Experiencing the Rainforest Challenge
Vivek Sharma

FIFTYFIVE adventurers and 4x4 enthusiasts from 30 countries, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Canary Islands, Spain, Italy, Monaco, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Germany, Holland, Denmark and the UK, gathered for the Rainforest Challenge --2001 in Malaysia. For the serious-minded adventurers, this was the ultimate test for fame and glory. The first Rainforest Challenge took place in 1997 with only seven countries participating.

Everybody was prepared for the adventure — prepared to experience the thrill, sweat and the tough times! But no matter how much one has prepared it always fall short. A few of the essential things that competitors had to have was a roll bar cage, fully functioning winch in the front as well as in the rear with spare winch cables, 40 litres of fuel, dry ration for five days, camp bed, sleeping bag and a first-aid kit.

On November 24, the participants as well as the organisers, mediapersons and the medical team left for Awana Hotel at Genting Highlands from where the flag off took place. The next day each vehicle was flagged off by Ms. YB Mazhah Mazlan (Minister of culture, arts and tourism and women affairs of Pahang). After leaving the podium, vehicles moved in a convoy on the tarmac for 50 km to Sungai Dua for prologue special stages(SS). On the way to the campsite we had to do winching, and navigation on the log bridge and also had to help others without getting into trouble ourselves.

I had never before seen such a campsite. It was full of vehicles of competitors and organisers. The only space left for sleeping was under or inside the vehicles. We tied a plastic sheet and slept on our camp bed because the ground was wet. At night there was heavy rain. The plastic sheet collapsed because it could not sustain the weight of the water.

Each SS was divided into different testing situations. Each stage covered 500 metres or less, and that could include crossing a river bridge made of logs and a swampy area. Each SS had to be finished in an allotted time. Those who were unable to finish the stage were given a DNF (Did not Finish) mark for that particular stage only.

After finishing the remaining special stages, everyone moved out from the jungle to another campsite at Kuala Tahan (Flame of the Forest). At this campsite, organisers had a surprise event for the competitors. In this SS, participants were given no chance to see the track; only a few instructions were given before the start. Competitors had to go on a track that had pits, side angles.

On November 27, everybody was called for a briefing and by that time results were out of the prologue SS. The starting order was finalised too. Soon after, competitors moved to Sungai Pengau for another SS in a convoy as per their starting order. The real adventure was about to begin. Along the way participants crossed special stages. Competitors had to go under the bridge, over the bridge, into the water and on the slippery mud. In one the stages they had to cover 200 metres at a 45-degree angel and come down in reverse gear after touching the ribbon at the top.

On November 28, we moved to another campsite, Kampung Mat Daling. On the way, we had only one SS, which was for competitors, mediapersons and organisers. There was a deep gully about 50 feet wide and 10 feet deep. We all got together to make a wooden log bridge. Everyone seemed to have a first-class degree in bridge engineering. Laszlo Gog, a journalist from Hungary, broke his leg but managed to get medical assistance on the spot but later he had to be sent back to Kuala Lumpur for further treatment. At 7 pm, as the sun went down, competitors were not allowed to go further. They were supposed to camp there and follow the route the next morning.

On November 29, after so many days in the jungle, we laid our eyes on the countryside. The refuelling was done at a small town called Lepar Utara Bandar. Here the vehicles were inspected and the whole group was divided into two: Group 1 was to undertake the real challenge to Twilight Zone; Group 2 consisted of those who were not capable of going up in the highly dense forest and could take the escape route. They were told to wait for the other competitors at Sungai Berakit. Competitors spent two nights on their own in the jungle. According to Frieder Schwarz of Germany, these two days were marvellous. The terrain was tough but he liked it and took it as a real challenge. After coming down from the Twilight Zone, the competitors had to cross a swampy area. At Bamboo Down Hill, there was a steep descend of 1000 metres. Sometimes due to the sound of roaring engines, bamboo bushes fell over the vehicles. They had to be cut for clearing the way.

The toughest SS, however, was ahead. The participants had to go downhill (45 degrees), cross a small stream and then make a rocky climb (25 degrees). At this stage seven vehicles rolled over. Amazingly, no one received a scratch, and even the vehicles were ready to move on after the horrifying fall. Alvaro from Monaco (Canary Islands), an expert rider who has participated in Camel Trophy and once earlier in the RFC, on his wrangler 4000cc tried to climb down in bear style with its back first. He hooked his front winch to a tree and came down slowly but the tree could not hold the weight of his jeep and he came down with the tree! With the fall, he lost the power-steering fluid but there was not a scratch on him. He managed to complete the event.

As the competitors moved towards Sungai Berakit for regrouping, they had another interesting and challenging SS on the way. It was again 25-degree downhill and they had to cross a small stream and again cover a 20-degree climb. The participants regrouped at Sungai Berakit. The campsite was on the bank of a river. As there was no rain the next day the challenge was less adventurous. To add fun to the event, organisers conducted a team SS. In this stage, competitors were free to choose their team-mate from any five countries. For this special stage, they had to drag a ‘dead vehicle’ from across the river.

Just after the special stage, everybody left for Swiss Garden Resort at Kuantan. At Kuantan, we had a beach SS. At night we had a dinner party followed by a cultural programme and, finally, the prize distribution ceremony.

The RFC 2001 ended with the Australian Team 101 of Steven Tjepkema and Steven Hudson in Range Rover clinching top overall positions with 2,089 points, Malaysia’s Loo Fu Siong and Alan Leaw (Team 110) in a Toyota BJ 40 coming close second with 1,908 points and Britain’s Simon Buck and John Matthew Cook (Team 160) in a Range Rover coming third with 1,863 points. However, after 10 days of thrill and action, it does not matter who wins or loses, for completing the journey itself is an achievement.

(The writer is a Chandigarh-based adventure photo journalist)