Latest news with #YukonArcticUltra
CBC
13-02-2025
- Climate
- CBC
6 racers reach finish line in this year's Yukon Arctic Ultra, 40 others dropped out
A difficult new trail, along with extreme cold conditions, made for an especially gruelling Yukon Arctic Ultra this year, with only a fraction of the competitors managing to complete the 600-kilometre race. Of the 46 competitors who set out from Teslin, Yukon, on Feb. 2 on foot, skis or bike, six crossed the finish line in Faro while the rest dropped out at various points along the way, sometimes because of frostbite. Harm Feringa of the U.S. was the overall winner, crossing the line on Saturday on a fat bike. Mathieu Blanchard from Montreal was the first to finish on foot, on Monday. Jessie Gladish of the Yukon was the first female finisher, the second on a bike and fourth overall when she reached Faro on Tuesday. The last finisher crossed the line in Faro in the early hours of Wednesday morning. This year's race followed a new route, the same as this year's Yukon Quest sled dog race. Ultra athletes made their way to Faro by way of Ross River. Racers had the choice of either a 350-kilometre distance or a 600-kilometre distance. Only those racing the 600-kilometre distance managed to finish the race. Gladish says this year's route was "very challenging." She has previously raced in the Yukon Arctic Ultra on a bike, on cross-country skis and on foot, but finishing this year felt different. "It feels a little wild to be one of six [finishers]," Galdish said. "It feels like an accomplishment, especially this year." This year's route had continuous elevation gain and loss, very different from the former route along the Yukon River, says Gladish. "We just didn't really get a break from the cold and we didn't get a break from the strenuous climbs and descents. It was very hard," Gladish said. "It can be a little soul-crushing, in a way." Despite the challenges on this year's route, Gladish says it was "beautiful." "The mountain surroundings are amazing," she said. "We had a moon that was growing over the course of the nine days I was out there and sunny, clear days every day." Now, Gladish will only have 10 days of rest before her next ultra-marathon race, the 563-kilometre (350-mile) Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska, which she will be completing on cross country skis. 40 athletes forced to drop out Most Yukon Arctic Ultra athletes were forced to end their races early, due to extreme cold and tough course conditions, said race organizer Robert Polhammer. "People have to go through the South Canol Road and the Dena Cho trail, that's more than what we are used to and that was very hard," Polhammer said. "Add to that temperatures of –30, –35 and sometimes –40 every night, that's a difficult mix for people." Ten racers dropped out due to frostbite, others ended their races early due to trench foot, back problems or pure exhaustion, says Polhammer. Trench foot is foot damage that results from prolonged exposure to cold and wet environments. "We were able to catch all the frostbite cases early enough so that everybody will keep their fingers and toes," Polhammer said. Some past competitors have lost digits to frostbite, and in 2018 an Italian competitor lost both his hands and his feet. Three of this year's competitors also had to be medevaced by helicopter, because of the remoteness of the race. "It's less risky to bring them out on a helicopter, because if we bring them out on a snowmobile, their frostbite would re-freeze, so that's not a risk worth taking," Polhammer said. He said the race's insurance covers the cost of helicopter rescues. Polhammer says despite the arduous conditions, he hopes that the event can return to the same route next year.
CBC
08-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Researchers studying cold weather endurance at Yukon Arctic Ultra vexed by extreme cold weather
Extreme temperatures in this year's race causing many research subjects to drop out A wave of scratches from the Yukon Arctic Ultra this past week might be frustrating for racers and organizers, but it's also turning into a headache for one German researcher. Mathias Steinach is with the Center for Space Medicine and Extreme Environments in Berlin. His work focuses on the physical effects of extreme cold on high-performance athletes. Yukon Arctic Ultra racers travel as much as 600 kilometres by foot, bicycle or on skis. This year, temperatures at the race start in Teslin were around -40 C, and they've stayed in the –30s for most of the race. The event, where 34 of 61 competitors have dropped out thanks largely to frostbite caused by extreme cold, would seem to be the perfect laboratory. But Steinach said 10 of the 14 runners participating in this latest study have dropped out of the race. "Two by three by one by two, they are dropping out," Steinach said. "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it. And so of course this is negatively impacting our research." Participants in the study wear fitness monitors that collect reams of physiological data including heart rate, calories burned, number of steps taken and so on. Athletes started wearing the monitors in Whitehorse even before the race started, to give researchers some baseline data to compare with what's happening to the athletes' bodies during the race. This year's Ultra course is following the Yukon Quest's new route between Teslin and Faro. Much of the route runs along the Canol Road, which features numerous undulating hills. Ultra organizers suspect the exertion needed to crest those hills is contributing to the high dropout rate. "This is a huge impact on the physiology on energy transfer, energy expenditure," Steinach said. "People cannot remotely eat as much as they [exert themselves]. The energy has to come from somewhere. So that's coming from the bodily energy stores. So fat mass, for example. And so I'm interested in how the body adapts to these changes, how huge the impact is." Race organizer Robert Polhammer said participation in the study also offers something to competitors. "It's interesting for the athletes because they do get a lot of data and information about themselves if they want to, which would help them with their performances in the future or maybe finding out how they can improve, what they maybe did wrong." Steinach has been a co-author on numerous papers about athletic performance in extreme cold, including previous iterations of the Yukon Arctic Ultra. He said even if there isn't enough data from this year's race for a proper peer-reviewed paper, researchers could still publish a case study, similar to one the Centre for Space Medicine and Extreme Environments did on another punishing trek: the first woman to walk across Antarctica unsupported.
CBC
08-02-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Researchers study ultra-athletes competing in Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra
As extreme cold temperatures continue, more racers in the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra drop out. The few athletes pushing on have a team of German researchers monitoring their every move. Cheryl Kawaja has more.
