Caricatures of the Quest part II

  Day 5 of the Yukon Quest and the race is starting to spread out a bit. Just as Hugh Neff left Dawson City after his mandatory 40 hour layover, number 18 and 19 (Rob Cooke and Matt Failor) were coming into town ready for a long rest. There are four other mushers still on their way to Dawson City. An airplane has gone out to take a look at where they all are on the trail and make sure they are doing okay. Snowmobiles are on hand if someone needs help in the middle of the bush. The hope is that they will all make it to Dawson by tomorrow (Friday) morning. Meanwhile, Hugh Neff is well on his way to redeeming his prize of four onces of gold. As the first into Dawson City, he needs to finish the race to Fairbanks before he is given the $6,700 bonus. Hugh left at 5 am this morning (thursday) and is supposed to arrive in Eagle around midnight. Now for some more caricatures:

Jake Berkowitz- Twenty-six year-old Jake Berkowitz has been running dogs for eight years and is steadily rising to the top. He is originally from Michigan, but now lives in Big Lake, Alaska. His 3 month pregnant wife, Robyn, is following him along on the Quest. He is a veteran musher and this year he brought two teams with him to the Quest. He hired a guy named Markus Ingebretsen from Norway to run his "B" team. After the Quest, he is going to combine the best sled dogs from both teams to put together a super team for the Iditarod in March. He is currently within the top three mushers and has high hopes for a successful race. Unfortunately, this afternoon, one of his dogs, General, was taken from Dawson City to Whitehorse by Vet-Ambulance and died on the way.



Markus taking a rest while warming by the fire.

Markus Ingebretsen- An adventurer with an enthusiastic spirit, Markus Ingebretsen sounds a lot like my friend Rachel R. This rookie musher (one year of mushing) has been impressing his boss, Jake Berkowitz, since August when they first met. Markus just returned from an attempt to sail around the world when he applied to the dog mushing job Berkowitz posted on the internet. Markus was planning on doing a long expedition along the Northwest Passage using skis and a dog, but due to the Quest, those plans have been delayed until next year. I hope he can keep up his amazing rookie performance once he meets the tough climbs of the second half of the race. Markus is currently in 6th place.  



Lance Mackey- "Lance Mackay is one of the most decorated mushers in Quest history" (Whitehorse Star). He won his rookie Quest race in 2005 and then went on to win three more in succession. (2006, 2007, 2008). He also became the first musher to win both the Yukon Quest and Alaskan Iditarod in the same year and then did that again a second year (2007-8)! He appears a true outdoorsman- fierce husky eyes, weathered skin and face, not to mention his missing finger and large scar on the side of his neck. He is missing his index finger on his (left?) hand due to frostbite (or so the rumour goes) and his neck scar is from a battle with cancer- one he says was much harder to fight than any dogsledding race. Check out his livestrong video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4itoaTozjg
Last year, Lance had a mostly female team and apparently many of his dogs went into heat during the race and so he had to drop them and ended up only in third. He was striving to get back into the winners circle this year by recreating his team with only male dogs. However, his race started rough when a number of his dogs weren't eating and he had to drop (leave them at a checkpoint) four, disadvantaging him greatly in the race to Dawson City. Today, after a difficult trek with only seven dogs to Dawson City, he scratched himself from the race for the health of his dogs.




  Ed Abrahamson and Kelley Griffin have also left the race. Ed left not because of the weakness of his dogs, but admittedly his own weakness. Kelley was doing really well, but had to stop due to the health of some of her dogs.

 Marcel flew to Eagle Alaska today in a little float plane and I'm glad to report he has still been able to text me sporadically. I'm so glad we can communicate. I picked up the newspaper this afternoon and was pleased to see some great photos on the front page and inside as well as some great Quest updates. The Star photographer that was with him has now come back to Whitehorse, and from now on Marcel is reporter/photographer. He seems to have found a rythmn. Here is one of his stories about the perilous trail ahead due to the warm weather and then subsequent snowfall north of Dawson.

http://www.whitehorsestar.com/archive/story/mushers-face-a-historically-perilous-trail/

  I also recently realized that if you like Yukon Quest Official Site (2013) on Facebook, you will get the updates in your newsfeed as well as some of the photo albums of checkpoints and race action. It's pretty cool.

