The annual Yukon Ski Marathon, covering 50 kilometres of trail from the Mount Lorne Recreation Centre to the Mount McIntyre Nordic Centre, was March 2 with skiers skiing in 50-km, 22-km and relay categories.
Additionally, the day of racing included 10-km races for boys and girls.
Skiers in the individual categories as well as those in the first leg of the relay all left the start line at 10 a.m. in a self-seeded mass start.
From Mount Lorne, skiers headed north to the first checkpoint at Cowley before continuing to the second checkpoint at Wolf Creek, which was also the end of the 22-km course and leg one of the relay.
After leaving Wolf Creek, skiers continued to the third checkpoint at Mount Sima and on to the fourth and final checkpoint at the memorial hut. From there, it was on to the finish line at the Mount McIntyre Nordic Centre.
Skiers were further divided into groups based on age and sex. Both male and female senior categories were open to skiers born in 2002 and earlier, and junior categories were open to skiers born in 2003 and later. In the relay, teams were divided into open — any two skiers — and female open — any two female skiers — categories.
The race concluded with a post-race event at the Mount McIntyre Nordic Centre and award presentations to the top three finishers in each category.
Thirty-four skiers raced the 22-km distance.
Jerome Bossert was both the fastest senior male and fastest overall with a time of one hour, 31 minutes and 18.9 seconds.
Andre Gagne followed Bossert, finishing second in the senior male category.
The fastest senior female was Sara Nielsen with a time of one hour, 38 minutes and 40.2 seconds. Behind Nielsen were Bryn Knight and Michelle Christensen in second and third.
In the junior male category, Callahan Croteau won with a time of one hour, 52 minutes and 44 seconds followed by Leif St. Clair in second. Both skiers travelled from Juneau, Alaska, for the race.
The second-fastest overall time went to Bella Mouchet who won the junior female category in a time of one hour, 31 minutes and 22.1 seconds. Second in the category and third overall was Maude Molgat. Rounding out the top three was Juneau’s Linnea Lentfer.
Switching gears to the 50-km race, the top three overall times went to the top three skiers in the senior male category. David Greer was this year’s winner with a total time of two hours, 32 minutes and 40.2 seconds. Second spot went to Dominic Bradford and Caelan Pangman McLean finished third.
Jane Hollenberg was the fastest skier in the senior female category after finishing in three hours, three minutes and 31.5 seconds. Lucy Steele Masson finished second and Maura Sullivan finished third.
Just three skiers raced in the junior male category as Curtis Cash emerged victorious with a final time of three hours, 19 minutes and 44.9 seconds. Noah Connell was second and Aleix Toews was third.
The junior female winner was Isla Hupe with a time of five hours, 14 minutes and 30.4 seconds. Hupe was just 0.3 seconds ahead of second-place Annie Cable at the finish line.
In the open relay, Man Ski Episode V: Return of the Jedi — Ashwin Freyne and Colin Abbott — finished first in two hours, 37 minutes and 42.6 seconds. Second place went to Goats of Anarchy — Stephen Waterreus and David Brook — and third place went to Man Ski 2: no name yet — Logan Potter and Ian Weir.
The fastest female open relay team was Will Ski for Beer — Vesta Mather and Jennifer MacKeigan — with a time of three hours, forty minutes and 10.4 seconds. Snow Much Fun — Haley Digel and Vanessa Scharf — was second and S&M — Marina Milligan and Heather Milligan — was third.
Top spot in the boys 10-km race went to Felix Masson with Simon Connell second and Louis Mouchet third.
