S African team win international adventure race in Kashmir

South African team Nevarest Jabberwock today won the 450-kilometer multi-discipline international adventure race, the first-of-its-kind event in Kashmir where 13 foreign teams participated.
The team, from South Africa, completed the 'Expedition India 2017' at 2:00 pm in Leh, Ladakh region by covering the distance in 55 hours, an official of the Tourism Department said here.
He said the adventure race included 75 kilometers of rafting, 43 kilometers of mountain biking, 53 kilometers of trekking and uphill running, 120 kilometers of mountain cycling, and 59 kilometers of camel safari in Nubra Valley.
As many as 14 teams -- 13 from abroad and one local team -- took part in the 10-day competition.

"Four teams pulled out of the gruelling race in Leh and one team was rescued and the rest of the eight teams are expected to finish the race by tomorrow night," the official said.
The teams were from South Africa, Australia, the UK, Sweden, New Zealand, Ireland, France, Argentina and Czech Republic, among others.

The expedition was flagged off by Secretary Tourism M H Malik on September 13 at the Shankaracharya hill here.
The first-ever international adventure event in Kashmir saw athletes passing through land of high mountain passes at an average altitude of over 3,500 meters, breathtaking valleys and beautiful rivers, making it one of the most fascinating and highest adventure races in the world, the official said.

Director Tourism Kashmir Mahmood A Shah said the adventure race has received overwhelming response globally.
The race has foreign teams and some of the world champions also participated in it.
The event has garnered a huge response from athletes all over the world and is watched live by lakhs of people on the social media, Shah said.