The Yukon River is flowing, albeit a bit slowly this year, and Dawson City awaits. The paddlers who will undertake the 2025 Yukon River Quest are staring down 715 km on that river on the way to the finish line.
Paddlers will set off from downtown Whitehorse for the river quest’s 25th anniversary on June 25 at 9 a.m.
Eva Holland, a past river quest competitor handling communications for this year’s race, told the News that 203 paddlers are registered across 95 teams. There will be seven solo canoeists, 25 solo kayakers and 15 stand-up paddle boarders. Among those tackling the race as a team are 23 tandem canoes, seven tandem kayaks, eight four-person canoes and ten voyageur canoe teams which Holland said range from six to eight paddlers apiece.
Holland noted that the Yukon River is running low, but expressed hope that hot weather forecast for the solstice weekend would melt more snow off the hills and put more water into the system ahead of race day.
“It will just mean that, you know, people really need to think about finding the fast current where they can and reading the river,” Holland said.
“I think you know, low water and high water each have their own challenges and it’s just another curve ball for racers to manage.”
Holland suggested that the kayakers might have an easier time with the low water as they are faster than canoes in low or no current and because of their shallower draft when the river gets very shallow. She recounted having to get out and push with the rest of her voyageur canoe team in 2015 and noted points where other big rivers join the Yukon closer to Dawson can get braided and gravelly in low water.
Holland said it was too early to adequately predict whether the race’s opening day which sees paddlers going the length of Lake Laberge would see the sort of winds that can make that stretch more challenging. The forecast is looking sunny but not too hot for the first race day she said.
Speaking as a past racer, Holland said cold and heat on the river can both be tricky to manage with changes of clothes and layering.
Last year’s Yukon River Quest saw the leading teams temporarily stopped due to a wildfire flaring up along the river. Other fires shut the North Klondike Highway between Pelly Crossing and Stewart Crossing making it unsafe for volunteers and support vehicles to pass. The race was halted completely at Carmacks.
Holland noted that in light of such situations, each boat must carry a two-way communication device rather than the one-way tracker and emergency beacon setups carried in earlier years.
“So that's helpful in terms of needing to make changes on the fly. We are tracking all the current fire activity. We'll continue to do that through the weekend and into the race and, you know, hopefully be ready to respond if something looks like it's going to cause a problem for the racers,” Holland said.
She noted that race organizers are proactively communicating with the Yukon government emergency measures organization and wildland fire. As of the morning of June 20 there are 33 wildfires burning in the territory with none threatening communities. The only road closed due to fire is the Top of the World Highway that runs from west of Dawson City to the Alaska border.
For those looking to get a taste of the race without picking up a paddle, Holland said organizers are still looking for additional volunteers for some roles. There are openings for volunteers at pre-race briefings, the start line and at checkpoints on the way including Carmacks and Dawson. There is a signup.com page where volunteers can register and more information is available on www.yukonriverquest.com. According to the site the race relies on more than 150 volunteers.
The river quest website will also be the place for those seeking updates as the racers paddle the river. Holland said the typical live tracker of each team will be up and running and there will be daily rundowns posted there as well. Regular updates and race photos will also be shared via the race’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com
