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Race Info

Race course

The Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra will follow the Yukon Quest trail, the trail of the world’s toughest Sled Dog Race.

The marathon finishes at Muktuk Adventures just off the Takhini River. The 100 mile racers will go from Whitehorse to Braeburn. The 300 mile racers will keep on going all the way to Pelly Farm. There they will leave the river to turn around and go back to Pelly Crossing on the farm road. The 430 mile participants will take place again in 2025 and go all the way to Dawson City.

The trail will be marked. However, if there is fresh snow or a lot of wind it will be difficult to find the trail. If you want to enhance your ability to understand your orientation, we recommend you use a GPS. You will find necessary co-ordinates and more information on the race course in the “Trail Description” (see “Service” section).

Start time, date and location

The Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra 2024 will start on February 4th. The time for the start is 10:30 AM.

We will start at Shipyard’s Park in Whitehorse next to the Yukon river. A detailed description of the location is given at the race briefing. If there is not sufficient snow cover on the sidewalks we will provide transportation for the pulk sleds. Timing for this will be announced at the race briefing.

Preliminary pre-race schedule for 2024

January 28th – February 1st, 2024
Training Course (mandatory for athletes without extreme cold weather experience)

February 1st, 2024
15:00 – 18:00 Hand-out of the rental gear (Sternwheeler Hotel, Room #167)

February 2nd, 2024

09:00 – 12:00 Dealing with any missing paperwork, handing out race-bibbs, maps, etc. (Sternwheeler Hotel, Conference Room #4)
12:00 – 13:00 Yukonprayer with Race Chaplain Pat Cooke-Rogers (Sternwheeler Hotel, Conference Room #4)
16:00 – 17:00 Volunteer briefing for all volunteers (Sternwheeler Hotel, Conference Room #4)

February 3rd, 2024
09:00 – 10:30 Official trail and SPOT briefing for all athletes (Sternwheeler Hotel, Room tbc.)
12:00 – 14:00 Gear check (Sternwheeler Hotel, Conference Room #4)
15:30 – 16:30 Medical briefing for medical team members (Sternwheeler Hotel, Conference Room #4)
17:00 – 19:00 Pre-race dinner (Sternwheeler Hotel)
Drop bags can be handed in from 17:00 until 22:00 (Sternwheeler Hotel)

February 4th, 2024
10:30 Start of the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, Shipyard’s Park, Whitehorse

Disciplines

You may choose your mode of discipline, which can be either mountain bike, xc-skis or foot.

Categories

The race is open for men, women and teams of 2 or more athletes. No minors. Athletes in the team category will automatically be ranked as individuals, too.

Extreme conditions

Due to the very difficult conditions caused by

  • the extreme coldness in the Yukon in January and February,
  • the nature of the trail and
  • the distance which will have to be covered by the athletes

the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra is toughest ultra race in the world.

Situations which under normal circumstances don’t cause any problems can become absolutely life threatening in the dead of winter in the Yukon. Please keep this in mind at all times and carefully read the information that is part of the application and waiver. If you sign up please also read our FAQ section and all other pages on this website. Come back regularly to check if there are any news. In addition it is recommended you join our facebook group and sign up for the newsletter.

Distances (last updated November 13th, 2022):

CHECKPOINTS
Miles between CPs
Miles accumulated
Whitehorse
0
0
Muktuk Adventures (marathon finish)
26
26
Dog Grave Lake
33
59
Braeburn (100 mile finish)
35
94
Mandanna Lake
52
146
Carmacks
27
173
McCabe
38
211
Pelly Crossing
28
239
Pelly Farm
33
272
Pelly Crossing (300 mile finish)
32
304
Scroggie Creek (continues right from Pelly Farm!)
65
337
Dawson City (430 mile finish)
99
436

There will be a free meal and hot water for the racers at every checkpoint.
Please note that due to weather conditions the trail may change and distances may differ accordingly.

Drop bags

The 100 mile racers and marathoners can have a drop bag for their finish line. 300 mile racers can give us one drop bag that they will have access to in Braeburn, Carmacks and Pelly Crossing. 430 mile racers can access their drop bag in Braeburn, Carmacks, Pelly Crossing and Dawson City. The drop bags will be returned to Whitehorse after the race. For more details please see the Rules.

Purse

There will be no purse.

Record Times

Marathon
Foot – 2011, Denise McHale (Canada) 3:14
XC-Ski – 2011, Friedrich Gantioler (Austria) 3:18
MTB – 2016, Joel Hegner (Switzerland) 3:19

100 Miles
Foot – 2012, Justin Wallace (Canada) 21:41
XC-Ski – 2011, Hubert Gantioler (Austria) 17:26
MTB – 2014, Paul Trebilock (Canada) 17:06

300 Miles
Foot – 2016, Jan Kriska (USA) 117:24
XC-Ski – 2004, Laszlo Kovacs (Hungary) 146:10
MTB – 2003, Rocky Reifenstuhl (USA) 98:15

430 Miles
Foot – 2013, Casper Wakefield (Denmark) 186:50
XC-Ski – 2013, Enrico Ghidoni (Italy) 225:10
MTB – 2011, Alan Sheldon (UK) 99:30