Sophia Giangrande was the winner of the girls 10-km winner while Constance Lapinte was second and Abigail Jirousek was third.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com
Category results
Senior male 22 km
1 Jerome Bossert 1:31:18.9
2 Andre Gagne 2:07:23.8
DNS Vincent Larochelle
DNS Brad Heron
DNS Michael White
Senior female 22 km
1 Sara Nielsen 1:38:40.2
2 Bryn Knight 1:40:21.3
3 Michelle Christensen 1:42:38.0
4 Eva Goering 1:47:10.0
5 Anna Iverson 1:49:31.6
6 Stephanie Buchanan 1:52:11.8
7 Nadin Doerksen 1:55:58.3
8 Tammy Reis 1:56:26.6
9 Diane Wilson 1:58:48.2
10 Jocelyn Land-Murphy 2:01:30.6
11 Katie McKenna 2:08:14.2
12 Janice Hall 2:08:56.0
13 Hayley Henderson-Thur 2:11:22.2
14 Karen McKenna 2:15:24.3
15 Erin Spiewak 2:17:30.4
16 Susanne Behrens 2:17:33.3
17 Lily Otsea 2:17:51.4
18 Cara Sandulak 2:20:42.2
19 Dessa Gerger 2:23:10.5
20 Keltie Hollingdale 2:25:05.5
21 Claudia Riveros 2:27:17.3
22 Sophie Villeneuve 2:34:45.2
23 Grace Newman 2:47:28.5
24 Christie Harper 3:22:14.8
25 Kristina Beckmann 3:22:29.5
DNS Lauren Crooks
DNS Dahlia Lapointe
Junior male 22 km
1 Callahan Croteau 1:52:44.0
2 Leif St. Clair 2:30:10.2
Junior female 22 km
1 Bella Mouchet 1:31:41.5
2 Maude Molgat 1:34:22.1
3 Linnea Lentfer 2:03:43.2
4 Addy Mallot 2:40:32.5
5 Ella Schwartz 3:30:34.9
Senior male 50 km
1 David Greer 2:32:40.2
2 Dominic Bradford 2:35:24.0
3 Caelan Pangman McLean 2:35:44.4
4 John Parry 2:40:29.4
5 Jonas Jensen 2:58:43.7
6 Brian Healy 3:00:21.0
7 David Kerr 3:00:22.9
8 Simon Lapointe 3:05:05.2
9 Robert McConnell 3:05:22.0
10 Harry Borlase 3:06:13.9
11 Philippe Mouchet 3:06:30.6
12 Jeff Bond 3:15:30.0
13 Daniel Dreiseitl 3:16:47.8
14 Mark Connell 3:23:37.4
15 Ian Parker 3:26:37.2
16 Joseph Graham 3:26:59.4
17 William Bell 3:27:38.4
18 Tim Blust 3:29:12.4
19 Dave Hildes 3:32:50.1
20 Marc Champagne 3:36:30.3
21 Jean-Paul Molgat 3:50:17.3
22 Chris Ross 3:54:31.7
23 Daniel Shier 3:56:53.8
24 Gavin Grace 3:59:09.1
25 Sandro Holzinger 4:01:35.5
26 Hank Lentfer 4:09:45.4
27 Michael Smith 4:20:40.6
28 Joe Morrison 4:41:22.2
29 Geof Harries 5:20:22.2
DNF Riel Allain
DNF John Dutchak
DNS Kent Bretzlaff
DNS Petr Polivka
Senior female 50 km
1 Jane Hollenberg 3:03:31.5
2 Lucy Steele Masson 3:07:10.4
3 Maura Sullivan 3:12:03.3
4 Meagan Wilson 3:34:02.2
5 Pippa Lawson 3:38:14.2
6 Anett Kralisch 3:50:58.9
7 Aisha Montgomery 3:51:25.3
8 Deb Higgins 3:56:55.6
9 Laura Salmon 3:56:57.8
10 Merry Ellefson 3:57:15.4
11 Tiffani Fraser 3:57:31.4
12 Sarah Johnson 4:00:10.2
13 Michelle Rigoni 4:01:57.2
14 Catherine Fussell 4:01:59.5
15 Leyla Weston 4:25:52.6
16 Shaunagh Stikeman 4:25:53.1
17 Christine McConnell 4:25:53.4