Caricatures of the Yukon Quest Part 1

  Today I'll highlight some of the characters on the Quest.


1) Fan Favourite and 2012 Champion Hugh Neff: Hugh grew up in Chicago, Il and now resides in Tok, Alaska. His occupation is listed as motivational speaker/dog musher and he is known for his school tours where he advocates for literacy and accomplishing your dreams! Last year he completed the race in his token Cat in the Hat hat and this year he began the race donning it as well. Hugh's kennel's motto is: Its all about the dogs. About his lead dog, Walter, he says "Walter's my heart and soul." He is a goldmine of Yukon Quest quotes and loves the freedom, adventure, and energy of the Quest. He is currently in the lead and will likely win the four-ounce golden prize presented to the first musher in to Dawson City valued at $6,700.


2) Allen Moore: Not far behind is 55 year-old Allen Moore. Last year, he almost won the race, but Hugh gained on him in the last hour and won by 26 seconds! This year, Moore is very motivated to make up those seconds. His wife, Aliy Zirkle, is running the YQ300 simultaneously and is known as the first and only woman to win the Yukon Quest 1000.   He is from Two Rivers, Alaska and what he loves most about the race is the bond that takes place between dogs and musher.




3) Rob Cooke- One of my favourites, is the Englishman, Rob Cooke. Marcel wrote an article about Rob and very quickly realized the significance of this race for Rob and his wife, Louise. Rob is retired aircraft engineer from the UK and he moved to Canada because of the very dream of dogsledding in the Yukon Quest. He moved to New Brunswick and quickly realized it was not the dog-mushing capital of Canada, however, he developed his team there after buying a zoo. Check out the interesting article Marcel wrote about this guy here: http://www.whitehorsestar.com/archive/story/we-bought-a-zoo-the-story-of-musher-rob-cooke/
 His lead dogs left the chute dressed in the UK flag while Rob enthusiastically punched the air three times to show his utmost excitment that this decade-long dream had finally come true! I hope his first Yukon Quest 1000 (he has done the 300) experience is all he has hoped it would be! 

4) Susan Rogan- Whitehorse native, Susan Rogan, is one of 6 women on the Quest and she is doing so well! I underestimated her! She got started dogsledding by skijoring, a sport I would love to try (skiing with dogs!). She is 46 and her motto is "now or never". She said she "would regret not trying and her goal is to give it her best shot!" She is in the top ten currently so I'd say she is doing her best! I love her answer to the question: What do you love most about running sled dogs? "Setting out on adventure with the dogs like pirates on the high sea. The sense of exploration on different levels. The volunteers in the checkpoints amaze me, I feel true gratitude when I see them out there. What I love most on the surface changes all the time, but the constant is that I love the dogs most of all. They are magic in motion. " I also love that her sponsor is Bear Paw Quilting and they gave her a quilt :)

  5) Abbie West- This girl reminds me of one of my great friends, Andrea D. Yep. At the Musher's Banquet she stood in front of the mic kind of nervously, but with so much cuteness and spunk. She is known for her bright blue jacket and when she was released from the chute, fans heard her yelling "Get me out there!!!" She makes me giggle. Her kennel is named "Cosmic-Canines" because her dogs are "outta this world!" (see- giggle!) Hence, all of her dogs are named after stars, moons, planets... and even star-wars characters! Although she is a bartender by trade, mushing has been a childhood dream of hers. Her experience as a veteran musher also makes her consistent- not at the head of the pack, but just following behind inconspicuously. She is 11th place currently and when I see that she is steadily moving along a silent cheer inside my heart springs forth. To answer the question what she loves most about mushing, she answers emphatically: "The dogs! The adventure!" I'd love to know more about this 39 year-old, Alaska outdoorswoman.








