The Yukon Quest seems to have decided that the final stretch into Whitehorse at this point is unsafe for dog teams. One of the reasons is the partially very slippery surface. It would be difficult to control the sled and dogs can injur themselves. Because of this decision Gary will go out on the trail once more tomorrow and then we will make a final call as to whether it is safe enought for humans. If it is we will start at Shipyard’s Park. I just need to warn everyone that being safe does not mean it’s going to be pleasant. The first 10 km will be a very challenging trail. To say the least … If the decision is that it is unsafe for us as well, we will announce a new start location tomorrow.

Thanks Gary for the great effort and drive carefully!

Transport of sleds to the start line

If we do start at Shipyard’s park, we will offer a shuttle service for the sleds as there is not enough snow on the walkways. The sleds will be loaded onto our trailers at the Coast High Country Inn at 09:30. Be on time! The athletes themselves please then walk to the start line.

If we do start at a different location, again, we will of course transport the sleds to the start line. Since the location will be further away from downtown Whitehorse, we will then also offer a shuttle for the athletes.

Trail conditions after Takhini Bridge

Trail conditions further down the trail are better. Mike reported that the land trail to Dog Grave Lake is hard packed and fast. The trails on the lakes also seem to have frozen. But do not step off the trail whenever you are on water! Keep this in mind for breaks and when you want to sleep between checkpoints. Be sure you are on land.

Colder temperatures now expected

Looking at the current forecast there is a good chance that the 100 mile athletes will experience temperatures down to – 20 °C or maybe even a bit colder. For the 300 milers it will likely go down to – 30° C or lower.

This is the schedule for the next few days. With the updated timing for the indoor part of our training course

January 27th, 2014
17:00 – 18:00 Hand-Out of the rental gear, Coast High Country Inn

January 28th, 2014
11:30 – 14:00 First part of the YAU training course (indoor) – for signed up athletes only, Coast High Country Inn
18:00 – 21:00 Second part of the YAU training course, trails near Whitehorse, meeting point in front of the Coast High Country Inn; again, only for athletes who signed up for the training course

January 29th, 2014
08:00 – 09:00 De-brief of the training course, Coast High Country Inn
09:00 – 10:30 Official trail briefing and hand-out of SPOT units for ALL athletes, Coast High Country Inn
11:30 – 14:00 Gear check for all participants who did not participate in the training course, hand-in of any missing paper work, hand-out of maps, race bibs, Coast High Country Inn
15:00 – 16:00 Briefing for volunteers, Coast High Country inn
from 17:00 Pre-race dinner for all athletes and volunteers, Coast High Country Inn

January 30th, 2014
10:30 Start of the Yukon Arctic Ultra 2014, Shipyard’s Park, Whitehorse (start location tbc.)

During the race I will write regular updates in this „News“ section. The frequency of news will not be consistent as we move north. More places now do have internet access. However, it’s not like back home. As it gets more remote it may sometimes take a bit longer to get the information online.

Also, we have the results table on the top right which by Thursday will be updated with this year’s participants. There you will see the in and out times of all athletes for all the checkpoints. Last but not least, we will have a link to Trackleaders.com. By clicking on their logo you will be forwarded to the part of their website which features the current position of all athletes carrying a SPOT. This link will be connected with the Trackleaders.com logo on the right side near the top of our website. It’s not there yet but will by the time we start.

Please note that due to technical reasons or wrong usage a SPOT does not work. So, everybody back home please do not worry if a SPOT signal has not moved anymore for a long time or is not sending. We will check on it and try to solve whatever the problem may be..

Talking about SPOT … we were informed by Trackleaders.com that the units possibly are late. So, we may have to hand these out on start day. Therefore, there is a chance that at 10:30 on January 30th you will not see any signals, yet. Just in case you are wondering.

Reaching the participants during the race

We do not have an email service that allows friends and family to contact athletes during the event. This is mainly due to the fact that we are not a stage race and that once our field of athletes is spread out it would be impossible to deliver the emails in time. However, if you have any urgent information or emergencies, please send an email to info@thegreatoutdoors.de and we will then get this to the participant as soon as possible.

Calling and emailing back home

Braeburn Lodge has got a public phone. If you get a phone card in Whitehorse you can make inexpensive calls to your family. Other places with such public phones are Carmacks and Pelly Crossing. Email access may be possible in Carmacks.

