Last US Team Finishes
Finish Line in Sight for Team Turk
Bahia Lopez, Bariloche, Argentina — Dec. 9, 1999

	Team Turk Ready for the End

Team Turk hates bamboo
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Finish line poem
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Late this afternoon Team GreenTravel.com Tigers finished this brutal Eco-Challenge course. In this their first attempt at Eco-Challenge, they have trekked the pampas, ridden horses, paddled glacial lakes and dangerous white water, traversed massive glaciers and have been up and down mountains and vertical rock walls.

Not bad for a team of fresh-faced Princeton University Graduates. It hasn't been an easy road for the team. Captain Rick Corcoran was very sick for two days and looked likely not to continue. On the horse leg the team's tent, a piece of mandatory gear, fell from a backpack costing them time. They were penalized six hours for the loss. At the finish, the team broke into the Princeton fighting song. Captain Rick Corcoran saying, "This was harder than we thought it would ever be."

"No one can take this from you — a lot of people talk the talk, but you have actually finished an Eco-Challenge." — Mark Burnett, Eco founder

The United States has had a very solid showing here at the Eco-Challenge with three teams in the top-10:
Team Atlas Snowshoes Rubicon (4th)
Team Vail (6th)
Team Yahoo (10th)
Team USA (11th)
Team Adventure One (16)
Team Pharmanex Stray Dogs (20)
Team GreenTravel.com Tigers (31)
Team Tier One, a squad of United States Air Force Para Rescue, was disqualified along with Team Deloitte Consulting.

Earlier today Team 2020 (Malaysia) crossed the finish line after a last-minute drama before PC27 almost forced them to break radio silence and evoke disqualification. After traveling as a team for the last eight days and 300km, the team became separated and lost one of their members in the dense bamboo. After searching for several hours and fearing the worst, it was discovered that they were both walking in opposite directions. Happily reunited at PC27, the team was able to collect their kayaks and paddle the last 12km in perfect conditions to the finish line. Obviously delighted, the team was greeted with cheers from the crowd and champagne from Mark Burnett who commented that, "No one can take this from you — a lot of people talk the talk, but you have actually finished an Eco-Challenge."

We also caught up with the infamous Team Turk at PC27 this afternoon gearing up for the final paddle leg ahead of them. Their surrogate team member Josko Bozic, from Team Croatia, was dumbfounded as he waited patiently for his new teammates, seemingly lost 200 meters into the bush where he had last seen them. (The remaining three-man team was airlifted from PC16 yesterday to bypass the Mount Tronador leg enabling them to reach the finish line.) After a very slow transition, the team was last seen paddling into the distance, with only 12km left of there arduous journey.

Behind Team Turk only two teams remain on course, with an expected finish for these last teams sometime during the day tomorrow. Of the 51 teams which began this epic event on December 1, 32 have finished as ranked teams of four. Seventeen teams have been disqualified as a result of injury, illness or team dissension.

With the race finishing faster than expected, the infamous closing party has been bought forward by one day. A chance to get loose, relax and hear the real stories of this crazy event.

— Chris Vile, MountainZone.com Correspondent