18 Charlotte Kerjean 4:29:00.4
DNS Diane Billingsley
DNS Linda Hamilton
Junior male 50 km
1 Curtis Cash 3:19:44.9
2 Noah Connell 3:19:48.7
3 Aleix Toews 3:48:00.4
Junior female 50 km
1 Isla Hupé 5:14:30.4
2 Annie Cable 5:14:30.7
Open relay 50 km
1 Man Ski Episode V: Return of the Jedi (Ashwin Freyne/Colin Abbott) 2:37:42.6
2 Goats of Anarchy (Stephen Waterreus/Dave Brook) 2:37:58.0
3 Man Ski 2: no name yet (Logan Potter/Ian Weir) 2:42:16.3
4 Man Ski 1: Beer Pressure (Kyle Power/Michael Abbott) 2:47:37.0
5 Man Ski 4: The Wreckoning (Malkolm Boothroyd/Matthias Purdon) 2:49:40.3
6 Man Ski 3: Dicey D’s (David Gonda/Derek Cronmiller) 2:53:13.2
7 Dos Amigos (Aaron Blust/Finn Morley) 3:04:42.4
8 We Love Skiing! (Valerie Bussieres/Gjermund RØsholt) 3:28:26.7
9 JT Skaters (Justin Gorczyca/Tom Ullyett) 3:32:49.8
10 Passing Wind (Koa Doddridge/Arne Ellefson Carnes) 3:39:29.9
11 Not finished yet (Jim Bell/Stuart Hamilton) 3:40:42.3
12 Workout (Georg Buchhardt/Ambrose Bucy) 3:42:58.0
13 Just For Fun (Morgan Michels/Scott Doddridge) 3:45:07.6
14 Olatrom (Duchane Richard/Paul Kishchuk) 4:47:29.6
Open female relay 50 km
1 Will Ski For Beer (Vesta Mather/Jennifer MacKeigan) 3:40:10.4
2 Snow Much Fun — Bourbon Nights (Haley Digel/Vanessa Scharf) 3:50:34.7
3 S&M (Marina Milligan/Heather Milligan) 4:15:25.8
4 Chix on Stix (Annika Schwartz/Lindsey McTague) 4:30:30.7
5 Losing grip (Janet Clarke/Susan Bogle) 4:46:13.8
6 Klister Sisters (Leslie Gomm/Jan Downing) 4:48:53.0
7 Magnificent Macaroni Penguins (Mari Bell/Melia Lu Trousil) 5:46:04.0
8 Costco Free Samples (Tahlia Gerger/Celia Wheeler) 5:47:25.0
DNS The Masters (Julie McVicar/Sarah Murray)
Relay leg two 28 km
1 Ski Relaxed (Wendy Nixon — DNF/Tracee Vickerman) 2:31:01.3
Squad boys 10 km
1 Felix Masson 0:36:30.9
2 Simon Connell 0:36:31.8
3 Louis Mouchet 0:39:18.0
4 Nicolas Giangrande 0:41:24.6
5 Finnegan Gallant 0:41:54.4
6 Jonah McConnell 0:42:18.9
7 Finegand Bradford 0:44:20.6
8 Nicholas Connell 0:44:24.1
9 Kyan Morrison 0:45:35.3
10 Jan Zumer-Brewis 0:46:58.2
11 Micah McConnell 0:50:17.8
12 Heron Land-Gillis 0:50:19.0
13 Chris McCarron 0:58:10.1
14 Sitka Land-Gillis 0:58:26.3
15 Peter Embacher 0:58:28.7
16 Griffin MacGillivray 1:09:03.5
17 Marc-Andre Gillis 1:40:14.3
DNS Cole Germain
Squad girls 10 km
1 Sophia Giangrande 0:36:53.5
2 Constance Lapointe 0:36:53.9
3 Abigail Jirousek 0:37:00.4
4 Aramintha Bradford 0:41:25.1
5 Kalia Graham 0:45:42.5
6 Sophie Molgat 0:45:42.9
7 Stella Mueller 0:50:25.7
8 Emma Tomke Waldron 0:56:51.6
9 Maura Gallant 1:23:25.7
10 Natalja Hendriks 1:24:22.7
11 Morel Graham 1:24:30.0
12 Emily Kralisch-Seguin 1:44:41.5
DNS Juliet Crowe