CHILE- USA - NZ - The YogaSlacker Recovery Method...

Team YogaSlackers/GearJunkie at the finish line!

It's crazy to think that just last week,  Jason and I were at the southern tip of Chile- teaching along with Sam and Ariel in Punta Arenas!  There is a growing community of yogis down there, who are more than eager to be a group of avid slackers and acroyogis!  We are super excited to go back next year for the Patagonian Expedition Race- and now to help grow the budding yoga community! We feel very fortunate to have a second family as well, Gorge, Gina, Ariel and Betty are the family we stay with when we go down, they are the nicest people ever. If you ever head down to Punta Arenas, let us know and we will point you in their direction. 

This years race was an amazing, brutal, suffer fest for everyone involved.  It was our first race, but not first adventure with the new addition to our YogaSlackers Team- Paul Cassedy. Paul has been with YogaSlackers since the very beginning and is often referred to as the "ultimate slacker".  His down to earth, relaxed southern california surfer vibe has a lot to do with that…. "He definitely impressed me!" says  Jason, "I knew from our wind kiting expedition across North Dakota that he was strong and stubborn- but he blew me out of the water this time. We are excited to have him race with us more and more!".  Daniel and I couldn't agree more.  Paul came into the race with an ankle injury, which quickly turned into a knee injury throughout the race.  Watching him go down hills was agony for all of us.  He's quite vocal- but he never gives up!  

Paul belaying Daniel up YogaSlackers Pass

Dan and I had our own injuries as well, Dan got bursitis in his knee at the start of the trek and I twisted my ankle the second to last day of the monster trek and got a nasty fungus infection on my foot.  Jason as usual, started out steady and kept it up the entire time. He did however fall into a icy cold river in the middle of a blizzard on the last day of the trek.  We were all pretty much hobbling our way across the finish line.  Other teams had their own sagas - our friends Dancing Pandas made the trekking cut off by just 13 minutes!!  They could barely walk due to their own fight with the foot fungus.  Their's proved to be FAR worse then mine, as they had to get morphine shots to walk off the boat on the last day! 

This race quickly goes from a race to a survival mode expedition. That's why it keeps pulling us back, it truly is "The Last Wild Race".  When it is just us out there taking our own routes, exploring and going as fast as we can- that is when it gets good, and we come together as a team more than ever.  This year we forged a river with our sleeping pads, went up and over two exposed passes (we named one GearJunkie Pass and one YogaSlackers Pass).  To read Jason's race report and our teams gear review-  please click here or visit gearjunkie.com. More videos are coming as well! 

Ariel rocking it in the wild lands of Patagonia at CP 17

Sam's team - 4 Continents had to pull out in the middle of the monster trek due to a teammate getting a sprained ankle.  Sam then came aboard the boat that we were all stuck on for a couple days, it was nice to see him,  we all shared the last of our food and stories.  Fellow Slacker- Ariel was out on the third to last checkpoint on the monster trek. It was amazing and a bit surreal seeing her shining face out in the middle of nowwhere- she was such an energetic boost! After seeing her- we went nonstop through the night to try and catch East Wind and finish the trek.  She had a slackline up and was teaching her crew headstands and slacklining.  

While Paul and Dan are back home nursing their injuries, and sleeping and eating lots, Jason and I are now on the other side of the world-  in Te Anau, New Zealand- sharing our love of Acro and Slacklining in the southern most city of New Zealands Southland!  We came here last year and loved it so much, we opted to come back again. While it was a smaller group this year, we had a lot of returning eager Kiwis, who rocked all three days of our YogaSlackers intensive.  We gave them a whole training regime- complete with a slackline workout, acro training drills and a whole acrobatic flow entitled "The Te Anau Tango".  We will have YogaSlacker Kiwis in no time!!  Kerri Anne who hosts us and runs the non profit-  Te Anau Yoga, is extremely welcoming. It feels like a second home to us, and we hope to come back every year to teach and go on missions.  

Lots of throne to standing on shins:)

Beth our extremely amazing hostess! 

Today marks the start of our honeymoon, we have two more weeks on the Southland- we plan on going on some pack rafting missions, some long runs, and treks along the south coast and on Stewart Island… we also hope to visit one of Ibex's wool stations!! I love sheep!!