.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

IQALUIT - Preparations are underway for the third annual Qimualaniq Quest, where dog teams will make the journey from Iqaluit to Kimmirut and back again.

"It's more than just a dogsled race," said last year's winner Lynn Peplinski. "It's an exchange between the communities of Iqaluit and Kimmirut."

Siu-Ling Han of Iqaluit gets her sled into position for departure from Kimmirut during the first Qimualaniq Quest dog sled race in 2007. Iqaluit's Paul Crowley won the event that year. - NNSL file photo

Kimmirut elder Simeone Aqpik has travelled the trail many times and says it is challenging terrain. In particular, the area immediately opposite Iqaluit across Frobisher Bay has many boulders that can be dangerous.

Through an interpreter Aqpik said he hoped someone would properly clear the path before someone else gets hurt.

Last year a Canadian Ranger sergeant accompanying the dog teams on a snowmobile went over a ridge and fell 25 feet, breaking his pelvis.

The 320-kilometre journey takes competitors across frozen Frobisher Bay and through the rugged landscape between Nunavut's capital and the southernmost Qikiqtani community. The trail includes steep, extended changes in elevation, often deep snow, and sharp turns that can overturn sleds and snow machines alike.

The dog sleds travel heavily laden. Each sled carries more than 30 kg of flour for Kimmirut, much of which will be used in the welcome feast. Each must also carry a sleeping bag and tent and at least enough supplies to last two days. In both previous years bad weather forced mushers to move slowly through blizzard or whiteout conditions. The heavy load means mushers must dismount and run on the slightest inclines so to avoid exhausting their dogs.

Peplinski has been mushing for years and has nothing but praise for the dogs.

"They'll bring you home in a storm, which is not so sure in a snowmobile," she said.

The Francophone Association is chasing sponsors to financially support the race. The group held a raffle which raised roughly $5,000 but the total cost of the race is in the neighbourhood of $30,000. There is a paid race director and a timer, not to mention the cost of the feast in Kimmirut.