*All the information was gleaned through the Whitehorse Star as well as the 2013 Yukon Quest Race Annual. All pictures were found through google images.


  As for Marcel. Thankfully, we've been able to communicate through our iphones- not texting- (his phone doesn't work out of Whitehorse)- but through internet messaging. When he has a moment he'll write me a little note-- "got three hours of sleep last night", "in Braeburn", "had cabbage soup today", "thanks for being my #1 Twitter fan"... etc. etc.
  This afternoon I was very excited to head to the Star and pick up the newspaper because I was very curious as to what his days on the trail have been like and what kind of writing he was doing on so little sleep. I was suprised to read five articles by him on pages 2-4 with some great photos by the Star photographer. I wish all the articles were online so I could post links to them all, but you have to pay for an online subscription to see all of them. I'm not usually such a proud, bragging wife, but I just can't believe how well written these last five articles have been, especially considering the amount of sleep he has had. Marcel has a gift of stringing together all the details, quotes, and information into well-documented stories that fans back home can visualize. Praise the Lord for this gift; I'm glad that God has also blessed him with opportunities like this to hone and develop it.
  And finally, if I have to be away from him for two weeks (I know, not that long, but still...) then to be able to pick up the newspaper every day and read about what he has been able to experience is a nice trade-off :)  

And they're off! Yukon Quest 2013 Begins!

 Well, they are off! It was an incredible experience to watch twenty-six teams of mushers and their dogs jolt out of the starting chute of the 2013 Yukon Quest here in Whitehorse! Seeing it all first-hand just gets my heart pumping and my eyes wide open to catch all the action! I especially enjoyed having the inside scoop on some of the history and personalities of the Questers due to all the pre-Quest action here in Whitehorse. Every day this past week there have been presentations and vignettes (videos played) at The Old Firehall. There is also an excellent YQ exhibit at the MacBride Museum that I recalled facts from, plus the Musher’s Banquet on Thursday was entertaining and informative, and I had the opportunity to read the YQ supplement that Marcel and his coworkers created for this past Friday’s newspaper which have all contributed to the anticipation of this morning’s big start!

  There is so much to say! Last Saturday, Marcel and I went out to Annie Lake so that he could cover a thirty mile dog sled race. It was a frigid -25 degrees and so we bundled right up and brought a thermos of hot chocolate on the 1 hour drive. As soon as we arrived, we could hear where all the action was by the barking of the dogs, raring to head out on the trail! This event included dog sledding and skijoring (skiing assisted by dog(s)). We entered the rustic cabin of the Annie Lake Community Center which was full of excited outdoorsmen and women. The smell of fresh baked goods and warm soup filled our nostrils and the buzz of English as well as many European languages hummed above the wooden picnic tables. After talking to the race marshal, we learned that about 15 km down the road there was a spot where the dogs crossed the road and headed towards Annie Lake to do a loop and then head back to the finish line at the community center so we got back in our warm vehicle and booted it up the road. We passed more snowmobiles on the way to the photo-spot than cars!

  A couple of volunteer firewomen were doing jumpjacks and strange dance-moves to try to keep themselves warm when we arrived at the location. They had an oldschool ambulance running and took turns taking breaks inside it all day while making sure the road was clear for the mushers. Marcel and I hiked out down the trail through the snow to try and position ourselves for some good rustic shots. We could hear the firewomen shouting and then we knew a sled was on its way. We quickly took off our mittens and got out our cameras ready for the shot. It was actually not that stressful, but pretty peaceful to watch the sleds come up over the road and then turn towards the lake for the halfway point of the race. The skijorers were my favourite… they were breathing hard as they skate skied down the trail and the moisture from their breath created little icicles on the hair popping out of their tuques or on their beards. Here are some photos of the event:  

Its a dog's world out here.

Marcel interviewing a racer. Check out the cool dog trucks and sleds!

Marcel in action photographing the teams as they mush by!

