Yukon musher Michelle Phillips achieved glory in the Yukon Quest’s 450-mile race for the second consecutive year. Phillips crossed the makeshift finish line — a plastic chair and a handheld sign — in Pelly Crossing at 1:08 p.m. on Feb. 5.
The prize money for placing first is $12,000, although Phillips will walk away with slightly less due to a penalty for “outside assistance,” which has a fine of $50, according to race marshal Jason Severs.
Following her win, Phillips told the News that this year’s race was particularly challenging.
“This was just a really challenging race for me. I just had a really strong team; they were very fast, and it was very hard to keep them together on a super hard and icy trail,” Phillips said.
She said her dogs avoided serious injury during the race. One of her dogs suffered a shoulder injury on the trail, and another suffered a wrist injury, and both are expected to make a full recovery.
Following Phillips back into Pelly was Mayla Hill, who crossed the finish line at 3:33 p.m. and earned herself second place — good for $10,000 in prize money. She finished third in the 450-mile race in 2023.
As of press time, Kailyn Olnes and Misha Wiljes were still on the trail and expected to finish the race sometime on the evening of Feb. 5. Normand Casavant dropped out of the final leg of the race due to injuries to his dogs, a decision the Quest’s head veterinarian, Markus Barth, hailed as “very responsible.”
Like last year, this year’s Quest was initially planned to end in Dawson City. However, poor trail conditions impacted the race schedule, and the event ended in Pelly Crossing.
Instead of making the run to Dawson, mushers in the 450-mile race made the roughly 37-mile trip from Pelly Crossing to Stepping Stone before turning around and heading back to cross the finish line outside Pelly’s arena.
Hill was the first to depart Pelly Crossing for the turnaround at Stepping Stone, leaving at 3:34 a.m. on Feb. 5. Phillips left Pelly approximately two hours later at 5:31 a.m.
The decision to end the race early was the final change in a Yukon Quest that will likely be remembered for its abundance of changes. Days before the race commenced, race organizers announced that the starting line would be moved from Shipyards Park to a location on Takhini River Road due to icy conditions in the park.
Also, in the days leading up to the race, there were participant changes, with Cody Strathe and Paige Drobny dropping out of the 450-mile race, Ed Hopkins pulling out of the 250-mile race and Silas Godber switching from the 250-mile to the 100-mile race.
On Feb. 4, race organizers decided to skip the Carmacks to McCabe Creek section of the trail after Canadian Rangers reported open water on the Yukon River. Mushers were trucked with their dog teams to McCabe Creek, a 45-minute drive up the North Klondike Highway.
Speaking to the various changes that impacted the race, Phillips noted it was an uncommon occurrence but that she is happy that musher and dog safety was a priority in the decision-making process.
“It was just a little unusual, but it was good that the race organization was flexible to keep everyone safe, keep the dogs safe. That was good to see,” Phillips said.
Asked whether she’ll make an appearance at next year’s Quest, Phillips casually said, “Yeah, probably.”
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Contact Matthew Bossons at matthew.bossons@yukon-news.com