“Due to the very difficult conditions caused by the extreme coldness of the weather in the Yukon in February, the nature of the trail and the distance which will have to be covered by the athletes; the Yukon Arctic Ultra is considered to be the toughest ultra race in the world.
Situations which under normal circumstances don’t cause any problems can become absolutely life threatening in the dead of winter in the Yukon.”
Gulp.
The first two paragraphs summarise what the race organisers have to say about the Yukon Arctic Ultra; the slightly shorter third paragraph was our own addition.
In short, what we’ll be taking on:
- 100 mile Ultra Marathon
- Typical temperatures of -20 during the day and -40 at night. Wind chill can take it well below this.
- Pulling all our safety kit and provisions on Pulks (sleds, to you and I).
- Bears, wolves and scary monsters (we can’t back up that third one).
- Running the trail of the World’s most famous Sled-dog race… without any dogs. Or sleds. (in our book it doesn’t count if you’re pulling them yourself).
Exciting times.
We are massively excited to be travelling to Yukon, in February 2011, a region that takes in a nice big chunk of the Arctic Circle, and attempting our first cold-weather Ultra Marathon. It will give us a great opportunity to push ourselves in a very testing environment and also to give some kit, equipment and gear a once-over in the world for which it was intended. Having been lucky enough to work with some fantastic manufacturers in the past, this trip will take us into some previously uncharted waters for us: GPS mapping, SatPhones, extreme sleeping bags and summit jackets, lightweight race stoves and everything else that comes along with racing in arctic conditions. In addition we will also depend on tried and tested racewear such as compression leggings, hydration backpacks and breathable waterproofs. Exciting times indeed, watch this space!