YQ: Route Changes

Due to low snow conditions and unstable ice formation on the rivers in the Yukon there have been significant changes to the routing for both the Yukon Quest and the Quest 300. See attached press release here and here (click on red links). This is an ever-changing situation and could change right up until the start of the race so watch the YQ website for the latest details.

Essentially, the trail between Braeburn and Carmacks is questionable and not considered safe for teams to run on. The Race Manager, logistics team and Canadian Rangers have been putting in significant work to make a safe alternative for both races.

As of the time of writing, the Yukon Quest 1000 teams will have the unusual arrangement where they will start the race in Whitehorse as normal, run as far as Braeburn Lodge then get loaded back into the dog trucks and trucked up to Carmacks where there will be a “restart”, 12 hours after they arrive into Braeburn.

Teams can start in Whitehorse with between 8-14 dogs. If teams choose to start with fewer than their full complement at the start, may add the remainder of the team to the line in Carmacks. This contingency is purely out of consideration of safety as with a long string of dogs in front of you on low snow, it can be difficult to brake and hook down when necessary.

The ice bridge in Dawson City has also not formed as needed for such traffic so it is likely the dog camp will be back at the Bonanza RV camp just out of town, as it was last year.

As for the YQ300 – that route is also a bit “up in the air”. As it stands right now the YQ300 teams will run as far as Braeburn, take six hours mandatory rest then return to Whitehorse, via the Coghlan Lake route (similar to the finish of last year’s Quest that sent some of us into panic mode when we thought the teams had gone the wrong way). This route decreases the mileage to around 200 miles. Conditions are constantly being monitored over this section of trail as this reroute would mean sections of the trail are used three times (once for 1000 milers, twice for 300 milers) so there may be further changes needed.

All teams are a little bit in limbo at this point with strategies and handler logistics being hastily reworked but we thank the Quest officials, logistics team and Canadian Rangers for their extensive work to get the rest of the trail in shape and keeping everyone informed.

As Doug Harris said in one of his communications with mushers “you would not be running a long distance race if you couldn’t adapt to changes and challenges such as this“. How many times are you heard a musher say “anything can happen”? Well, anything is already happening and the race hasn’t even started yet!

We will keep you updated of any further changes.