for Legend AR number 3 were joined by Amie Munson an experienced Wild Women who was going to also be racing head-to-head against her son – Nathan Munson in Team Broken Compass.  Broken Compass were going for the win and trying to gain a spot into the ARWS World Championships in Canada. The MountainDesigns Wild Women wearing the number 1 race jerseys, also knew that the MMI Racing would be looking to reverse the results from last year – they were wearing number 2, but both of us ineligible to win ‘the prize’ as we are not a 4 person premier mixed team. Interestingly this year there were more 2 person teams entered (also not eligible for the prize) who added some extra competition at the pointy end of the race. The Keen Torquers, a super experienced male pair from Victoria and The Wonkey Donkeys a local female pair who raced in 2024 Legends were back for a fast and furious race around iconic Tasmanian towns and landmarks.

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Legend AR - Team Number One 

Course Reveal

Chris Dixon from Wild&Co posted a few teasers prior to sharing the logistics and course notes. The second that this sort if information is released the chats begin and teams get excited. 4 paddles –longest 50k – 2 white water; 5 bikes – longest 112k – total elevation over 8000m elevation; 2 treks longest 60k – elevation over 2500m; This course was going to be epic and prepared for 4 seasons in a day including a potential for a stoppage on the course during a paddle leg.

Registration, competencies, briefing and map lockdown was squeezed into a 6-hour timeframe. The Mountain Designs Wild Women spent hours upon arriving in Huonville the day before, strategically packing boxes A, B, C, D and bike boxes, but upon weighing them realised that they had way too much ‘stuff’ so they had to ditch some of their favourite items, and spent way too much time re-weighing boxes, something that the 2 person teams did not have to endure.  Teams enjoyed a dip in the Huon River demonstrating they were able to capsize, swim with their paddle, float downstream and get back into the kayak. Then it was all eyes on the maps for a few hours, but only for Legs 1-5, the rest of the maps were not to be distributed until teams reached TA4 at the end of Leg 5 paddle. Maps also had to be handed back to officials and not issued until the morning just before the start.

Del & Amie - Perfect Timing

MD Wild Women return to shore after capsize competency!

MD Wild Women are focused and listening to every word from RD Chris Dixon

The course sounds epic...can you tell?

Maps are out and the planning begins! 

Off and racing

Leg 1 Kayak – Huon River; Leg 2 MTB Old Road to the Hartz;  Leg 3 Trek – Hartz; Leg 4 MTB Arve Forest; Leg 5 Huon River White Water Kayak & Tahune Airwalk.

The Mountain Designs Wild Women and most teams opted to complete the 5 kayak CPs in order of A B C D E – opting for a muddy portage / kayak drag after D, after all this is what set them apart from other teams the year before. The ride up to the Hartz Mountain was steep and teams soon found that not all tracks marked on the maps were easy to see or in fact rideable. The control card / punch card that Del was carrying was not in a good state early and which meant the team had to stop and write down all the descriptions on their maps before they wore off the card.  It was not easy to just let teams fly by, but it was the team’s responsibility to look after their card. Team Goldfish laminated their card…. now that was a clever idea!

Preparing the kayaks for Leg 1

Off and Racing Legend AR 2025 - MDWW are on the middke left!

Who could not resist the temptation for a Kayak Portage?

Del checks her notes as she gets her bike ready for action.

The Mountain Designs Wild Women were heading out on the Hartz Mountain Trek just after finding their first CP saw Keen Torquers and Broken Compass on their way back, it was comforting to think that it was possible to complete the leg before dark. The trek was stunning and interestingly the 3 girls’ teams – The Mountain Designs Wild Women, Wonkey Donkeys and Rootstock Racing were all out on the leg at very similar times. The Wonkey Donkeys were first back at the TA after passing the Wild Women near CPJ which was hidden in a bush and hard to find. Somehow the Mountain Designs Wild Women made it to TA3 before both other teams but spent a little too much time enjoying the Tahune Airwalk and transitioning to the white-water paddle. Kim was navigating on this leg and soon the MDWW were in the lead again despite Kim and Alina having a few unplanned swims. Despite being freezing cold the team kept paddling and made it to TA4 at Judbury and managed a very tricky kayak slide up a steep ramp to the TA.

Riding up to the Hartz Mountains

Kim and Del get the maps for the Trek.

MD Wild Women arrive at the summit of Hartz Peak

Kim examines the map before descending.

A perfect sunset on show as the team descends back to their bikes 

More of the maps revealed and the dot watching got really exciting!

Leg 6 Trek – Russel Ridge to the Styx; Leg 7 MTB – Gravel Grind to lake Pedder; Leg 8 – Lake Pedder Kayak/Trek: Leg 9 Styx Gravel Grinder 2 to Bushy Park; Leg 10- Kayak Derwent River to New Norfolk; Leg 11 – MTB

Kim, Alina Del and Amie were cold and tired, so changed in to dry warm clothes and enjoyed some warm food while marking up the rest of the maps and sorting gear into boxes and into the kayak bag. Kim and Alina took a lot of time trying to choose a route for the trek and decide which CPs to drop. Teams were required to find 10 of the 14 and it was obvious that one route option was longer but looked easier and the other options were shorter but potentially steeper and more navigationally challenging. After a 20 minute rest and way too much time in the TA, the Mountain Designs Wild women took off just before first light, so maybe 5am knowing that there were many teams in front including Keen Torquers, Broken Compass, Wonkey Donkeys, Moor Southern Lights, MMI and Rootstock Racing.

