Photos: L Team Russia R Paul Todd/outsideimages.co.nz

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Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:00:00 UTC

Team Russia have been vertically challenged as they take a novel approach to their pre-race fitness programme.

Their icy voyage of self-discovery included scaling the Dachstein mountains surrounding the city of Graz in skipper Andreas Hanakamp’s native Austria.

The full story of the merry mountaineer’s exploits appears in the latest issue of Life At The Extreme, the official Volvo Ocean Race magazine, which is published on 1 April.

And since Oleg Zherebtsov, the syndicate boss, is also a member of the sailing crew, the St Petersburg businessman took an active part – blood tests, cardiovascular conditioning et al.

Ericsson Racing Team have been engaged in some sweat and toil of their own in their summer hideaway in Lanzarote, where they recently took delivery of Ericsson 3, the first of the two new generation of Volvo Open 70s they will campaign in 2008-09.

Life At The Extreme joined both the Ericsson international and Nordic crews on the training treadmill in the Canary Islands.

Kochi will be one of the more exotic ports of call in the 2008-09 race. The April issue looks at the spicier side of life in the Indian region of Kerala and reveals how Galway is planning a uniquely Gaelic welcome for the race.

In a profile of the new race CEO, Knut Frostad talks frankly about the priorities of the role with just six months’ to the starting gun in Alicante and many of the components already in place. “I recognise that I am playing a hand that is already dealt, this is a delivery challenge for me.”

Issue 27 of Life At The Extreme, the official magazine of the Volvo Ocean Race is published online on April 1.

Did you know that you can watch hours of race video at www.VolvoOceanRace.tv, the official Race TV channel for free!

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