6633 Ultra 2007

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6633 Ultra 2007 - Race Diary

Steve Evans / 29.06.2007

A bit of background:
This is my fourth ultra since February 2005, having successfully completed the MDS 2005 and the 2006 Yukon Arctic Ultra and failed miserably on the 2006 Ridgeway race. I\'d met Cookie and Steve Reeves on the MDS when we shared a tent and met Martin Like on the 2006 YAU, between the three of them they managed to convince my wife that it would be a good idea to let me try and travel 352 miles on foot in the Canadian arctic. I must admit I took slightly less convincing than my wife and so there I was sitting in the High Country Inn in Whitehorse waiting for a compulsory kit inspection.

This race report is a personal account and is how I saw it at the time, I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies, but it was written from notes kept in a diary during the race, which may or may not be reliable as I was cold, dehydrated, tired and hallucinating for most of the time. If you want an official version with results, drop outs etc then look at the official website for martin\'s report.

Thursday 15th March 2007
Cookie, Steve Reeves and I had travelled over a few days before and after the compulsory last minute visits to the Whitehorse branches of Canadian Tyre, Wallmart and Coast and Mountain Sports for \"essential\" last minute bits of kit we had spread them all over the room. This chaos was gradually turned into some semblance of order as we tried to pack them into our sledges so we could find things quickly when cold and tired out on the trail.
The previous evening we had taken our sledges out on a trial run along the road and out to a lake where we could demonstrate our bivvying and stove lighting skills to the ever watchful Shelley.
There were some minor technical hitches- wheels falling off (not mine, but more about that later), setting my glove alight- quickly doused by putting my hand in a snow bank, but all in all, all twelve of the competitors managed to satisfy Shelley that they would manage on the race so we set off back to the hotel.
The race route on the website suggested that wheels would be needed for some of the course as there was little snow cover, I had retired to my shed and come up with a lightweight frame which could clip on and off the bottom of the sledge. My system was definitely the low end of the technical description, other competitors had gone to almost NASA levels of technology and I could only stare enviously, but it was too late to do anything now.
The kit check passed without a hitch, we were given out race number along with a framed version and a race fleece- embroidered with great care.
The chest infection that I\'d been harbouring for three or four weeks finally seemed to be resolving with antibiotics, my appetite was returning and I was feeling generally better and raring to go.
Final decisions were made about what to take and what to leave behind. I made a mistake here leaving a ventile windproof behind - I\'d not needed it for the YAU – I\'d regret that decision later in the week! And the kit finally disappeared into sled bags and drop bags; the sledges were loaded into the trailer for transportation to the start at Eagle Plain. Most of them anyway, Calvin managed to leave behind a rucksack, but wouldn\'t discover the omission until we reached the start. After loading the trailer there was a Pre race dinner. I made a few last minute phone calls home and then went to bed in preparation for the early start the next morning.

Friday 16th March 2007
10 hour drive from Whitehorse to Eagle Plain. Calvin discovered he\'d left a rucksack behind but with a bit of help from everyone else he managed to get enough kit together to get to the start line. The Dempster Highway sounds really impressive, but in reality it is an icy, gravel track with varying amounts of snow cover. Eagle Plain is a truck stop that\'s like stepping back thirty years into the 1970\'s, which is when it was built. The welcome from Stan and the staff was unbelievable, and the truckers we got chatting to were incredulous when they realised we were going to try and walk to Tuktoyaktuk.
Last minute repacking of sledge and drop bags, managed to lighten the sledge load a bit further, but not too much. It really is too late to do anything now apart from sleep in preparation for the start tomorrow.See All Event Posts