The plan for the MDWW was to go for K, L M O and N, then work the rest out once familiar with the terrain and maps. Crossing paths with The Honeymooners, and Rootstock Racing twice was a motivator and after a successful bush bash out of S the MDWW opted for R instead of P, saving over 5km in distance. Unfortunately, the ambitious bush bash from R to find the tracks to the north was not a success and the team in failing light opted for a reverse bearing back to R and take the long way around. This wasted time and energy and did nothing for the morale of the team. Eventually after reaching the powerline track the MDWW were relieved, but enroute to CPV exhausted, and a sleep was on the cards. This was first real attempt to sleep, and it was now night 2. After about 30minutes of trying to sleep in the freezing conditions the MDWW got up again and Alina bashed through to the creek. V was not easy to find, but a true relief, the MDWW then continued trekking through to W and X before reaching TA5 in the early hours in the morning. Despite almost no good sleep, the team transitioned and got out on the bikes before Rootstock racing arrived.

The Lanscape for Leg 6 - Trek

Mountain Designs Wild Women in the Wild .....they have not had much sleep!

Mountain Designs Wild Women emerge from the trek after 24 hours!

Del at TA5 preparing for the ride to Lake Pedder

The ride to Lake Pedder was hot and hilly, the team stopped for short sleep of 1hour which was not that productive due to mozzies, bees and just the time of day. It was exciting for the MDWW however to get to Lake Pedder in the daylight and get on the water before dusk. At the TA teams were required to mark up the CPs and choose a route. There were 6 compulsory CPs and a total of 8, with 3 hrs bonus time for 7 and 8 hours for 8. Two of the CPs B2 and F2 were island treks, and the others were on the water’s edge. The MDWW opted to go anticlockwise (D2, B2, Y, Z, F2, A2, E2, C2) because of a strong wind forecast and this worked well for the team until it got dark. 

Mountain Designs Wild Women ride in to TA6 - Lake Pedder

Team Captain Kim checks in with TA Official Michele Krome 

Teams were rewarded with glassy conditions, moon setting at sunset and a night sky filled with stars and breathtaking views of the Milky Way.  From Scott’s Peak at B2 to the MDWW could see exactly where they had to go for the rest of the leg, and the team collected Y just before sunset. By the time they reached Z it was pitch black, but the AyUps were amazing for lighting up the land as the team hiked and hiked and hiked up Mt Solitary. This out-and-back CP took over 3 and a half hours, so most likely worth the 5 hour time bonus. The MDWW crossed paths with Rootstock racing on this section and were still just in front. Back on the water and it was now pitch black and it was almost impossible to see anything other than fog and silhouettes, but the MDWW managed to stick to the East bank and then back track up to CPA2. After this, things went pair shaped for the MDWW. After hugging the bank and not finding CPE2, the team came across team 6, who were coming from the other direction. Del and Amie, who did not have maps were getting worried that were not in the right place and went over. Team 6 said that they were looking for CPC2 and were around that area. Kim was not convinced and Alina thought how could this be possible…... but it was the bewitching hour…. meaning after midnight and strange things can happen. So, instead of continuing south and searching the bank further the team turned back and followed Team 6, big mistake! The only way to get out of this pickle was to backtrack and find our last known location, so the MDWW paddled North until they reached the mangroves, and after an interesting discussion, Kim suggested that the team ‘find CPA2 again so that we know 100% where we are” so that’s what they did. Now on the way south it was clear that the team had not paddled far enough south, so eventually the MDWW found CPE2 ‘what a relief’ and finished the rest of the paddle as the new day was dawning and what a cracker of a day it was.

Interestingly, RR finished the kayak at about the same time at the MDWW but opted for a sleep in TA, while the MDWW transitioned and had a sleep at CP15. The MDWW were then passed on the road by RR and it was clear that there was a battle going on between these two 4 person women’s teams. Kim had a strategy to forge ahead while on Cooks track, as it was evident that the MDWW were catching, but a minor mechanical - Alina’s bent derailleur – meant we all reached CP 17 together. While teams crossed paths again near CP 18, the MDWW chose to sleep at the top of a hill in a Quarry near TA5 and RR slept at Maydena. The MDWW woke up before midnight and enjoyed the final minutes of ‘wild Wednesday’ watching wombats, paddymelons and even a Tasmanian Devil while riding to find the final CPs on the leg and got into TA& at Bushy Park around 4am. The MDWW were excited to see Ashild Kridge at the TA – labelled the QLD TA because Linda Davis super search & rescue crew was based there as well.

A view of what the Mountain Designs Wild Women were riding in the darkness!

