NEWS ENGLISH

Once again the Downtown Hotel is our partner hotel in Dawson City. Just as a reminder to all athletes who are in the 430 mile race, accommodation in Dawson City is not included in the entry fee and sleeping at the finish line checkpoint is not possible. The Downtown Hotel is giving athletes reduced room rates. I just updated the respective information in our information section on travel.

As you will see rooms rates are based on single or double occupancy, i.e. if you team up with other finishers you can save money if you want to. Please feel free to use our facebook group if you want to share a room and get in touch with others.

There are no transfers from Dawson City to Whitehorse prior to February 16th. So, if you arrive earlier you stay in Dawson City until that day. Time to relax, gain back some weight and watch others cross the finish line. We will all leave Dawson City together on February 16th at noon at the latest and get back to Whitehorse late afternoon.

It is possible to book an Air North flight from Dawson to Whitehorse at your own expense if you are optimistic and plan for an early finish. I do not recommend to count on an early arrival because delays are always possible. But people have done it and it can of course also be done spontaneously, i.e. after actually having reached Dawson City.

The first new Montane products for autumn/winter 2018 are becoming available! Many of these are great for the Yukon, e.g. the Alpha Balance Jacket which is a hybrid fleece with a perfect combination of lightweight, comfort, warmth, breathabiltiy and protection for the body’s core. Or the family of the very successful Men’s Icarus and Women’s Phoenix Jackets which is growing. There is now also a Micro Jacket (without hood) and vest. All with the great windproof PERTEX® QUANTUM ECO outer and the innovative PrimaLoft® ThermoPlume synthetic insulation.

To get an overview of what already is in stores and what is soon to come, please check out montane.co.uk.

For almost 40 years Pertex has worked closely with the leading outdoor apparel and equipment brands, to develop lightweight and innovative fabrics for all conditions. Pertex fabrics are designed to eliminate excess weight without compromising on performance or durability and have been used on countless expeditions and adventures in the planet’s most inhospitable environments. Participants in the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra every year use many products that are made with Pertex fabrics. Therefore, I am very excited that as of now Pertex will be a new “gold level” sponsor for the MYAU.

To find out more about Pertex, please go to www.pertex.com.

I have just updated rule #7 regarding mandatory gear. From the 2019 edition onwards it is a requirement that all ultra distance athletes carry vacuum-insulated bottles with a combined volume of at least 3 litres. If you prepare yourself for the MYAU you will quickly find out that hydration is very essential. Not drinking enough comes with many risks, one of these being higher chances of getting frostbite and/or hypothermia.

Please do not mistake this for a recommendation as to how much you need to drink per day. As a matter of fact if you are moving almost all day you will need significantly more to drink in 24 hours than just 3 litres. So, you need to work out a strategy and this may well mean to actually take 5 or 6 litres of liquid along on the trail. Maybe all of it in vacuum-insulated bottles, maybe a mixture of 3 litres in vacuum-insultated bottles and the rest in an insulated hydration bladder. And there are other options for more volume like insulated Nalgene bottles or similar. Another thing to factor in is your willingness to stop and melt snow or ice. If you are happy to do that you need to have less hot drinks with you. But of course you need to consider the chances of a stove failure (which then means you need to build a wood fire). And even if technology does not fail, operating a stove in extremely cold temperatures in itself can be dangerous, not to mention time consuming. Last but not least, you do of course have the checkpoints where you can (re-)hydrate and get as much hot water for on the go as you want. Here I want to mention that chances are, sometimes your timing is off and you need more time to get to a checkpoint than you had planned. Which means you may end up needing more water between two checkpoints than you had expected.

Be prepared, play it safe and do not risk getting dehydrated. It is probably one of the top reasons for people to be faced with a DNF.

We are very lucky to get the support of some great local companies. Driving Force is one of them. Pretty much since the existence of the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra they have been providing us with rental vehicles. In 2019 they will be supporting us again.

Driving Force offer great service and vehicles of all types in perfect condition. Both is super important especially when leaving Whitehorse to go on some longer drives.

