Rock and Ice Ultra

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Cold Comfort

Rob Howard / 16.03.2007

From the moment of arrival in Yellowknife the cold, and how to deal with it, became the main concern of all visiting Rock and Ice competitors. Within seconds of stepping off the plane from Edmonton (the nearest major city and 2 hours flight away) your face felt the first touch of frost nip, your nostrils froze and your eyes watered, and that was on a bright sunny day.

Suited business men pulling on huge goose down parkas with animal fur collars, and cars which are plugged into the mains overnight to stop them freezing up, are the norm here. It takes a good 10 minutes to put on calf length boots, glove liners, mitts and overmits, base-layers and coats … and that is just to go to the shops to find supplies ... mostly more clothes and chemically activated heat pads.

Unfortunately, winter is keeping its grip on Yellowknife, although next weekend is officially the start of Spring. The average temperatures for March here are around -17C but in the days leading up to the race it’s been -35C in the night, morning and evening, ‘warming up’ to around -25C in the daytime.

Straight Talking

And if anyone was in any doubt of the difficulties and dangers this could present, an introductory talk by Mike Rarog of Arctic Response squashed those. He is in charge of the Emergency Response and Rescue on the race and experienced Arctic racers were impressed with the level of expertise and planning his company have brought to this new event.

He certainly wanted to take away any illusions about the potential dangers and to ensure all competitors had a healthy respect and fear of the cold. His talk was about survival, but death and pain came into it a lot, and the audience listened in quiet, fearful concentration. He scared any complacency out of them, that’s for sure!See All Event Posts