Checkpoint Pelly Crossing

Yuka Honda (Yukon Quest 300) and her dogs arrive 

at the finish line in Pelly Crossing 

Allen Moore - first musher to arrive in Pelly Crossing

Feb 4th at 1:24am

Pups resting for the next leg of the race

Quest Vets check on the wellbeing of all pups

Traffic jam in Pelly - two teams 

(Christina Traverse a few seconds behind Randy MacKenzie in red)

 arriving at Checkpoint Pelly Crossing

Susan Rogan spends a few seconds with each of her

dogs moments before departing Pelly

Normand Casavant convincing his pup to eat

Normand Casavant hands out snacks

Markus Ingebretsen arrives at Checkpoint Pelly 

Putting on booties

Quest volunteers staying warm by campfire

waiting for next team to arrive

Darrin Lee arrives in Pelly

Volunteers check his gear

Dropped from race

Dyan Bergen and her team prepare to depart Pelly

Tamra Reynolds (YQ 300) arrives at finish in Pelly

Exhausted pup in bag

Time for a snooze

Welcome to Checkpoint Pelly Crossing - the fourth official stop in this year's running of the Yukon Quest.  Allen Moore was the first to arrive at 01:24am on Feb 4th.  

Mushers, upon arrival, are greeted by a team of Quest volunteers who check to see if each sled is equipped with a sleeping bag, food for musher and pups, snowshoes, an axe, the vet book, and other basic gear.  Time deductions are handed out to any musher failing to have the required gear.  Vets also take the opportunity to check on the wellbeing of all the pups.  Those injured or too exhausted to continue are dropped from the team - the handlers will then look after the well being of those pups.

Mushers are offered a hot meal as are the pups - mushers take hot water to thaw chunks of meat, fish and other goodies added to kibble.  Once the pups have eaten, they will rest for a few hours on a bed of straw.  Many mushers provide blankets and 'hand warmers' for their team.  Some of the mushers also elected to catch up on their rest while their team snoozes in Pelly.

At one point we had nine teams in the 'dog yard' - close to 140 sled dogs in our small village.  

Pelly is also the finishing point for those racing in the Yukon Quest 300 - a 300mile journey from Whitehorse to Stepping Stone and Pelly.  This years winner was Michelle Phillips who arrived 8 secs ahead of Aliy Zirkle.  The YQ300 is a qualifying race for those wishing to run in the 1000 mile Yukon Quest race.

Stayed tuned for images from the Dawson Checkpoint.

More images from Checkpoint Pelly are available on my flickr account

Good night,

Cheers

Claus

Please post a comment.

Congratulations to Allen Moore

Allen Moore and his team departing Whitehorse

February 2, 2013

Congratulations to Allen Moore and his team for winning this year’s Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.  Allen and his eleven dogs crossed the finish line in Fairbanks, Alaska at 6:54am Alaska Time – his official time was 8 days, 18hrs and 57 mins.  Hugh Neff, the defending champ, finished a close second when he and his nine pups crossed the finish line at 8:10am.

Shortly after his winning, Moore joked with media officials stating that "I trained my team to run 26 seconds faster" in reference to his loss to Neff last year by the slimmest margin in the history of the Quest.  Moore, and his wife Aliy Zirkle (who came within 8 seconds of winning this years Yukon Quest 300 in Pelly Crossing) become the first husband and wife team to each win the Yukon Quest.  Zirkle took the title in 2000.

Congratulations to all.

And, they are off....

And they are off - the 30th annual Yukon Quest

Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 -  Whitehorse, Yukon

The official start line - Whitehorse, Yukon

Musher Rob Cooke and his pups, from the UK, 

are the third team to depart from the start line

The defending champ, Hugh Neff, hugs each of

his dogs shortly before the start of his race

Lance Mackey departs

Misha Pedersen and her team depart Whitehorse

Excited pups

Darrin Lee and his team

Ed Abrahamson's team

Scott Smith's team departs Whitehorse

One pup who did not make the race

My choice for the winning team

The last few days here in the Yukon have truly been remarkable ones.  A week ago yesterday, with temperatures approaching the zero degree Celsius mark, twenty-six dog teams departed Whitehorse for the 30^th running of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.  The 1000-mile journey retraces the historical Gold Rush sled dog route that once connected Whitehorse (Yukon) with Fairbanks, Alaska.  The course follows the frozen waters of the Yukon and Pelly Rivers, crosses over four mountain summits, and travels through some of the harshest yet most pristine wilderness imaginable.  In the past mushers, and their dogs, endured minus 40-degree temperatures and horrific blizzards, treacherous ice conditions and unexpected obstacles such as open water.  The first of the mushers usually crosses the finish line some ten days later.

Along the route there are eight official checkpoints, mandatory rest stops, and several hospitality stops where race veterinarians and officials check on the health and wellbeing of the pups.  Dogs can be dropped from the race if the vets, and or musher, deemed the dog(s) unfit to continue on.  Race officials also check to ensure each musher is equipped with food supplies, snowshoes, an axe, sleeping bag, and their vet logbook.  Penalties (both time deductions and monetary fines) are issued to any team failing to follow race rules.

 

Each team has a group of handlers that meet the mushers and the pups at each of the checkpoints.  They are responsible for taking care of the dropped dogs and for cleaning up after once the team departs.  Mushers cannot accept help at any point along the race.