It was time for the MDWW to get on the Derwent River and enjoy the final rapids of the race. The beginning of this paddle was in darkness, but most was in the daylight which made travel faster, but it did not stop Kim and Alina from taking another few unplanned swims. Can you believe there was a swan swimming beside them showing them the way down the rapids…. this was real! The exit from the kayaks onto the pontoon was not glamorous and nor was it fast, but hey it went viral thanks to Thor Eggerton for filming! This was a luxury TA at the New Norfolk rowing club, with toilets and showers, but the MDWW were on a mission to get out of there before RR, they did not. So, it was going to be a race to the finish on the last leg, Kim hurried everyone up and off they went on bikes. For some reason Amie thought she would stop at a service station to buy no-dose; Kim was not impressed especially as it was now so important to make a fast start to this leg. Alina was really fired up and took on the navigation for the final bike and the team rode hard to CP26, it was all up hill and there was quite a bit of pushing required. CP 24 had been removed from the course, so teams had to ride out and back to CP25 Collins Bonnett. Kim was keeping track of time and the MDWW dropped their bikes at 3.02pm to hike to the peak, then the MDWW arrived at the peak at 3.25pm and managed to get back to the bikes and start riding again before crossing paths with RR. This meant that the MDWW were now over and hour in front and given no mechanicals or crashes, that they would finish ahead of RR. The rest of the course was mostly downhill and super-fast, and the team enjoyed the descent off the Mt Wellington Range into Huonville to arrive at the finish at the golden hour, just before sunset at around 6.30pm Thursday 8 March.

The bridge before the rapid! Teams were advised to paddle river left!

Legend AR Results 2025

The Mountain Designs Wild Women did not repeat their historic overall win from 2024 but were excited to finish ahead of Rootstock Racing and be the 2nd 4-person team to finish the race finding 100% of the checkpoints and 6^th overall. The Mountain Designs Wild Women were super proud of Amie’s son Nathan and the Team Broken Compass for winning the event and a trip to the ARWC in Canada and super impressed with The Women’s Pair Wonkey Donkeys for finishing 3^rd overall and 2^nd pair.  A full list of results and all the live tracking can be found on the Wild & Co Website. https://www.legendexpd.com.au/live

Mountain Designs Wild Women Finish Legend AR 2025 - Thursday 6.30pm

Mountain Designs Wild Women, Wonkey Donkeys, Rootstock Racing, Heidi Muller (ARWS CEO)

Thanks

The Mountain Designs Wild Women would like to thank Mountain Designs, AyUp Lighting Systems and Tri Adventure for your ongoing support and for ensuring that we have some of the best gear and equipment out there on course to help us not only finish but have fun and enjoy the race. Kim would like to thank the team at Venture Cycles for making sure her bike was in tip top shape for racing in Tasmania. The MDWW would also like to thank Wild & Co all of their event officials and volunteers as without these key people events such as this just do not happen. We hope that you enjoyed watching our dots and that we may have inspired you in the process. We are planning a trip to Canada to race at Expedition Canada The ARWC 2025 and will be back for Legend AR 2026 in South Australia – so why not join us!

 

Wild & Co Video Highlights from Legend AR 2025 Tasmania 

Wild & Co Day 1 Legend Video

Wild & Co Day 2 Legend Video

Wild & Co Day 3 Legend Video

Wild & Co Day 4 Legend Video 

Mountain Designs Wild Women Legend AR 2025 Video

Race Report by Kim Beckinsale 

So that was how the Mountain Designs Wild Women finished 2024

2024 was a great year for the Mountain Designs Wild Women, starting off with our historical win at the ARWS Oceania Legend Expedition Adventure Race .....

https://www.sleepmonsters.com/news.php?rticle_id=7219 

https://www.legendexpd.com.au/news/historic-win-for-the-mountain-designs-wild-women-team-at-legend-race-in-australia 

..... and later our best result ever at GeoQuest where we entered two teams with one of the Mountain Designs Wild Women teams finishing on the podium - a first for an all-female team. 

Jan and Kim then travelled to Canada to race in the Adventure Immersion Lab Raid the Rockies 4 Day Stage Race where we raced as Tri Adventure Aunties and surprised ourselves with a win in the all-female category! We were certainly out of our comfort zones many times but were able to rely on our experience and navigation skills to get through to the finish every day of racing. 

The Finish of Day 4 - Stage 4 - Raid the Rockies 2024

Hells Bells was the next event on the calendar for the Mountain Designs Wild Women - we probably did not have our best result ever, but we had a great time. It was the first Hells Bells for Ashild and a great opportunity to race with Cass and Nicola together in preparation for Ironbound Malaysia later in the year. 

The year was not over yet....so here is how the Mountain Deigns Wild Women finished off 2024.

October - Wild Women Adventure Race 2024 

Mountain Designs once again were the major sponsors for the Wild Women Adventure Race, and it just so happened the top three teams were made up of some of the Mountain Designs Wild Women.

1^st Nicola Jelinek and Ashild Krige

2^nd Cass Kimlin & Ali Wright

3^rd Katie Booth

Here are some insights from Ashild and Cass following the event.

