As dawn broke, many teams began opting to forego Transition area 7/8 and bike directly to the finish at Mt. Snow. Those teams with podium ambitions however found themselves in an incredibly challenging trekking section: steep, soggy, and thick bushwhacking to one high point after another in the total darkness of a cloudy and rainy night. The mountain bike climb into the transition area and the trek could both be summed up in one word: Brutal. But this course was designed to test the best in the world and racers could expect nothing less than an intense challenge if they wanted to clear this course.

After the final trek and a mountain bike stage that led teams back to Mount Snow, the rain began to pour. For many teams, this was the end of their race: they turned in their passports with a foggy Mt. Snow looming in the background and breathed a sigh of relief. Other teams continued through the rain and made attempts to collect a few of the checkpoints that had been set on the final stage. Those who were fighting for the win however, ran up the mountain in search of those final checkpoints.

Team Rivals and Team Strong Machine had been neck and neck throughout the entire race, seeing each other often on the course. Their strategies were slightly different, but both teams ran the entirety of the race, “pedal to the metal.” In the end, Strong Machine visited 69 checkpoints, securing a win in the Premier Co-ed division (the highest competitive level in the world of Adventure Racing.) Team Rivals, composed of two Canadian men who absolutely flew along the course took the overall win by collecting just one more checkpoint to put their total at 70.

The Hard Fall 2024 lived up to its name this year. It was an unclearable course designed to test the best adventure racers in the world. Those who stood at the start line to take on this monumental challenge successfully faced down a monster of a course. The winners achieved an amazing feat of athleticism, determination, strategy and pure grit.