Every year the Hammerfest course gets steeper, longer, and faster. This year was no exception. The race course consisted of 5 stages across 24.4km of riding and over 1000m of climbing.

The race introduced a new trail called DUI. This trail made stage 2 the steepest section of the race track the Island Cup Series has seen.

A light rain the night before the race made the loose rocky sections of the trail a little more predictable while adding a little extra muddy spice to the lower dirt sections. Overall, the conditions were prime for a race.