Ashild Krige 

I still get the biggest smile on my face when thinking back to this year’s WW race. I had SO much fun thanks to the extremely well-prepared and organised yet casual-feel vibe of the race, the smoothness in which everything ran, the awesome volunteers who are always so happy to help, and of course my awesome and hilarious partner Nicola. We do make a great team on so many levels 😆

1. Strategy- we definitely wanted to clear the course and thought we could do it if we could nail the navigation. As we are both rather inexperienced navigators we tried our best to remember what all the amazing navigators we have raced with over the past years have taught us. Our main strategy was to pick directions of entry to the checkpoints where the maps provided the best guidance, ie have concrete guides on the map. This might mean having to pick a slightly longer route but it paid off (most of the time 😆)
2. Navigation - since navigation is our weakest link we decided to take turns to navigate and to make sure we would give each other plenty of time for this task. This failed at the first bike checkpoint when we (with myself in charge!)  flew straight past the flag and down the hill on the other side (my contour reading of the map was not up to scratch 😆) we decided Nicola would take over and we worked together to figure out the best way forward. Surprisingly, the on- road bike navigation was where we stuffed up throughout the race as we did not consider the map scales and the short distances between checkpoints in combination with our high bike speed when estimating distances. We nailed that track navigation though by making sure we used our planned strategy from the start.
3. The Course - The course was brilliant! I loved the varied terrains, beautiful scenery, and of course, the hills!!  Completely up my alley!! My only slightly challenging/scary part was when I got hooked by a fishing hook after paddling under the bridge near the kayaking TA. Two young guys were standing on the bridge fishing and I was centimetres away from getting the hook caught in my chin, just managing to grab it before it touched nicely to the side of my mouth 😳😅
4.  Tips or advice for first timers - Getting into AR and meeting the wonderful, positive, engaging, supportive, energetic and creative people who are involved in this sport is one of the best things I could have done at this point in my life. The fun and laughter, amazing moments and experiences, many new skills learnt and the opportunities that have come my way since i (somewhat reluctantly actually) joined the Wild Women race in Tewantin with Hubertiene 4 years ago is something I could never have dreamt of and the people and the sense of belonging to a community of like-minded people has made my very challenging personal journey over the past years so much easier. I have always felt a little out of place with my needs and desires to get out there and push myself the way I always have, not really knowing many others who could relate to this. I think I finally have found my tribe!!

So, to all those newbies out there wondering if AR is something for you; give it a go, as it will give you so much more than just the mere beauty of being out there in nature racing.

Thank you, Jan and Kim at Tri Adventure for all you do!

Cass Kimlin

This year I raced with Ali Wright, we both love the Wild Women AR as it’s so much fun racing in an all female environment and to just see so many women out there smiling and having fun! Congratulations to Ashild and Nicola on the win.

1. Strategy on treks - we used a combination of on and off track nav to get around the trek stages.  We had a couple of options during the treks where we scoped out the vegetation thickness before we committed to going off track. I'm still scared from that last trek in the 2023 edition where we decided to bush bash..... 
2. Navigation - the navigation this year was much harder than the last couple of races and I was very happy with that. Its so much more satisfying finding off track CP's. 
3. Course - I really liked the course. It was a nice mix of disciplines and flowed really well. My favourite leg was the Mt Ninderry trek. This was only a short leg on paper, but it packed a punch with a lot of sneaky elevation. Even though I've done quite a bit of training in this area, there were lots of places I'd never been before. 
4. Tips/advice - Practice your nav - get along to some of the Tri Adventure training days, Night Nav events or MTBO events. You'll meet some amazing people at these events too, who are more than willing to answer any questions you have. 

Looking forward to next year already, so we hope to see you there. If you are in the Maryborough / Hervey Bay area, feel free to get in touch as it’s always so much fun to share our adventures with friends! 

November - Ironbound Malaysia 2024 - Report by Nicola Jelenik

When Tri Adventure were offered free entry and accommodation for the 2024 edition of Iron Bound – a 48hr adventure race in Lenggong, mainland Malaysia, I was in. Warm weather, being able to speak some language, experience racing overseas and revisit Penang after many years ticked a heap of boxes for me.

Our team of 4 came together with Cass; navigator extraordinaire and team captain, Ashild; athletic super women, Eibhlin; who I had never raced with, however quickly realised she would keep us (me) inline, and I could listen to her Irish accent all day no matter what she said. A great team, I was super excited about this race.

Getting to the start line is often the hardest part of adventure racing; organising gear, families and work etc. Our flights were booked, a few of us arriving earlier to explore Penang Island. Then a week before flying we find out that tragically both Cass and Ashild cannot race.  With such heartbreaking events racing seemed far away and no longer important, however Eibhlin remained keen, and I decided we should still race.  It was unclear if we were able race the 48hr, or have to do the 12hr option as a team of only 2 up until the day before when Sham the race director said we could choose.  So, the 48hr it was.

Nicola and Eibhlin - ready to race!

After a couple of days at the race accommodation with the usual preparations of sorting more gear/food, mandatory gear checks, race briefing, and map handout we were feeling nervous but excited to race.  Eibhlin had discovered a young youtuber on navigation and was cramming in extra nav practice.

Preparing the 18 maps didn’t leave much time to sleep that night.  Although we were both worried about the navigation in general, the course looked fairly straightforward…apart from the 40km paddle predicted to be at night on a large river with many channels and islands.  CP19 looked particularly difficult, and we had happily crossed it off as being unobtainable, however we kept the map ‘just in case’. We also planned a portage to shorten and simplify the paddle.

We needed to be at the start line at midnight for a 1.00am start as ‘dignitaries’ were visiting. The start was eventful with both Eibhlin and I needing to race back to our rooms, me in the last minutes realising that I had inadvertently taken off the all-important control punch with a last-minute change of clothes to something cooler.  Even at midnight it was very warm and humid.

