Race course
In 2026 the Yukon Arctic Ultra, for the most part, will follow the Yukon Quest trail again.
In 2025 we changed with the Yukon Quest from the “old” trail to a new one. The start was in Teslin. We will stay on this new trail in 2026, i.e. our base before the race will be in Whitehorse but then we will have a transfer to Teslin on our start date, February 1st, 2026. The distances we will offer are 235, 350 and 600 km.
At this point, it’s unclear if there will be a trail from Faro to Pelly Crossing. Therefore, for now we are planning to repeat the 600 km race we had in 2025. That means going from Teslin to Ross River and then doing an out-and-back of 120 km each way on the Canol North Road, before heading for the Faro finish line. Cut-off is 12 days. Should a trail from Faro to Pelly Crossing become possible, we will not do the out-and-back and go from Faro to Pelly Crossing instead. The overall distance should be approximately the same. The 350 km distance remains unchanged but gets an extra day, resulting in a cut-off time of 7 days. The 235 km is a new distance and is interesting for all those who like a shorter race. We will start the 235 km in Brooks Brook or Johnson’s Crossing. Should the start be in Johnson’s Crossing, the distance will be more like 220 km. We will confirm as soon as we know. Details on the timing of the 235 km distance will depend on the location of the first checkpoint and the facilities we have available. Either the 235 start the same day as everybody else or early morning the next day. The time limit will be 5 days.
We don’t know if we can have a return of the marathon distance. That will depend on the location of our first checkpoint and if we can have a morning start – which is what we are aiming at. The latter will be influenced by the start day of the Yukon Quest.
Of course we won’t know what the weather will be like in 2026. During our premier in 2025 almost every night temperatures went down to – 40° C. That and the amount of postivie and negative elevation on the Canol Roads and later on the Dena Cho Trail, meant that the race was extremely tough. Not that the old trail was easy … Only 6 out of 46 athletes reached the finish line. A lot of athletes suffered from frostbite injuries. Should we get these temperatures again, it will be just as difficult. We are giving the 350 one more day to finish but many frostbite cases occured during the first couple of days. So, everybody should be warned! Most of the remote checkpoints do not allow for sleeping inside and it’s very difficult to dry equipment there. Constant self-monitoring, layer management, hydrating and eating well, taking the right amount of rest and keeping the sleeping system as dry as possible are key. Hitting the sweet spot with the weight of your gear is key – i.e. obviously have all you need to be safe but avoiding anything that is not necessary.
If you are new to winter ultras, I would like to remind everyone, that we have our Bright Equipment Lapland Arctic Ultra in Sweden with distance of 85, 185 and 500 km. Whilst one winter we also had – 35° C in this race, overall temperatures are less extreme there, which means it’s a really good way of getting used to this kind of races.
