This&That
Race to the Midnight Sun
The Yukon River Quest—the 742-kilometre king of kayak races by Christine McCormack
It’s the Iditarod for paddlers. The Yukon
River Quest is the longest annual sea kayak and canoe race in the world. At the height of the midnight sun on June 23, paddlers from across the globe will launch onto the Yukon River for the 742-kilometre marathon from Whitehorse to Dawson City, vying for nearly $15,000 in prize money. Traditionally a canoe race, the Quest has welcomed sea kayakers since 2000. The epic paddle through the remote
Yukon wilderness typically lasts over two and a half days. From naked men to President Nixon holding out a tin cup, hallu- cinations are a common occurrence during the race’s sleep-deprived later stages. Last year’s winner of the solo kayak division and new record holder, Jerome Truran, thought he saw a pretty little white house by the riverbank and convinced himself that he had already passed Dawson City. He was about to pull ashore for the night when a passing canoe broke the news that he still had to pad- dle just a little bit further. Katja Rademacher and Jeff Raymond, the
new double kayak record holders, say that their story is just about pain. “The toughest hours of the race were the last six, when you move into survival mode,”
“Why are they tired after the first night? Back home, they’d stay up watching videos all night and not be tired!”—Ingrid Wilcox, age 50+.
above: Fiftysomething Yukoner Ingrid Wilcox holds the women’s solo kayak record of 64 hours, 29 minutes.
left: A leading canoe team paddles Five Finger Rapids at 1 a.m., 36 hours into the race.
photos by Dianne D. Villesèche
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 9
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