They also offer a 10% discount to athletes and friends and family members who may be with them in the Yukon. Athletes who pre- and post-race prefer to stay in Whitehorse do not need a rental vehicle for their logistics. However, anybody who wants to leave the downtown area or to follow the race will need a vehicle.

If you are interested, please use the following contact to make your reservation:

Nikita Hryniuk
Rental Manager
Email: NHryniuk@drivingforce.ca
Phone: 867-668-2137 Ext:7343

There is no booking code to get the 10% discount. When you make your reservation please just mention that you are with the MYAU and would like to make use of the promotion.

Total North will be our partner for satellite communication at the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra 2019. For years this local specialist company has been providing satellite phones for our crew and it’s great to have them on board once again.

Whilst in Whitehorse and places like Carmacks, Pelly Crossing and Dawson City cell phones work just fine. However, in between there is no cell phone coverage. So, for a race like the MYAU there is no way around using sat phones for communcating from trail or remote checkpoint to race HQ. It is vital for the overall race safety and great to be able to count on the reliable phones and perfect service provided by Total North.

Total North also rent out to athletes. And I strongly recommend any athlete doing an ultra distance to have a sat phone. The SPOT is great for communicating a status but all we get is a “Help”, “Okay” or “911”. A race participant will not be able to get across any further details using a Generation 3 SPOT. Here a sat phone can not only be a back-up (in case the SPOT fails) but you can actually tell race HQ exactly what is going on.

If you want to rent a sat phone please find the form here:

Sat Phone Rental Form – Total North

With the MYAU and Yukon Quest both leaving from Whitehorse and plenty of athletes on the race roster I do recommend you reserve your phone rather sooner than later.

And please remember, anything that runs with batteries can fail! This is also true for sat phones. So, your number one goal needs to be to stay out of trouble in order to not have to rely on any battery powered technology.

Just a quick reminder to all of you who already know you want to participate next year: Entry fees will go up after end of May. So, if you have not signed up already, now is the time to do it!

I updated the information on training courses you can take in the Yukon to prepare yourself for the MYAU.

Once again next year there is the course that is organized by Jo and Stewart Stirling. This course will take place for the third time and it is based at Scuttlebutt Lodge, just a few miles away from our 100 mile finish line at Braeburn Lodge. The timing of this 4-day course allows athletes to participate in it and then do the race right afterwards.

The second course is organized by Shelley Gellatly and she has got the support of friends like Jessie Thomson-Gladish and Gillian Smith. This course is now also 4 days long, has got the same timeline and also takes place just before the race. It will be based at the Takhini Hot Springs Hostel.

The reason why there now are two multi-day courses is simple. For a course to be really good, the number of participants needs to be limited. Due to high demand it made sense to have two possible and more extensive courses. That way there should be enough training capacity and we won’t have to turn anybody away who wants to sign up but does not have sufficient experience, yet.

Both courses are also open to athletes who want to participate in other cold weather races. Of course it is possible to come to the Yukon and do a course one year and participate in the MYAU in another year. In case you prefer to do it in two trips.

For more information on the courses please go to the Training Courses info section.

As part of preparing for the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra it makes sense to read books about cold weather races and adventures. There are some books that actually deal with the MYAU itself. In our facebook group I asked what books people found useful in their preparations. The suggestions that were made are now featured in our FAQ section.

As you may already have noticed I have stared to update the website with details for the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra 2019. The race will start February 3rd in Whitehorse. That is one day after the Yukon Quest dog teams leave the capital of the Yukon to head north.

Next year we will have our 430 mile distance again. It has a time limit of 13 days. So, the total time for the race and its maximum distance is until February 16th. The other distances offered will be marathon, 100 and 300 miles.

Some things on the website still need updating. That will all be done over the next week. Parallel I am working on the Application & Waiver. For those of you who already contacted me, I will send it out once it is ready.

Anybody interested in participating, please email or phone me. As always the entry fees will go up in two steps. Therefore, if you know for sure you want to participate, it makes sense to sign up before the end of May as the cost will go up afterwards and then again after the end of August.