 

  One problem Marcel faced while out photographing the event was that his glasses would fog up if he covered his nose with his scarf so he just endured the cold so he could see and get a good snapshot of the event. However, later that day his nose started tingling and it didn’t stop for three days. He also developed a white spot on his nose that later turned brown and then began to peel. Frostnip is our diagnosis… just a taste of frostbite. He has been putting polysporin on it (when in doubt – put on the poly!) and it is looking a lot better now, but at least he’s learned to take his contacts on the Quest! Don’t worry Mom VW- he also bought a much warmer face mask!

  Thursday night we attended the Yukon Quest Musher’s Start Banquet. There is one at the end in Fairbanks as well. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to go with Marcel. At first, I didn’t even know what to wear to the banquet! Coworkers of Marcel told me to wear Carharts and boots. I ended up wearing leggings and a nice long tunic shirt with a scarf (not a winter scarf, a fashion silk scarf) and I was way overdressed. I should’ve gone with the Sorels, jeans, a fleece sweater, and maybe a Speelman’s tuque. J The food was delicious, there were a number of speeches, a lot of thank yous to sponsors, the Sourdough CanCan Dancers performed (there is a great photo at the Whitehorse Star website), and of course the Musher Start Draw Ceremony!

The Sourdough CanCan Dancers

  The Start Draw Ceremony was my favourite part because after each musher was called forward to draw their start number out of a colourful Sorel boot, they had an opportunity to speak. During their short speech, the crowd was able to get to know them, see their face, and then look  in the Race Annual to see what they wrote as their goals and reasons for racing were. I thought I would be able to come out of the banquet with a clear favourite, but there are just too many to favourite! There are 26 mushers total, four are from the Yukon and there are six women racing.  Here are some race start photos:

I think all of Whitehorse came out to line the chute from Shipyards Park to the Yukon River. There was excitement in the air!

Volunteers hold back the dogs as their musher speaks to each one and rubs them down before heading out on the trail. Some of these dogs were leaping out of the starting chute!

Marcel blowing a bubble, chilling beside Canada's first ever winner of the Yukon Quest Race, Frank Turner. He now runs tour groups to dogsled and camp out in places to watch the racers pass by during this epic week. (not the best shot of Frank- he is a really great guy- and a goldmine for Yukon Quest quotes for Marcel)

After the race is over, Marcel poses with Echo and Pixie- two of the Yukon Quest official staff that he is headed on the trail with.  

Photographers line the chute to try and get epic shots as the dogs are released from the starting line.

I see this guy in Tim Hortons all the time and I've always wanted a picture of his amazing hat! Today was my lucky day. His name is Julian and he has just about the best hat I've ever seen!

 

 

 

  If you would like to follow the mushers on their route there is live tracking on the Yukon Quest website. Click here: http://www.yukonquest.com/site/live-tracking/. The mushers are already well on their way and expect to make it to Dawson City on around Tuesday. Marcel texted me last night and he slept in the car for a bit, but then his photographer's snores became too loud so he went back to a table and began typing away again. Today, I imagine they are on their way from Braeburn to McCabe Creek and then Pelly Crossing.

  Over the next few days I'll try and give a picture of who some of the mushers are and why you should be cheering for them!

 



 

Quilting... in pieces

 So my friend Kathleen and I had this dream about sewing a quilt! Then, we talked to some ladies in our church and women at the local quilting store and realized how big and expensive of an undertaking that is! So, we came up with a compromise: placemats.
 We booked one night together just to head to the quilting store and pick out fabric and its a good thing we decided to make that an event in itself- because it was. There were so many choices of beautiful fabric to sort through! We each had to choose four different pieces of fabric for our placemat design. We were at the store far beyond closing, but the quilters running the shop were pretty patient with us and helped us coordinate some of our fabric choices too!
  Fortunately, we found an experienced quilter to kind of "grandmother us" and lead us in this new unknown world of sewing. Our first lesson was last Saturday and we spent our time cutting the fabric and then creating one placemat top. I didn't realize how important paying attention to details was in the world of quilting. We were taught how to measure and cut our pieces (after a brief ironing lesson of course- its always important to iron your fabric first!). To me, that alone was an accomplishment. But then, we went further and pieced together our first top- pinning our right sides together and then sewing them with a 1/4 inch seam. We were even taught some special tricks about getting our "corners" just right! I'm learning to appreciate how much work goes into creating even a simple square quilt.