The first leg was a 123km bike and with nerves and adrenalin pumping it was hectic with all 23 teams squeezing on to a narrow road, with a few people crashing which we managed to avoid.  We took our time to navigate correctly but rode steady and solid which seemed to be our motto for the race. After a quick 83km of bitumen, the track quickly turned into soft clay with long ‘hike-a-bike’ sections. We caught up with a Malaysian team who told us it’s better to travel in larger numbers if we come across elephants and/or tigers, and there certainly was a lot of elephant poo around, so we stuck with them.  A few quick stops to fill up with fresh running water, to which we diligently added the electrolytes needed to complete the predicted 12hr leg with such high humidity.

CPs proved to be quite obvious with many local ‘marshals’ gathered or camped around the flags. We navigated half a map each to avoid having to stop so frequently to rearrange our map boards.   Our pedals were completely jammed with clay, therefore unable to clip in and my shoe was falling to pieces. It got completely left behind stuck in the mud a few times.  Our bikes however held up, only needing to tighten my head stem and Eibhlin’s map board.  We did give them a wash in the river and re-lubed the chain which felt wonderful.  Just before TA1 we had the most delicious ‘kalapa muda’ (young coconut) to drink with ice at a roadside stall. Just what we needed before embarking on the 7km trek and mystery challenge.

The trek included a very steep & slippery mountain and a large limestone cave system, both requiring ropes to prevent us from slipping away. At one point we lost our way in the cave and I was left dangling in the dark.  Eibhlin came to the rescue with lights showing the way out.  The mystery challenge was to de-husk a coconut which Eibhlin nailed, and we got to drink another – yum!

Back on the bike for a short ride to the dreaded paddle leg.  Amazingly though, the sun was still high, so it was a quick transition to make the most of the remaining daylight hours.  The river was wide with a fair flow.  There was also current in the smaller channels, so we changed our route choice to a shorter way that would be easy to navigate in daylight.  We had already decided that we had to go for CP 19 – there was no question, we had to do it for Cass and Ashild (lucky we had the maps).  We were traveling really well until darkness hit.  We had a convenient stop under the shelter at CP 19 during a massive rain squall, then paddled back out the channel through the large lily pads and then got completely disorientated.  We could not find our bearing, ended up amongst more lily pads, then managed to paddle out but were still confused.  After spotting a light in the distance we decided to head for it, thinking it was a house, however to our surprise it was another team.  A Malaysian team who could tell us where we were on the map - phew we didn’t need to drift around till morning light!  It was an eventful paddle spotting a group of endangered Malaysian Tapirs in the shallows. 

At CP 20 we stuck to our plan of portaging the kayak 1.4km to avoid getting lost in the river maze again.  After a few gut sinking incidents – not being able to find the track to river and then coming to 10m drop-off above the water, we found a way down to the river edge and re-launched the kayak. After collecting the last few kayak CPs it was on to the zip line and 20km trek.

The zipline was across the water was quite saggy, which meant a very fast descent to a stop with feet dangling in the water and needing to pull ourselves out gripping the overhead wire until someone could throw us a rope to pull us up on to the bank.  By this time our hands were extremely tender even with gloves on.  The trek was again up a very steep slippery mountain to a site of old aeroplane wreckage, then once down we found some energy to pick up the pace to jog for the remaining CPs.   

Almost home – the final leg was an abseil off a pretty high bridge and then a swim with our packs, harnesses and PFDs etc. to the finish line.  I was surprised the find the abseil rope ended a few meters above water, so needed to just drop in.  Up the bank on the other side we ran to the finish line with big smiles.  We’d had a great race – lots of laughs, super friendly locals/event crew and the best team mate…so much grit and determination!!

Winning Female Team (unranked because only 2 and female)

We placed 1^st female and 7^th overall, out of 23 teams coming from Malaysia, New Zealand, India, Japan and Australia.  Great to see so many young Malaysians racing. This race is held every 2 years in alternating locations.  The 2026 edition will be in Langkawi, and yes I’ll be there if able.  Thank- you to Mountain Designs for the best race socks and lightweight mandatory rain jacket. 

Nicola Jelinek

December - Not Packrafting the Mary! 

In Southeast Queensland there are not too many places where you have running rivers with rapids and thus opportunities to get out the packrafts and have a bit of fun and adventure do not come too often. We spend most of our time paddling plastic surge style kayaks in races and our ocean skis training. However sometimes when we get a little bit of rain, the Mary River gets a bit of flow, everyone gets excited about the prospect of planning a trip down parts of the Mary. Also, it has been a year of ups and down for some of the Wild Women, but at the end of the day we just love getting together for fun laughter and of course adventure. 

So, we locked in a date, Kim got out the maps and planned a 25k packraft and mountain bike adventure. Well, from that moment it simply did not stop raining and but because we did not live in Kenilworth, we did not realise just how much water had been flowing and collectively over the past few days and preceding weeks. Luckily, Kim did realise that paddling may not be an option so if the Walker Rd Bridge was under water we would not paddle.....well we could not even get near the bridge as the road was flooded and water was less than 1foot under the bridge at Moy Pocket, when usually there would be a football field above us as we paddle underneath. This was a very clear message that today was not our day for a packraft. 

No packrafting today!

Instead, we opted for a ride and a trek - so we rode from Kenilworth out towards Charlie Moreland - our plan was to ride up Sunday Creek Road and hike into Summer Falls - we thought that would be awesome! As we rode past the QPWS HQ the sign said road OPEN! But Little Yabba Creek was impassable just meters from the campsite. So, there was going to be no way we could get our bikes through when the water was that high and flowing that fast! 

