How a pandemic gap year may have given the Yukon Quest new life

After the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the cancellation of last year's Yukon Quest sled dog race — a first in the race's 37-year history — some wondered whether it was the beginning of the end for the iconic annual event.

The previous year's race had already seen a smaller roster of mushers than years before, there had been some internal squabbling and resignations over race rules, and some mushers were not happy with the board's decision to cancel the 2021 race.

"There were some problems in the past. We all know that, and it sure looked like the Quest was going to go completely downhill," said Hans Gatt, a veteran musher from Whitehorse who now sits on the race's board of directors in Yukon.

Now, there's been some turnover on the board and the race is back in an entirely new form. Some say the pandemic offered an opportunity to rethink the event and make some necessary changes.

"As much as I hate COVID, it gave us the opportunity to try new things out," Gatt said.

"I think it is positive. There's no question about it."  

Traditionally, the race is run over a remote and sometimes mountainous 1,600-kilometre trail between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska, alternating the direction each year. It's often described as more challenging than the more famous Iditarod in Alaska.

This year, there is no 1,600-kilometre race across the international border. Instead, there are four shorter races — two held in Alaska earlier this month (the 321-kilometre YQ200 and the 563-kilometre YQ350) and two in Yukon (the 160-kilometre YQ100 and the 482-kilometre YQ300) that begin Saturday afternoon in Whitehorse.

Bonnie Michaudville, the race's executive director in Yukon, said the decision to hold several shorter races was based on a survey of mushers done last year.

"There just weren't enough mushers to run the 1,000-mile [1,600-kilometre]. They had a hard time with COVID, some of their businesses, and also we didn't have enough qualifiers last year for them to run," Michaudville said.

The border crossing was also an issue. Organizers decided that it made sense to plan different events this year, on either side of the international divide. 

"That way, if there were COVID restrictions going across the border, we would be fine and still be able to race."

Mushers still had the option of entering races on both sides of the border, and a few have — including Alaskan Brent Sass, who won the Quest in 2019 and 2020. Last week, he won the YQ350 and on Saturday he hits the trail against eight other mushers in the YQ300.

The Yukon race rosters are, unsurprisingly, dominated by Canadians. Of the nine entered into the YQ300, four are Yukoners and two are Albertans. In the YQ100, five of the seven mushers are from Yukon. The YQ100 roster is also dominated by younger mushers, in their 20s.