Lack of snow adds to training challenge for Yukon Quest musher

Yukon Quest mushers in training are facing an extra hurdle this year: a lack of snow on many of their training routes in the territory.

The annual sled dog event is due to get underway in a month, but first-time entrant Rhonda Kotelko said she has yet to touch her sled at all.

"Training has been a struggle... it's been quite the challenge to try and get our training miles in," she said. 

Kotelko is planning to take part in the 160-kilometre (100-mile) race after years on the sidelines of the Yukon Quest, volunteering in "every aspect" she could. 

But there's still just a few centimetres of snow on the ground at Kotelko's Lake Laberge property north of Whitehorse — much less than usual, she said. 

"By far, not an ideal year to start training," she said. 

When CBC News visited on Wednesday, Kotelko explained that the conditions made it hard to put in a snow hook. That's a device that anchors the dog sled in the snow, allowing the rider to dismount. 

Kotelko has been using a workaround solution to get a few training miles in. Instead of using the sled, she has been tying her eight dogs onto the front of her quad.

She said it allows her to do runs of about 32 to 48 kilometres, three or four times a week, and help build some muscle tone on the dogs. 

"Really, you just try and keep a consistent speed for them. I have a nice little light small quad, so they're primarily pulling the quad on their own. I will assist going uphill, and if there's areas that you want them to pick up, it's a little easier to get them motivated," she said.

"We still make do with what we have and we're having fun doing it."

But until recently, Kotelko said mild temperatures had made quad runs difficult too. Whitehorse recorded the warmest December on record, with average temperatures about 5.3 C above normal. 

"My dogs do have a significant fur base, so I really have to watch the temperatures that I'm running them at. So that made it a challenge in the beginning of the season just to get any miles on short runs, just to make sure that they're not overheating," Kotelko said. 

She said just one sled run would be nice before the race. That may mean trucking her dogs elsewhere in the territory. 

Race organizers 'may need to make some adjustments'

The race is scheduled to start on Feb. 3 at Shipyards Park in Whitehorse.  

Yukon Quest Canada executive director Ben Smith said organizers were "definitely concerned" about the lack of cold and snow, as well as the river conditions along the route. 

"We are going to be receiving a trail report next week that will outline, a bit better, what we're looking at. We may need to make some adjustments here and there but we'll anticipate whatever it is and come up with a plan," Smith told CBC's Yukon Morning. 

He said there were 28 teams entered in the three events: the 160-kilometre (100-mile) race to Braeburn, a 402-kilometre (250-mile) race to Pelly Crossing, and a 724-kilometre (450-mile) race to Dawson City.

The Yukon Quest Alaska will start simultaneously on Feb. 3 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Smith said organisers were still hopeful of one day reviving the original 1,600-kilometre (1,00-mile) international race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse. That event was scrapped a couple of years ago amid disagreements between the two boards over race rules.

"We have new staff in our office, they have new staff in their office, and the boards are relatively switched up so there's new mentalities and new approaches to things. So I'm very hopeful that one day we can have this race re-joined," Smith said.

"It's more than just disagreements, though. There's logistics issues, and regulations at borders, and now following COVID, [and] climate change issues that are impacting our trails. So it's more than one singular issue. But there's definitely, definitely a path forward." 

Rhonda Kotelko said regardless of this year's weather conditions, and the outcome of her race, she's been enjoying "being out there with the dogs." 

"We probably don't push as hard as some of the other teams are, but I have happy dogs and healthy dogs, so that's important," she said. 

"They just have this joy in being out there and running and seeing the trail and what's around the next corner. And it gives you a time to really disconnect from what's going on in this crazy world that we live in at the moment," she said.