 Here are some pictures from our morning together:

Joyce showing Kathleen how to "piece" it together

 All the pieces laying tg pre-sew.

My perfect corner! So proud! Thanks for the tips Joyce!

The Quilting Queen and I.

 

 

  Now Kathleen and I are hoping to get her uncle's sewing machine working so we can finish the other three placemat tops with the help of my mom when she visits! I'm happy to be learning so much and creating new friendships at the same time! 

Proud of my husband!

 This week Marcel received a letter at work that was later published in the "Opinion" section of the paper. It was about an article he wrote about the Pistenbully, a huge grooming machine that heads out early each morning to set the tracks for the hundreds of ski-enthusiasts of the North. He actually went out to the ski club one morning and experienced riding in the newly purchased machine to give himself a bit more background knowledge on the praised piece of equipment. It seemed to make a difference in his writing.

Below is a link to the article:

http://www.whitehorsestar.com/archive/story/the-pistenbully-seeking-the-perfect-trail

And what follows is one person's response to Marcel's way with words:

January 24, 2013

 Letter to the Editor of Whitehorse Star,

I wish to applaud your writer Marcel  Vanderwier for his dedication to true journalism that shines out in his story ‘PistenBully: seeking the perfect trail.  To call Vanderwier a sportswriter does not do justice to his skills. Rather than simply doing an interview Vanderwier went with his subject in the middle of the night to get the feel and to capture the magic of Jan Polivka’s job. He succeeded in spades!

Operating a PistenBully is an art. If there is just one zig or zag  you can guarantee that I, or dozens of others in the 1,300 member Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club will complain vehemently.

Decades ago, before we had a PistenBully to groom our trails I spent days skiing in the High Tatras, on the border between Slovakia and Poland. It was terrifyingly steep but I quickly learned that the trails were groomed by a skilled PB operator and if I just steeled my nerves I could stay in the track. It was exhilarating and explained why Olympic athletes from Europe trained there.

Since Whitehorse got a PB in the early 1990’s we too have world-class track setting that can be trusted at high speeds. I’ve taken novice skiers out who were stunned that with a few technique tips they could zoom down touring-trail hills.

Thank you Marcel Vanderwier for beautiful journalism! Your writing took me out amidst the boreal forest in the middle of the night and I felt the purr of the PB as Jan Polivka worked in solitude to create fantastic skiing for all.

 R. Livingstone

 

 I think R Livingstone has a pretty good way with words as well! It's nice to hear that the public recognizes Marcel's writing skills and for him to hear some positive feedback- what a great way to start the New Year! Way to go, Marcel!!

 

Back in the wild city of Whitehorse

   My first weekend back., Marcel and I went for a beautiful drive to take some pictures of a hockey team playing on a lake. We drove to Emerald Lake, which is near Carcross (orginally called Caribou Crossing for obvious reasons) west of Whitehorse. The mountains are more prominent there and the lake was surrounded by white-caps. It was a sunny day and we listened to Vinyl Cafe (stories of Dave and Morely- classic Canadian literature) on CBC during the drive. I tried out the moccassins I made in a university Outdoor Ed course that don't work so well in the slushy weather of the south. Here they are like a warm house for my feet without the weight of heavy snowboots. I'm going for more walks lately just to feel the snow under my toes. We have also been skiing many times since we've been back since the weather has been so mild (in the teens, rather than -20s or -30s.).

 

   Marcel has also been thrown into the world of The Quest since we've been back. He has to write up a 24 page supplement for it which is pretty much a whole newspaper on its own. So on top of his regular sports writing, he spends his nights reading old supplements of bygone Quests and coming up with story ideas (some of which he can hand out to his coworkers for help). It is only two weeks until he leaves and he has also received some great advice in an email from the past sports reporter... one thing mentioned is to buy "dozens of handwarmers- the ones that you crack and they heat up. Use them in your boots, in your mitts, in your jacket-- they are even great to put in your camera bag to prevent your battery from dying". We were also told to get him a warm sleeping bag. He has to book a hotel room for his stay in Dawson and in Fairbanks, but other than that I think he is supposed to get sleep whenever possible wherever possible.

