Last weekend saw the opening of the inaugural Himalayan
Outdoor Festival, the festival is the brain child of some very inspired outdoor
types who wanted to bring all kinds of outdoor sports together under the pine
needle roof of Hattiban. The festival held over three days was a big success
and those of you who missed it should pen it in your calendar for next year!
This event is going to get bigger and bigger and is exactly the injection that
outdoor and adventure sports in Nepal needs to kick things up a few notches.
Friday 11am not much was going on up at Hattiban, but as the
skies opened with rain, hordes of volunteers and event organizers descended
from no-where and battled the heavy winds to transform the pine forest and
Hattiban Resort into an outdoor sports paradise.
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| Up hill race winners |
One of the first events of the festival was the Uphill
Mountain Bike Challenge powered by Marmot. Races lined up at the bottom of the
hill and awaited dusk; this race was perhaps the first of its kind in Nepal. 20
or so riders battled out the steep, bumpy climb from the road to the resort in
the dark, most of them without lights! Cheering crowds got the festival into
the spirit of things. Naryan Gopal won the race, but we also need to plug our
own Aayman Tamang who normally is about ten minutes off Naryan’s pace, he came second just 1 minute
behind him! Super improvement this year from Aayman, we think he’s almost ready
to take the top step of the podium!
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| At the climbing wall |
An overnight windstorm and rain almost flattened the venue,
but did not damper the spirit of the event. The day kicked off with the
Hattiban Super Challenge MTB Race, powered by Himalayan Single Track held over
a 2.5km track which slipped and slid its way around the pine trees. 10 and 5 k trail
running was also held on this day. Runners and riders finishing at the same
time added to the spectator enjoyment. It was also nice to see women
participating in both events, though most where foreigners…come on Nepalese
girls where are you all….? The time is now for you girls to get into the sports
like mountain biking and running and there are plenty of people ready to
support you.
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| A tight XC Course |
In the afternoon was the Downhill Super “D”, the team from
Chain and Epic pulled out all stops to make a brilliantly fast and challenging
short course which the riders ripped up! It was good also to see some new faces
in the downhill line up and the fast and furious pace was much appreciated by
the hordes of spectators who turned up to watch the boys on big bouncy bikes!
The best thing about the festival was the sports converging
on each other, climbers, runners, XC riders, down hill riders all had the
chance to mingle and understand other disciplines and even better was the
chance after all the huffing, puffing, running and racing was over, there was a
huge party with live music and food so everyone could relax, mingle and tell their
tails of triumph or woe or just plain old fun. This kind of community building
is essential for the long term stability of all sports in a developing country
like Nepal and it was a very brave step to take by the event organizers….and
one we LOVED!
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| Taking a flyer in the Super D |
It was super fun and many lessons were learned about how this
event can go bigger, badder and better in 2013 and we hope that more people
will attend, support and sponsor such a great event. May long live adventure
sports in Nepal! And a huge thank you to everyone involved.
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