Tough-as-tires Europeans 'fight the elements'
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 26/01) - One of the warmest winters on record turned cold just in time to uphold the Arctic's reputation as a cold and unforgiving place, at least in the eyes of European televison viewers.
Though the competition never strayed far from the highway, the Fulda Extreme Challenge was hyped by its promoters as a struggle of man against hostile nature.
"In the middle of bizarre and inhospitable nature ... their songs of lament are heard by no one; only the wolves howl in sympathy," read brochure promoting the "merciless" Feb. 19-24 event.
Aimed at promoting the 'Yukon' line of tires produced by the German manufacturer sponsoring the event, the Challenge pitted two-member teams representing seven European countries and Canada against one another in a series of competitions held during a road trip between Whitehorse and Tuktoyaktuk.
To raise the profile of the event in Europe, Fulda enlisted four German sporting icons, including Olympic downhill skiing gold medallist Markus Wasmeier and 2001 Paris-Dakar rally winner Jutta Kleinschmidt.
A convoy of 29 vehicles decked out in Fulda tires and logos and carrying 60-65 competitors, organizers, celebrities and European media, made its way North along the Dempster Highway. The event ended Saturday with an igloo building competition in Tuktoyaktuk. At -42 C, it was the coldest day of the winter so far.
Each day the convoy would stop for pre-arranged competitions, including downhill slalom in Whitehorse, ice climbing in Dawson City, dog mushing, snowshoeing and downhill skiing.
"They just do all kinds of crazy, kooky European events," said Dennis Zimmermann, manager of Arctic Nature Tours, a subsidiary of the Inuvialuit Development Corporation.
Zimmermann said the event might seem outlandish to Northerners, but its importance in promoting the NWT as a tourism destination can not be underestimated.
"It's huge," said Zimmermann, noting the play the Challenge will get from European television will raise the profile of both the Yukon and NWT in Europe. "It's quite possibly one of the biggest tourism events in the NWT."
Competitions were held in Europe last year to determine who would represent each country. Fulda reported 24,000 people applied for the two places on the German team.
The Yukon will enjoy most of the tourism promotion the event generates. Whitehorse-based Beringia Tours is the lead North American organizer of the Challenge and all but the home stretch takes place in the Yukon. By the time the event reached Inuvik, the Austrian team of Peter Wildhalm and Mathias Derflinger won the challenge and the $10,000 gold nugget first prize.
Beringia operations manager Linda Huff said Fulda organizers began work on the event last summer. The Fulda Challenge is set to run for the next two winters.
"They say we will have up to 250 million viewers that have a possibility of seeing it," Huff said.
Regardless of the territory, climate and not culture was the focus of the event. The communities it takes in along the way will be little more than places to eat and sleep for competitors -- that is, during the nights their songs of lament weren't being answered only by sympathetic wolf howls.