The YAU training course on January 28th will already start at 11:30 in the morning (NOT as originally planned at 13:30). At 12:30 we will get sandwiches served. That should get us through lunch time without getting hungry. The indoor part will then be over around 14:00. But I (Robert) will be there as well to help Shelley and Diane and I can stay longer as well. In any case it will give all participants plenty of time to prepare for the outdoor part which will start in front of the Coast High Country Inn Hotel at 18:00. No change re. timing there.

Update on trail conditions

I do not have feedback from the Canadian Rangers after last weekends trail breaking effort. But Gary talked to some people and he has been out on the trails himself quite a bit. Part of the trail will be in good shape but I still have to say that the chances of bad overflow are very high. Where possible the rangers and our crew will make detours. With a bit of luck it will also get colder again and some of the overflow will freeze. It’s the first 20 km that seem to be the worst. As after that, in the Takhini area, temperatures usually already are quite a bit colder than in Whitehorse.

I will update you as the news come in and the trail briefing will have the final report on trail conditions.

Every year for some athletes the last couple of days before the race are more stressful than they should be. So, here is a list of things that will hopefully help avoid that:  

• Please keep in mind that I will need the originals of all forms out of the Application & Waiver. If you have not sent these forms to Garmisch, take them along with you to Whitehorse. Especially the Medical Certificate is important as you need a doctor to fill it in. And it will be difficult to get this done last minute in Whitehorse. Not to mention the cost. Have copies of all forms with you just in case.
• As you know we check all sleeping bags. Every now and then we are shown sleeping bags that are clearly not good enough anymore. Generally this means the loft of the down is gone – either due to the age of the bag and/or wrongs storage. After all the money spent it is of course horrible to be told such a short time before the start that you need to go and get a new sleeping bag. I realize it is a big expenditure. However, I have no way around it. It’s your safety and life. Therefore, please be honest to yourself. Check your bag before you pack it. If you are not sure see if you find somebody who may give you qualified feedback
• Make sure you know how to operate your stove. It is another item we will check and more importantly we will check if you can light it. Test it at home or after your arrival in the Yukon. Just be sure that the gear check is not the first time you try out your stove.
• The way the weather is at the moment and some of the forecasts, we may be in for a very soft trail. There are places in town where you can rent snowshoes, e.g. Up North. However, the amount of rental gear is limited. And if half of you plan to rent snow shoes it won’t work. There also are places that sell snow shoes, e.g. Coast Mountain Sports. But the easiest is if you take some with you – your own or maybe friends/family can help you out.
• All of you renting a SPOT, please don’t forget to buy Energizer Lithium batteries. Normal batteries will not last long enough. And if your SPOT does not work anymore because of empty batteries, your safety net is greatly reduced, not to mention us, your friends and family getting worried.

Training Course

We may have to change the timing for the indoor part of the training course. It will be the same day but possibly earlier. I will know within the next couple of days. Please check this news section again for any updates on this.

Trail Conditions

There is a good chance of more snow this week. Temperatures are literally hot at the moment. So, it becomes more likely that we will have significant amounts of overflow and also a soft trail. The Canadian Rangers will do a lot of trail breaking from Friday to Monday. After that I will know a bit more.

It is a bit early but at this point one thing is pretty certain. With the high amounts of snow on the trail and the relatively mild weather right now, there are high chances of overflow. More than usual. So all athletes need to be prepared for it. When we know about these areas we will advise. However, overflow can come and go, appear all of a sudden.

Have spare clothes ready. Make sure you can build a wood fire if need be. Gear that can help are SealSkinz waterproof socks and waterproof Neo overboots. I personally have not tried it but even a strong plastic bag over your socks can help. It won’t keep your shoes from freezing afterwards, though.

We will hopefully have more trail reports soon and of course also some news at the trail briefing. That is also when we will talk more about what to do in case you run into overflow.

Of course it is also too early to talk about temperatures. Anything is possible. Although I have a feeling we may get a cold year. Simply because right now it’s “warm” and it likely won’t stay like that. So, all athletes keep an eye out for the Yukon temperatures and be sure you have the right clothing.

More snow also means higher chances of soft trails. Therefore, if you do have snowshoes, please take them along.

After all these warnings, there is good news, too. Plenty of snow means great sceneries and landscape. Winter wonderland is waiting for you. And of course it is easier on the sleds when there is plenty of snow on the ground!