Musher Brian Wilmshurst and his 14 excited dogs was the first to depart Whitehorse at 11am.  Each team thereafter left at three-minute intervals with Crispin Studer’s team being the last to depart at 12:15.

Later that afternoon, 18 teams departed on the Yukon Quest 300, a shorter race that finishes at Pelly Crossing.

The thrill of being surrounded by so many excited pups, a spirited Yukon Quest crew and a team of international volunteers carried through for the remainder of the week.  I'm already looking forward to next year's Quest!

Stayed turned for more photos from the Pelly Crossing Checkpoint in the coming days.

For more information and current standings on the Quest please visit their official website at www.yukonquest.com

More images from the start in Whitehorse can be found on my photostream on Flickr.

Yukon Quest and the Yukon Quest 300

Yuka Honda on her way to finishing the Yukon Quest 300

Pelly Crossing, Feb 05, 2013

Winter greetings from the Yukon!

February has arrived and with it so have the dogs and their mushers competing in this years running of the Yukon Quest International 1000 mile Dog Sled Race and in the Yukon Quest 300.  

The last few days have been exciting with over 400 dogs travelling through Pelly.

Stay turned for more images and stories from these two events.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Cheers for now,

Claus

Yukon Quest 2012

Kyla Durham's pups resting in Pelly Crossing 

Kyla Durham departs Pelly at 12:06 Mon Feb 13

Brent Sass and his team depart Pelly 13:57 Feb 12

Brent Sass' team prepares to depart Pelly

A well deserved snooze after 700 miles

Team Marcelle Fressineau taking a rest in Pelly Feb 16

Joar Leifseth's team in Pelly (dogs from Norway)

Misha Pedersen's sled leaves Pelly Feb 14

Pups from Kyla Durham's team

Pelly Crossing - an official checkpoint in the Yukon Quest

The 29th annual running of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race between Fairbanks (Alaska) and Whitehorse (Yukon) is now officially one for the history books.  In what has become the closest finish in Quest history, musher Hugh Neff narrowly beat Allen Moore by twenty-six seconds in Whitehorse during the predawn hours of Valentines Day (total time: 9 days, 16 hrs and 5 mins).  What an accomplishment for both sleds, especially after having raced 1,600km.  Congratulations!

The 1,600km (1000 mile) route retraces the historic winter routes followed by the prospectors, adventure seekers, mail and supply carriers travelling between the gold fields of the Klondike and those in the Alaskan interior during the 1800 and 1900's.  The route runs along frozen rivers, over four mountain ranges, through valleys, dense bush and Northern towns.  Temperatures can range between minus 51 ºC and +8 ºC, while wind speeds have been clocked over 80km/hr.  Due to the difficult trail conditions, extreme weather and limited support between checkpoints, the Yukon Quest has often been referred to as "the most difficult sled dog race in the world".

Along the way there are ten checkpoints and four dog drops where veterinarians and race officials are present to record times, check gear and to ensure the health of the pups.  Mushers are not allowed receive outside help along the route with the exception of when they are in Dawson City, the halfway point.

Mushers, and their dogs, have a mandatory 36-hour layover when they reach Dawson City.  The first team into Dawson and, who later completes the race, receives a four ounce bag of placer gold.  Now, that is cool!

All teams pack aprox 100kg of gear, equipment and enough provisions for the mushers and pups to see them through between checkpoints.  Mushers are permitted to leave dogs at any checkpoint or dog drop but they cannot replace them.  Sleds may not be replaced.

The longest race time recorded was in 1988 when Ty Halvorson took 20 days, 8 hours and 29 mins to finish the race.  The fastest time occurred in 2010 when Hans Gatt completed the race in only 9 days and 26 mins.

Last weekend we had the privilege of welcoming the mushers and their teams to Pelly Crossing, one of the official checkpoints.  What a wonderful experience it was to meet them, their handlers, race officials and veterinarians and, of course the dogs who are the real hero's of the Quest.  Weather during this year's race had been unseasonable mild with temperatures recored as high as +8 ºC.  Due to the warm conditions, many mushers elected to run their teams at night when temperatures, and snow conditions, were more favourable for the pups.

While in Pelly, the mushers had the opportunity to resupply their provisions, have their dogs checked by vets and allow the pups some much needed rest if required.  Bales of hay were made available for the dogs to snooze on.

This year the race attracted teams from Norway, Siberia, across Alaska and from the Yukon.  Twenty-three teams began the Quest in Fairbanks, Alaska, on February 4th.  As of 7:40pm this evening, seventeen teams have crossed the finishline in Whitehorse with the final two teams expected to complete the race later tonight.  Five teams either scratched or withdrew from this years race.

Congratulations to all mushers, their pups and handlers, race officials and veterinarians for a fabulous race.  See you next year when the race kicks off in Whitehorse.

In the meantime I encourage you check out the official website of the YUKON QUEST for more information, race updates, images and bio's of the mushers and their dogs.  You can also check out a video of this year's Quest

Here's a neat tid bit of info - Brent Sass, one of the mushers, mentioned that he purchased 4,000 pairs of booties for the Quest (apparently many are lost along the way).

More pictures from Checkpoint Pelly available shortly.  Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Cheers,
Claus

UPDATE:   21:34 (Feb 19) - the final two teams have crossed the finish line in Whitehorse.  Congrats!!