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Nike ACG Wins Ford Explorer Sport Trac Challenge in Rockies

23 May 2000

Nike ACG Wins Ford Explorer Sport Trac Challenge in Rockies

                Team Will Battle All-Star Ford Outfitter Team,
               Men's Journal Expedition and K2 Sports in Finals

    VAIL, Colo., May 23 In the final qualifying round, and
closest Explorer Sport Trac Challenge to date, the Nike ACG team leveraged
home-altitude advantage and outlasted three talented teams in a battle with
the best mountain biking, backcountry skiing, kayaking, and climbing the
Rockies could muster.
    Nike ACG now qualifies to compete in the finals in June against Team Men's
Journal, Team K2 Sports and the all-star Ford Outfitter team for more than
$100,000 in cash and prizes including four new Ford Explorer Sport Tracs.  The
Finals will be held in the Hood River, Oregon area.
    For complete blow-by-blow coverage of this weekend -- including spotlights
on the athletes, videos, audio comments, maps and stories -- visit
http://www.sporttracchallenge.com, hosted by Quokka.com.
    The Explorer Sport Trac Challenge incorporates four of today's hottest
high-endurance sports -- sport climbing, whitewater rodeo kayaking, cross
country mountain biking and backcountry skiing.  Twelve four-person teams have
competed in three preliminary competitions held in backcountry locations
throughout the United States.
    Each competition is "earn your turns," which means skiers and snowboarders
must skin or snowshoe up to the top of the slope before they descend.
Mountain bikers must complete a grueling uphill course before tackling the
downhill.  Rock climbers must complete three pitches, each about a mile apart,
requiring them to run from pitch to pitch after they rappel.
    Additionally, Sport Trac Challenge events are designed to mimic the
conditions and situations that a professional outfitter faces as part of their
work.  It is not just a race against the clock.  The skills tests that are
incorporated into the competitions are the same skills that the Ford Outfitter
team must master in order to insure the safety of their clients, like finding
a buried transceiver or performing critical first-aid functions.

    The Ford Outfitters Team is:
    -- Mike Hattrup - Fully-certified American Mountain Guide Assoc.'s
       Ski Mountaineering Guide
    -- Tiffany Levine-Campbell - Owner/Partner, Proclimb and Climbetter!
       Guiding/Instructional Business
    -- Phil DeRiemer - Owner/Operator DeRiemer Adventure Kayaking
    -- Dave Hagen - Owner/Operator Durango Single Track Tours