My heart: Living in two places

 It has been a little more than two weeks since I've been back in Whitehorse from my Christmas Break in Ontario. It was incredible to be home with my family and friends. I made forts with my nephew, taught a niece to crochet, enjoyed many quality dinners, had a brunch of crepes with friends, sewed a shirt during craft time with my mom, celebrated with our church families the birth of JC and the hope of His coming again, and was just filled with love from my family. I came home exhausted but filled with great memories and happy feelings.
  Then the post-Christmas homesickness hit. It does every year. It is strange to be so close to everything familiar and then in a 9 hour flight be so far away from it all. I've learned to purposely kind of distance myself from my family and Ontario friends for at least a week after flying back. I force myself to immerse into all things Whitehorse in an effort to find the joy and blessing of being here and pull my attention away from the longing for home that clings to my heart.
  I miss holding little Evelyn and smelling the new baby scent of Emily Debra. I'm sad that I can't meet Ryker Kiers and the latest VW (Doug and Barb's) until he/she is grown out of his/her newborn onesies (still waiting for his/her arrival!). I'm glad I could teach almost 2-year old Paul to say "Oh Ya!" instead of always "Oh No!" but I wonder if it has stuck. Coffees with my Mom were cherished as was the time we could spend being creative together in her studio. All my nieces and nephews are growing up so fast on the VW side and every time we leave I wonder if the next time we come back they'll be too "cool" to chat with their aunt amy and uncle mar- or if the younger ones will remember us as we fly in and out of their lives. My brother is moving back to Toronto and I'd love to be able to help with the move and see how they make their new house a home. I'd love to be able to attend the canoe trip meetings my mom is intiating again for the second annual women's trip in Algonquin this summer. Dancing with my cousins at Amanda and Tim's wedding was a blast and I miss those relationships even though I know for those who are in Ontario- the occurrence of seeing each other has also become rare.
  Its hard to live in two places. My heart still longs for the people of southern Ontario, although less and less for the traffic, pace, and pressure of living in one of the most populated areas of the country. It has been good to be back in Whitehorse. Now that I've spent some time here again and have been able to teach, ski, affirm some new friendships, and be blown away by the beauty of this place my homesick heart has been calmed. And through prayer and Scripture I have found some peace that God is here, that He is watching over my coming and going, that He has plans to give us a hope and future, and I will grow closer to Him here.
  I'm praying that I can find my "place" here. Teaching has been good, but it isn't as fulfilling as having your own class, especially in a Christian setting where I was able to really speak the gospel into all areas of the curriculum. Teaching doesn't feel as much like a calling here as a day job. I can still teach with compassion and love for the students I interact with each day and I can affirm their worth as well as guide them in discernment and critical thinking skills, but I miss the relationships I was able to develop wtih my students in my own classroom. There are definitely advantages to the substitute life though and I am making the most of the free time I have. The temperatures have been mild and I've been skiing as much as possible and exploring other hobbies at the same time.
  However, recently I've become convicted by some vereses in Jeremiah 29 to live where I am and to invest in the city of Whitehorse. The verses  (4-7) are made up of a letter that Jeremiah gave to the people of Israel when they were in exile in Babylon. They say to "build houses and settle down: plant gardens and eat what they produce... seek the peace and prosperity of the city ... and pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper". This doesn't mean we are going to be buying a house here any time soon, but I think it does mean a bit of a perspective-shift for me during our time here. I could easily spend my time here working and then during my off-time enjoying the many benefits of living in such a wild beautiful place. The truth is, I have an opportunity to pray for this city and to invest in it, not just for my own benefit, but for the benefit of others. I'm not sure what this exactly means for me, but it is something that is on my heart and that I believe I need to be open to as I search for my purpose here in Whitehorse.