Marlboro to reveal winter adventure

JAKARTA (JP): Cigarette producer Philip Morris Indonesia has introduced a new challenge for Indonesian adventurers with its Marlboro Adventure Team Winter Challenge 2000.

"The program has always been staged during the summer and now it's about time for us to make a difference this year. That's why we decided to have the winter theme," the company's marketing manager, David Tjokro, said during a media conference on Thursday.

"The Marlboro Adventure Team always gets a good response from the public. There have been some 500,000 applicants since we started the program back in 1995," he added.

Since 1995, the company has sent a team of 10 people to the United States to take part in a week of outdoor adventures, except in 1998 when the economic crisis was at its peak.

The 2000 Marlboro Adventure Team will be in the U.S. from March 20 to March 28. They will start in Telluride, Colorado, where they will take part in snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, winter relays and ice rock climbing. They will then head to the Moab in Utah desert to ride jeeps, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), go hiking and experience ranch life.

The company's assistant brand manager, Lyria, said the adventure was taking place during the early spring instead of the winter to enable Indonesian team members to handle the climate.

To select the team, the company will stage a competition from Jan. 26 to Jan. 28, during which they will narrow the field to 50 candidates from some 150,000 applicants.

"I'm still looking for a suitable place for the local competition to select the team members. The place is most likely to be in West or East Java, and with a colder climate.

"The competition will include activities such as water skiing, jet skiing, cross-country running, obstacle courses, swimming, rock climbing and driving jeeps and ATVs," said David.

Registration for the competition will take place from Sept. 18 to Nov. 19 in Bandung, Cirebon, Denpasar, Jakarta, Lampung, Makassar, Malang, Medan, Padang, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Semarang, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. (nvn)