Adventures

Eco-Challenge

The Challenge

The Challenge

Updates

Updates

Eco-Challenge



Updates

CONTACT:
Bill Baker /
Jenifer O'Brien


LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA TO SPONSOR ECO-CHALLENGE TEAM


Ultimate endurance competition to test five person Team Land Rover

In the early morning hours of August 24, 1996, the second annual Eco-Challenge Adventure Race will commence in Whistler, British Columbia, as seventy-five teams from around the world set out on an eight-to-ten day adventure of endurance, willpower and determination. The five members of Team Land Rover, sponsored by Land Rover North America, Inc., will be among the competitors attempting to navigate the 300-mile Eco-Challenge course by foot, horseback, raft and mountain bike. All teams will use map and compass to orienteer their way from start to finish, passing through a number of Passport Control Points along the route.

Competitors must be in top physical condition to withstand the continuous physical and mental demands of the event. Four of the five Team Land Rover members, including Amy Capron, 23, of Basalt, Colo.; Jack Crawford, 30, of Fort Collins, Colo.; Charlie MacArthur, 35, of Snowmass Village, Colo.; and Peter Voorhees, 28, of Aspen, Colo., have spent the last several months training together in and around Aspen. Darcy Angelo, 25, of Westwood, Mass., replaced Team Manager Nancy Scheinkman, 30, also of Aspen, as the fifth team member after Scheinkman injured her knee during training.

Each member of Team Land Rover brings with him or her unique skills and valuable past experience that have helped prepare the team for this challenge.

Angelo, who competed in last year's Eco-Challenge in Utah, attended the University of Colorado where she completed an 83-day training program with the Colorado Outward Bound School. This course included rock climbing and whitewater boating as well as problem solving tasks and teamwork building exercises. She is currently employed by the Boston Athletic Association and is the 27th ranked woman marathoner in New England.

Capron, a triathlete, captured first place in the Sporting Kids Triathalon in Corning, N.Y. A member of the Cornell University women's crew team while in college, Capron enjoys multi-day whitewater kayak, canoe and raft trips in her spare time. She has diverse backcountry experience, including multi-day cross-country skiing hut trips, and has climbed several Colorado peaks in excess of 14,000 feet. Capron is employed as a landscape architect in Aspen.

Currently the editor-in-chief of Beyond Adventure Sport magazine, Crawford worked as a Transition Area Director at the 1995 Eco-Challenge in Utah, where he was responsible for 450 competitors, assistance crews and members of the press. He is a member of the Larimer County Search and Rescue team and has performed numerous searches involving nighttime navigation in diverse weather conditions, a skill developed during his service in the Navy. Crawford is an expert in rock and ice climbing as well as mountain biking, and also competes in duathalons and triathalons.

A snowcat operator, volunteer firefighter and specialized rescue team member, Voorhees has competed in endurance mountain bike races such as the Leadville 100 and the 24 Hours of Moab. He is experienced at white water rafting and mountaineering, having completed climbs in South America and Colorado. His climbing experience also includes glacial traverses, ice climbing and aid climbing. As a professional stuntman, Voorhees has appeared in movies such as Speed, Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park and Aspen Extreme.

Like Voorhees, MacArthur has also transferred his outdoor expertise to on-screen endeavors; he trained the two lead actors for Aspen Extreme and has appeared in various television commercials showcasing his kayaking, skiing, climbing and even river boogie boarding abilities. He has competed professionally in several kayaking events including the Rocky Mountain Adventure Games, and has skied for several years at the "Powder Eights," in Jackson Hole, Wyo. With an M.S. in exercise physiology, MacArthur makes his living as a nationally recognized ski and kayak instructor in Aspen.

In addition to team sponsorship, Land Rover North America will be supplying 28 Land Rover Discovery XD sport utilities to be used as support vehicles for the Eco-Challenge organizers during the event. The Discoverys will carry communications equipment, television production crews, journalists and staff along the event route in remote timberland of western Canada.

The XD is a specially-outfitted version of the British four-wheel drive manufacturer's popular Discovery model. All XDs will feature a safari roof rack, wrap-around brush bar, rear-lamp guards, front protection plate, Land Rover driving lights, heavy duty floor mats, custom waterproof seat covers, rear ladder and black alloy wheels with BF Goodrich 235x16 All-Terrain tires. Approximately 250 of these vehicles, painted in eye-catching AA Yellow, will be available to the public in early 1997 with a target price of $36,000. Standard equipment on all Discoverys sold in the U.S. includes a 4.0 litre, 182hp V-8 powerplant, dual airbags, side-door impact beams, anti-lock brakes and permanent four-wheel drive.

Land Rover North America, Inc. is a member of the Rover Group of Companies, importing vehicles manufactured by Land Rover, Solihull, England. The Rover Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW AG.

For more information about the dealer nearest you, contact Land Rover North America at 1-800-FINE-4WD or http://www.LandRover.com.


LR9644###08/19/96