The Red Bulletin August 2020 (US)

In the dense tropical jungle, often the only clear path is right
down the middle of a muddy, fast-flowing stream.
Whistler Bike Park. They capsized the outrigger
canoes, sometimes on purpose—to see how hard it
was to right the boats, and guess at the possible
number of open-water rescues—and sometimes not.
And then, finally, after eight weeks, the course
came together. Many so-called survival-based reality
shows exist in the space where raw athleticism
meets made-for-television stunts, and campy
suffering meets true grit. At times it can be hard to
tease apart the difference.
But Hodder and Flavelle’s course proposed to
leave no doubt about the onscreen hardships. The
route spanned 417 miles that the racers would have
to cover in no more than 11 and a half days, hitting
cutoff times along the way. The total elevation gain
was 29,730 feet, or about 700 feet higher than the
distance from sea level to the top of Mount Everest.
Four climbing sections would require 30,000 feet of
fixed rope. These sections would include 2,000 feet
of cliffs, waterfalls and overhanging rappels.
Fiji can dish out
more than tropical
scenery, as this
South African squad
discovered on a
mountain-biking leg.
BLIGH GILLIES/AMAZON(2), ANDY MANN/AMAZON