On October 26, the "Red Bull 24 Hours" Plateau Challenge, the highest-altitude comprehensive mountain outdoor competition in China, concluded at the Jiaozi Snow Mountain Scenic Area in Kunming, which reaches an elevation of up to 4,223 meters. The Zunyi Medical University Jianli Outdoor Team, composed of undergraduate students, secured the championship by leveraging a unique skill in the orienteering event—identifying horse dung to navigate the route—and staged an incredible comeback. They overturned a 9-minute deficit behind the pre-race favorite, the Kolon Sport Outdoor Team, to lead by 21 minutes and 54 seconds, ultimately winning with a time of 17 hours, 46 minutes, and 21 seconds. Traditional Chinese outdoor powerhouses Kolon Sport Team and Kunming Hummingbird Team took second and third places, respectively.
"If this competition had been split over two days, it would have been a bit better. But because it’s a continuous 24-hour race, the difficulty is very high, and there’s a lot of unpredictability. We set off at a little after 4 a.m. this morning. It was so dark, and with only one coordinate, we couldn’t see the trail markers at all. So right after we started, we took the wrong path and lost over two hours," said Yang Jiagen from the Kolon Sport Team. For the battle-hardened Kolon Sport Outdoor Team, such issues during the race are actually quite rare. The Cool Running Team, which had just won third place in the 2014 China "Weng’an National Mountain Outdoor Sports Championship," also chose the wrong route and didn’t even make it into the top three. In contrast, the young Zunyi Medical University Jianli Outdoor Team performed better. Xiang Fuzhao said, "We chose a small mountain path as soon as we started, while Kolon Sport opted for the road. At first, everyone thought Kolon Sport’s route was the shortcut and ours was the harder one. Along the way, we looked for horse dung on the small path to identify the route, because if there’s horse dung, it means the path is used and passable."
The 24-hour continuous competition posed challenges not only in terms of high-intensity physical demands but also in enduring low temperatures, which participants universally recognized as another major difficulty of the "Red Bull 24 Hours" Plateau Challenge. With an elevation drop of 2,200 meters across the course, the natural landscapes and climate conditions varied drastically from the start to the finish. Due to abundant rainfall, the lower-altitude areas featured dense vegetation and naturally formed small waterfalls. As competitors ascended to higher altitudes, they encountered snow-capped mountains, with nighttime temperatures dropping to even zero degrees. Within the scenic area, people wearing down jackets still felt cold, and the athletes’ camping sites were completely in the wilderness. The immense pressure of the competition, combined with sub-zero temperatures, meant that many participants didn’t sleep well on the night of the 25th.
The 11th checkpoint was located in a small wooden cabin halfway up the mountain, between the race finish line and the summit. According to staff from the Kunming Mountaineering Association responsible for that point, "The temperature here at night is minus 5 degrees, and even inside the cabin, it’s only minus 3 degrees." By 8 a.m., the wooden floor of the cabin was still covered in ice—indicating just how cold it was.
To enhance the spectator appeal and difficulty of the competition, the "Red Bull 24 Hours" Plateau Challenge featured five stages and nine events, including 19 kilometers of run-bike alternation, 28 kilometers of mountain biking, 17 kilometers of trail running, 16 kilometers of mountain hiking, 20 kilometers of mountain orienteering, as well as skill-based events like rappelling, zip-lining, and camping. The total race route was extended from 80 kilometers last year to 100 kilometers. Out of the 30 participating teams, six withdrew midway, and four failed to reach the finish line within the 24-hour cutoff time, resulting in a completion rate of 66%.
"A longer course demands more from participants in terms of physical endurance, technical skills, and teamwork, which helps attract higher-level teams," said Luo Zhouquan, Technical Director of the Kunming Mountaineering and Exploration Association and Deputy Chief Judge of the competition. "Our ultimate goal is to make this an international event."