Charlie Moreland - Flooded

About turn and we had to suffice for a road ride in the countryside out to Conondale and Jan found a nice little country road to explore that would take us back to our usual turnoff to Booloumba Creek. Still eager to find somewhere to hike, we thought we would go and have a look.... well, the entrance was closed to cars, so we stashed our bikes and used our 'Coast to Coast' swift water crossing techniques to get the group across the creek so we could enjoy a hike. Yes, it probably was a little bit risky, but we were all there as a team looking after each other - and in adventure racing, sometimes you do have to take risks, test yourself against mother nature and learn from the experience. So, despite not getting the packraft adventure that we had planned..... the Mountain Designs Wild Women finished off 2024 wanting more thus ready to thrive in 2025.

Hiking through tall trees!

The Cave

Creek Crossing - we are all safe!

The Mountain Designs Wild Women 2024 would like to thank Mountain Designs, Ay Up Lighting Systems, Tri Adventure and Venture Cycles for your ongoing support for women and the sport of adventure racing. 

Kim Beckinsale

Alina Mc Master

Del Lloyd

Cass Kimlin

Nicola Jelenik

Katy Booth

Gina Dunsdon

Amie Munson

Hayley Kelner

Jan Leverton

Ashild Krige

Ali Wright

Eibhlin Fletcher

Another broken compass but we saved the AyUp's and do we really need paddles?? Mountain Designs Wild Women Hells Bells 2024

Hells Bells would have to be one of the biggest AR events in Australia with over 100 teams lining up this year…..it has be been going for 21 years now and it’s definitely one of my favourite races on the calendar.  I was super excited to be back again this year after missing out on racing in 2022 (recovering from surgery) and 2023 (family wedding).  Mountain Designs are such great supporters of this event and have been sponsoring Hells Bells quite a few years now, so we the Mountain Designs Wild Women are always super proud to be out there racing and representing the brand.

Mountain Designs Wild Women Team

Kim Beckinsale, Cass Kimlin, Nicola Jelenik and Ashild Cridge

One of the things that I love about adventure racing is that you can race in similar places or locations, but you still always are provided with a course that is never the same and explore places you have never been before. So, pre-race once HQ is announced, it’s hard not to speculate where the race might travel…..I usually get a few places right, but most of the time the course goes somewhere completely different…..and this was the case for Hells Bells 2024.

Adventure Racing and all that gear!

Adventure racing is a sport where gear means everything! This includes anything from bikes, helmets, shoes and packs to lights, paddles, thermals, jackets and the all-important compass! The logistics planner helps the team know exactly what to pack, where to put it and what you have to carry….just working all of this our can be time consuming….but it is worth it!  In this race we tried out the new Fibril Mapboards as well - we met at the bike drop and fitted these to our bikes in seconds ….wow they are super light, quick and easy to fit. Kim used the clips version and Cass had the cover!

Pre-race is always so frantic….despite seemingly having all the time in the world to pack your gear into boxes….once the maps come out…packing stops and it’s all eyes on the course and planning our route. As we did not have to submit boxes till half an hour before race start, we had time to make a few changes and then madly finish packing just before we had to do the drop offs. My philosophy is …if it fits in the box….pack it as you never know if you, or another team-mate, may need it…. This is especially true for extra thermals, spare socks and food!  We also had to provide a paddle bag and had the option of bringing kayak trolley wheels, and straps as there were options to portage on the course.

Three tubs and a paddle bag to pack

Hells Bells 2024 - Teams have dropped off gear and almost ready for action

The Course 150k if you go the right way!

This year there was split start….we were on course 2 which meant we started with a Trek/Paddle/Trek. Course 1 started with a Paddle/Trek/Trek, then both courses were the same -  Bike/Trek/Bike/Trek/Paddle /Trek – a total distance of around 150k.  Course 1 Teams started at 11.00am and Course 2 teams started at 11.15 am. In between the Fairy Bells teams started off with a trek and we all had 24 hours from our starts to get back to HQ for the BBQ 😊

Broken Compass

Okay, so I started the race with 4 compasses, you would think that was enough hey?   We were off to a great start, we cleared the first trek (Kings Beach, Shelly Beach, Moffat Beach, Bulcock Beach and North Tip Bribie) in good time, transitioned to the paddle (no wheels required) and decided on an anticlockwise course on the water. I had my compass attached to my lifejacket with a piece of string and it’s not the one I carry for the rest of the course. I also had the map in a map case as it can be windy – it was, so I did not lose the map. We paddled and navigated well but were just a bit bamboozled when one of the CPs was not electronic as per the description on the course notes….we were 100% in the right place! Other teams coming the other way had been told by an official it was not electronic…so we moved on and arrived back at the TA/Start with around 4 other teams who had chosen the opposite direction. It was a quick run through the streets to Ben Bennet Park (Sugarbag Road MTB Trails). At this point I was using my Moscow thumb compass and we managed to get a break on a few teams on the maze of foot trails before arriving at TA1.

Trek Leg 1 - MDWW opted to get this CP last so we had less time with wet and sandy feet.

Leg 2 Kayak - Conditions were perfect - MDWW went anticlockwise!

