Rock and Ice Ultra

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Destination Yellowknife

Rob Howard / 08.03.2007

The Rock and Ice Ultra may be the newest winter race in the frozen wilderness of Northern Canada, but the inaugural event is promising to be something special.

The race is open to athletes on foot, using snowshoes or on cross-country skis, and there are a range of distances to attempt, from the 5km family-friendly ‘Frozen Toe Trailbreak’, through to the ‘Diamond 300’ for the ultra-endurance competitors. It is the long distance race that has attracted an international entry, with racers from Ireland, UK, USA, Italy, Finland and Sweden travelling to take part.

They will be racing for a unique prize, a 1.0 carat, round brilliant, Ekati Diamond valued at $11,500, and have been drawn to the race by the special attractions of the host city, Yellowknife, capital of the North West Territories.

This is named after the Yellowknife Dene and is an ethnic mix of aboriginal peoples and settlers, where most of the regions 11 languages are spoken. Type ‘Yellowknife’ into Google Earth and it will take a while to zoom northwards to the shores of the Great Slave Lake, the deepest in North America, the 9th largest in the world ... and the second largest in North West Territories. (The name comes from the Slavey North American Indians.)

The names of the major surrounding settlements are a guide to the regions frontier history, and a good guide to the qualities the racers will need. Fort Providence, Fort Resolution and Reliance are all on the lakeshore, and further south is Uranium City.

Mineral wealth lured the frontier settlers, prospecting for gold from the 1800’s and more recently the area has established some of the richest diamond mines in the world. Race sponsors, the Ekati Diamond mine, will fly the winners north to their mine for what they promise will be the most original and spectacular of presentations.See All Event Posts