17/01/2010  Set in terrain laying claim to the worlds highest lake, highest commercial airport and highest mountain pass comes possibly the toughest multi sport stage race ever devised. 10 stages, over 13000m of climbing cumulating with a 12 hour tri sport event held around the beautiful lakeside of Pokhara.Its the HimaSLAYA

Ten tough mountain stages combining trail running and mountain biking over some of the most spectacular terrain on earth. Competitors will mtb past the worlds highest commercial airport, climb a 5416m mountain pass and run around the worlds highest lake.

The event will finish with a 12 hour, canoeing / trail running / mountain biking event set in the beautiful surroundings of lakeside Pokhara which can be entered as part of HimaSLAYA or seperately and as an individual or team of 3.

 The entire event will carry as cash purse of approximately $20000

More details of the location, stages and dates will be posted here shortly.

Stage 1 - Does not carry any purse and is free to enter, but will count in the ranking system for the overall winner.  Starting in the heart of Kathmandu, each competitor or team will be set a number of tasks to undertake in the Kathmandu valley, ie find certain objects, photograph certain landmarks etc, using whatever means of transport they like.   A points system calculating amount of tasks completed against return time will determine the placings for this stage. A fun way of getting to see the sites of Kathmandu and a small introduction to Nepal.

Stage 2 -  Besi Sahar to Manang - Mountain bike or run - 93km / 4000m of climbing ETA 12 - 14 hours.

    "Approx 2km of sealed road starts the race along Besi Sahar main street. The trail soon turns to rough jeep track, and follows the course of the  Marshyangdi river along the left side of the valley.  After approx 30 km the jeep track runs out and from then its 11km of mainly push and carry up steep rocky climbs with a  final 1km descent into the flat valley surrounding Taal.   Leaving Taal, there is a Mani wall (dry stone wall inlaid with Buddhist prayer slates) in the middle of the path. These should always be passed on the left. After going by fields of maize, barley and potatoes, the valley becomes narrow again. From Taal to Danaqu it will involve a large % of push / carry with a very steep hard climb out of Danaqu. From here though it becomes more rideable with closer views of snow capped peaks and a wide flowing trail to Chame.  The route now takes competitors through a dense forest in a steep, narrow valley and crosses a river via two bridges, one at 2910m and then another at 3030m. The trail continues along the river to Pisang, where the altitude is enough to bring on the first symptoms of AMS (altitude sickness). From Pisang, the route follows a wide valley that opens up ahead . Competitors will pass through Humde (the highest commercial airport in the world) and Braga with its Gompa and roots in Tibetan religion. A cliff face obscures Manang until  practically upon it and a final steep climb brings us to its prayer wheel lined streets and stunning scenery at 3540m"

This section is normally trekked in 7-10 days and will be extremely tough, (see video footage here ,).For safety reasons there will be a stringent cut off time at Chame and competitors not making this will also be excluded from the folowing days stage .

 Stage 3 - Manang - Chame- Ghyaru - Manang - Mountain bike or run or horse 40 km - 700m of climbing - eta  6 - 8 hours

    A circuitous route that drops back down to Pisang and then doubles back towards Manang, climbing up the right hand side of the valley, passing through less frequently visited villages such as Ghyaru and Nawal  and then drops back down to finish back in Manang. It is hoped that a number of Manangs infamous horse riders will also enter this stage, making for a Nepal style Man v Horse!. Competitors that did not make the cut off time during Stage 2 can take either the direct or Stage 3 route to Manang and rejoin the main race at the allotted hotel in Manang

 Stage 4 - Manang - Thorong La - Manang . Mountain bike or run . 44km - 2000m climbing - eta 10 - 12 hours

    Another ultra tough stage with stringent cut off points for safety reasons. From Manang the trail climbs steadily for 28km to Thorong Phedi at 4450m. There will be a cut off point here with competitors not making it having to return to Manang without climbing the pass.There will also be a qualified doctor at Thorong Phedi and any competitor deemed to be showing any signs of AMS will be instructed to return to Manang.
 Mountain bikers will be able to leave their bikes here if required as there is little oppurtunity to ride on the 3 hour trek to the summit. An official will start to descend from the sumiit at a designated time and any competitor not having summitted by then will be instructed to turn around and descend. Stage entry $100