We had a super quick transition onto the bikes, found the 2 CPs in the Sugarbag Road single tracks relatively quickly, before being stopped in our tracks by a fence near the Bells Creek Arterial Road – our short cut track was not a track…just a boundary line, so it was slow travel. We had fun crossing under the tunnel under the Bruce Highway at CP 6 despite teams around us at the time questioning whether this was the way we had to go! Yep – I said we have been through this one before! We raced off and were now amongst Hells Bells teams who had started 15 minutes before as well as some of the Fairy Bells Teams. Bonus A and Bonus B checkpoints were actually in part of the Glasshouse Mountains National Park, but it was flat, boggy and the track to CP A was under water, so most teams were hiking out and back. We had to remind a few teams bout the 100m rule and the 5m rule at CPs as it was obvious that some team members thought they could just wait with the bikes or just go in part of the way! This was our marked through route to B, so we had to alter our planned course, there were tracks everywhere and it was a bit tricky. I was riding along and then my compass fell off my map board and onto the ground, oh no! I stopped and turned around and just as I saw my compass, someone rode right over it and broke it…well actually smashed it….fluid was leaking out and there was no way this was going to work again ☹ The good news was that this was an old compass, the bad news is that my newer mapboard compass already had broken at GeoQuest and as I had been away in Canada until a week ago had not had a chance to replace it. So, did I have a spare map board compass??? NO ☹

So, I had to revert to using my thumb compass….now this was not easy when trying to ride a sketchy single track from Meridan Tower CP7 to CP8.  Ashild was on fire and so strong on the hike-a-bike and so I just said, you ride in front, so I had more time to be able to use the mapboard and hold onto the bars, brakes and my compass!  Cass was onto it as well, meaning navigating…. but I must admit, I like to know that everything is lining up correctly when I am out on the trails. It sometimes means we might be a bit slower, but we spend less time going the wrong way! The tunnel crossing CP10 saw us holding our bikes us over our heads…. Ashild led the way …...the water was waist deep, but that did not phase us! Back on the single tracks we were in familiar territory on the Ferny Forest trails, but the map and the trails did not always match up so I was struggling without that mapboard compass! We overshot CP11 because the marked fire trail did not exist, but a bit of local knowledge helped us backtrack and not lose more than a few minutes!

MDWW out on Leg 5 Trek

We arrived at TA 2 well before dark, so had plenty of time for Cass and I to mark up the maps for the Rogaine while Nicola and Ashild found our gear tub and started getting the stuff ready. We had 10 CPs to locate on foot, in the Ewen Maddock Dam section of Beerwah State Forest. This was a beautiful scenic twilight trek, the map scale was 1:10000, so distance between CPs seemed so much quicker than we thought. A bit of bush bashing and some good compass bearings, saw us finish the leg in good time and just before dark!

Leg 5 Trek Rogaine - MDWW check their next route

MDWW running the trails

MDWW at CP M

MDWW bush bash through the Ferny Forrest

Ay-Up Lights are worth saving!

By the time we transitioned out of TA 2, it was completely dark, we had our Ay-Up lights on our helmets, handlebars and our head torches in our packs! We have dry shoes and socks, and a few extra layers, which is nice and looking forward to riding through the old rail tunnel in the Dularcha National Park.

Kim checks the map before mounting on the Fibril Map Board - Ay-Ups are on!

Leg 6 MTB - MDWW Ready to head out of TA 2 onto the final bike leg of the race!

As we were riding across the dam wall beside Steve Irwin Way, poor Ash fell into the grass and ended up soaking wet…. not a great way to start a long night leg. After riding through the tunnel, we had a massive climb up Brandenberg Road, so I hoped Ash would warm up! She and Nicola rode that hill, like I was riding backwards…. but hey Ash was now warm!  It was cool riding the Landsborough Maleny Road ridgeline at night through to Mt Mellum. The descent back through the Dularcha National Park on the other side of Ewen Maddock Dam was pretty steep, so despite having great lights, we had to walk a few bits as it was steep and sketchy. We enjoyed riding some of the single tracks on the west side of Ewen Maddock Dam before crossing the Bruce Highway at Aussie World. There was no time to stop and party, so we continued on through the underpass to the Palmview Conservation Park. Now we know that in an adventure race you often have to throw our bike over gates and fences, but this fence was probably out of our league…..so it was a long way around to CP 20 for us! On our way to TA 3 we came across Lauren and her team, she was new to our Tri Adventure group and new to AR, she was concerned that the trail was into private property. This is when prior race knowledge helps, because I remembered the same spot from a previous race, so I could assure her it was okay to travel that way.

We arrived at the TA just as it was getting really cold and foggy, many of the Fairy Bells Teams were out there….we could see their lights….I was having flash backs from a Hells Bells a few years ago….and so was Cass…about swimming through the creek at night and spending way too much time out on a trek in the fog and being freezing! We were both willing that not to be the case this time! Cass and I marked up the maps and we had a pretty quick transition….except I could not find my compass….well it was not in my hand….I had dropped it when marking up the maps….Cass found  it for me 😊 I did have a spare (thumb compass) in my pack.

