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travel / travel magazine / winter 2006
Cool Trips
Spirit of the Quest
For two weeks each February, the Yukon Quest sled dog race blazes
the backwoods trails of the Klondike, re-creating the frenzy of the gold rush
Photography by Derek Crowe
William Kleedehn was about 300 kilometres from the finish of the
Yukon Quest in 2005 when he reached the 1,095-metre Eagle Summit.
In years that end with even numbers, the 1,600-kilometre sled dog
race runs from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Whitehorse, and Eagle Summit
is a gradual climb at the beginning of the course. In odd-ending
years, the race runs in the opposite direction, and the summit is
a steep, snowy ascent into often brutal weather. Worse, it comes
near the end of the 10-to-14-day competition, when dogs and mushers
are wind-weary and often frostbitten.
Kleedehn, 47, was in fifth place as he began the push to the summit.
Minor injuries had forced him to drop four dogs from his team, leaving
him with 10. He also had to contend with his own injuries. When
Kleedehn was 18, he was hit by a drunk driver and his left leg was
amputated below the knee. "I have disadvantages," he says. "I
can't run as good up those mountains." But the Yukon Quest
is as much about strategy as strength. And Kleedehn had an idea.
"My plan was to surprise the leaders on the summit," he
recalls, "where they would least expect it." When Kleedehn
and his dogs reached Fairbanks, they had closed a several-hour gap
to finish just five minutes behind the winner.
For the 30 or so mushers who enter the Yukon Quest each year, such
trials are all part of the trail, a well-worn route once travelled
by gold seekers, trappers and mail carriers. Now in its twenty-third
year, the Yukon Quest blends history and heroism in a competition
known as the toughest sled dog race in the world.
Many mushers offer special Yukon Quest tours — a chance to
follow the course with the dog handlers and watch a team's progress
from the sidelines. The Quest is not just for hardy Northerners
anymore, so bundle up and come along for the ride.
Derek Crowe lives in Carcross, Yukon. His photographs have
appeared in the Yukon News and in magazines including Outside,
Alaska and Up Here.
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