Yukon Quest
Because it begins a month earlier than the Iditarod, the Quest is a colder race, and is run on shorter solar days and through longer, darker nights.
[4] The four proposed a thousand-mile sled dog race from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon, to celebrate the Klondike Gold Rush-era mail and transportation routes between the two.
Trail markers often were absent or misplaced, and no preparations had been made for racers in Dawson City until organizer Roger Williams flew there shortly after the race began.
[15] At the end of that race, George Cook became the first musher since 1984 to finish short of Whitehorse when open water on the Yukon River prevented him from continuing.
[26] In 2000, Aliy Zirkle became the first woman to win the Yukon Quest after taking 10 days, 22 hours, and 57 minutes to trek the 1,000 miles (1,609 km).
Unseasonable warmth forced organizers to truck mushers and their dog teams to Braeburn before continuing what became a 921 miles (1,482 km) competition.
During Mackey's second win, a fierce storm atop Eagle Summit caused a whiteout that forced seven mushers and dog teams to be evacuated by helicopter.
[38] Following the 2009 race, officials decided to advance the competition's start date by one week to better accommodate mushers also participating in the Iditarod.
[60] When the race runs from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, the Braeburn checkpoint is the site of a mandatory eight-hour stop to ensure the health of mushers' dogs before the final stage.
[61] They then enter a notorious stretch of heavily forested hills nicknamed "Pinball Alley"[62] for the way the rough terrain bounces sleds into trees, rocks, and other obstacles.
[66] Leaving McCabe Creek, the race trail parallels a driveway and the Klondike Highway for several miles before turning north to cross the Pelly Burn, an area scorched by a wildfire in 1995.
Before organizers coordinated schedules with the mining equipment operators, racers often had to contend with heavy machinery blocking the trail or turning it into a muddy path.
[74] When mushers start in Whitehorse, they already have gained several thousand feet from the ascent into the Black Hills, including a climb over 3,550-foot (1,080 m) Eureka Dome.
[75] The main difficulties come during the descent from King Solomon's Dome to Bonanza Creek, the epicenter of the Klondike Gold Rush.
[76] After reaching the creek, mushers thread through an area of mining waste[77] and follow the Klondike River to Dawson City, the halfway point of the race.
[83] Shortly past the border, the river turns northwest, and mushers leave its frozen surface when it meets the Taylor Highway,[73] a road closed to automobile traffic during the winter.
The weather atop Eagle Summit is harsh as this is a convergence zone between the Yukon Flats to the north and the low ground of the Tanana Valley to the south.
[90] When descending the steep northern slope of Eagle Summit on the Fairbanks–Whitehorse route, many mushers wrap their sled runners in chains to increase friction and slow the plunge.
The terrain in this stretch is among the easiest on the trail, with gently rolling hills and forest which gradually change into an urban landscape as racers approach Fairbanks.
[108] Additional changes that year included the rerouting of the trail around the southern and eastern sides of King Solomon's Dome south of Dawson City[109] and the introduction of the Scroggie Creek dog drop site on the shore of the Stewart River.
[109] In 1997, mushers were routed through the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project and to the Alaska town of North Pole before continuing on to Fairbanks.
In the 1988 Yukon Quest, Jeff King suffered an entirely frozen hand because of nerve damage from an earlier injury which left him unable to feel the cold.
[31] The racers have come from various professions: taxicab drivers, swimming instructors, coal miners, tax assessors, lawyers, fur trappers, journalists, and a car salesman have all entered.
[125] Haliburton, Ontario musher Hank DeBruin won the 2011 Red Lantern Award by finishing the race in 13 days, 10 hours, and 54 minutes.
[127] Dogs in the Yukon Quest come in a variety of sizes and breeds, though the most common are Alaskan and Siberian Huskies weighing between 45 and 70 pounds (20 and 32 kg).
[129] Siberian Huskies are a breed recognized by the American Kennel Club and are characterized by thick coats, stiff ears, a fox-like tail, and medium size.
[130] Siberian Huskies are typically larger and slower than their Alaskan counterparts,[131] causing mushers to nickname the breed "Slowberians",[132] but have more pulling power.
[136] As well as food, camping equipment, and dog-care gear, mushers must carry an axe, a cold-weather sleeping bag, a pair of snowshoes, veterinary records, Quest promotional material, a cooker, and eight booties per dog.
This requires entrants to certify that they are older than 18, have not been censured by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and have never been convicted of animal abuse or neglect.
[144] The Yukon Quest's rules allow race officials latitude on whether to assess a time penalty or monetary fine on mushers who violate one or more regulations.