We opted to do an 'out and back' to W then Y, out and back to Z before tackling X, V and U. We had no trouble at all and in fact we all enjoyed running as it really warmed us up….as we knew we were in for a cold paddle. Back at the TA we had a more complex transition, as we had to now fit our portage wheels and all of our gear to the kayaks. We had packed also extra straps for our feet and for hauling the kayaks on the trolley. We checked out of the TA and headed for the banks of the Mooloolah River….it was more like a creek!

Cass was with Nicola and Ash was with me…. we hopped into the kayaks and started paddling….I could barely see the map…. too much plastic because I had it in the map case…. well, I did not want to lose the map! Next minute we hit a tree…. because I was not steering and looking at the maps and my Ay-Up Lights fall off my head and into the water! Now I couldn’t see the maps at all …. But I could see my lights…. they were under water at the bottom of the river…. shining brightly! There was a strong current taking us in the direction we wanted to travel, but we had to retrieve the lights!  We could touch the bottom with our paddles, so we tried to scoop up the lights…. we tried and tried but it didn't help. Nicola offered to jump in….I said no…they are my lights…. I will have to jump in! But the water temperature was potentially under 10 degrees, we had probably 3 hours of paddling to go and we were all dry and toasty warm with our waterproof pants and jackets on.  So, I decided to strip off down to my socks and get the lights! I walked into the water and used my feet to lift the light up until I could grab it.  Ash helped me at the edge of the water not fall in as I was putting all of my dry clothes back on. Cass then said…hey Kim…. Have you got your lights…. I said yeah…they are on my head! At that point we saw another set of lights in the water shining…. Cass and Nicola tried to get them with their paddles, but then the lights turned off…darkness…. they would be too hard to find now.! We headed off, after I was dressed….I still couldn't see the map…but I had my Ay-Ups!

Do we really need paddles?

Off we went down the river with the flow towards CP 21. I was hoping that we would just see it as I could not see the map, I had a compass…. but it was no use if I could not see. Cass…. who is much younger than me, was trying her best to see and thought we were almost there…. BINGO – CP21. Now we had planned to portage from here, but it did not look like anyone else had…. we paddled on…got to a strainer and thought…. mmm maybe we were meant to get out! We paddled back to CP 21 against the current …. looked at the bank and went nah! So, we negotiated the strainer trying carefully not to tip in and made our way to CP 22. It was not easy to see as it was hidden in a tree…so lucky the girls caught a glance. As we were getting out… Ash almost lost her paddle…. but we saved it! Phew!

This was now our portage with the kayak wheels…that we had strapped onto the kayaks. It looked like about 1.6k. To be honest…we struggled getting the kayak trolley wheels to work with us …. I had the same wheels that I have used in other races…. but not with these particular kayaks. Cass and Nicola were off, yet Ash and I had to stop a few more times. The Cass’s kay trolley had a meltdown and ours followed suit! Maybe it would have been quicker just carrying them???? Who knows??? We got to the North end of Lake Kawana near the entry point when Ash looked at our Kayak and said…. our paddles…we do not have our paddles…. I looked down and went…. Oh no…. I can’t even remember having our paddles. We had a 6k paddle to go and we had no paddles….so we had to turn back and find our paddles! Ash thought she had stashed them up near a tree ‘so they would not fall in the water’ they were still there when we went back…phew!!!

This added about 3k extra to our last paddle leg…. but probably still faster than trying to paddle two double kayaks with just two paddles and 4 people. We enjoyed the end of the paddle as we were really warm from the extra running and opted for the bonus CP C – we got 30 minutes time credit, for 30 minutes of paddling…. now that is not a win win situation, but it meant that we could clear the course. So, this is what the Mountain Designs Wild Women did, we ran the final trek and finished just before sunrise at about 5.30am on Sunday morning….it probably was not our smoothest race…. but we finished all smiling and super satisfied with our efforts and decisions out on the course.

Mountain Designs Wild Women at the finish!

Adventure Racing does not always go to plan and despite how much you plan and prepare for every single contingency a race rarely goes 100% the way you intended. Next time I just have to carry an extra map board compass in my saddle bag (which means I have to remember to buy 2 new ones now) and just work on those back to basics questions like ….have we got our paddles…when we are portaging!

Mountain Designs Wild Women finished Hells Bells - 1^st All-Female Team and 7th overall 

We are so thankful to have the ongoing support of MountainDesigns, Ay Up Lighting Systems, Tri Adventure and Venture Cycles….as you can see having the right gear at the right time is essential! Below is a link to a video created by Harrison Candin for Mountain Designs – it does not feature the Mountain Designs Wild Women but is a great recap of Hells Bells 2024 and an insight into what adventure racing is all about!

Video Clip Hells Bells 2024 - Mountain Designs

Thanks to Chris Dixon and the Wild&Co Team including all the volunteers for helping to make this event such a success! Also thanks to Jan Leverton ARWS Race Referee for giving her time to ensure the event is safe and fair for all. Adventure Racing in Australia is really on the rise so it fantastic to have the CEO of the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) Heidi Muller meeting participants and helping out where she was needed. Hells Bells is part of the ARWS Oceania Region. Heidi has signed up for the Tri Adventure Wild Women Adventure Race which is being held on 12 October on the Sunshine Coast. Thanks to Margarete Oti for being out on the course and capturing such stunning images for us to cherish and share.

Women in Sport 
 Jan Leverton - ARWS Referee; Heidi Muller - CEO ARWS; Kim Beckinsale - MD Wild Women