Yukon Quest 2019 Wrap-Up
The Awards Banquet was held Saturday night.
Brent Sass was the big winner as he took First place, the two ounces of gold for being first into Dawson, The Vets Award for dog care for bringing all of the puppies he started with to Fairbanks. His lead dogs, Jeep & Sluice, took the Golden Harness for their race conduct.
Hans Gatt came in second and won handmade beaver mittens from the Selkirk First Nation for being first into Pelly Crossing.
Remy Leduc won the Challenge of the North Award, beaded beaver mittens, for exemplifying the spirit of the race.
Rob Cooke won the Sportsmanship Award, a beaver lined hat, primarily for his action on Eagle Summit.
Martin Apayauq Reitan took Rookie of the Year honors, a handcrafted scrimshaw knife, for being the first rookie to finish.
Hendrik Stachnau took home the Red Lantern, presented to the race’s last official finisher.
People should remember that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have finished the Yukon Quest.
There is a short piece covering the battles to get over Eagle Summit in this race.
2 comments
Thanks for that link, Bryan. Great story, and I would have missed it.
Chase Tingle’s remark should be the motto for the race, “It’s no-joke country out there.” No kidding.
“Sab” Schnuelle said: “One minute you’re running a race and the next, you’re in a survival situation – that’s the Yukon Quest.” That was in one of my posts [Day 10] from the 2011 race when Hugh Neff almost bought it on Eagle Summit. The Quest has four major climbs, the Iditarod only has one [over the Alaskan Range]. when the wind kicks up and starts blowing snow things get tense.