Ontario's Jesse Terry is currently in first place. He arrived at the La Ronge checkpoint just before 6 a.m. (Facebook/Canadian Challenge Dog Sled Race)

By Derek Cornet

winter sports

Mushers endure extreme cold while competing in Canadian Challenge

Feb 23, 2022 | 5:00 PM

Two out of 10 teams, including La Ronge’s Ragnar Robinson, have dropped out of the Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race 200-mile main event.

The first to scratch from the race was Quebec’s Guillaume Lizotte followed not too long later by Robinson. Both mushers made it to the 969 wilderness camp checkpoint, but were unable to complete the 54 miles to La Ronge.

Canadian Challenge secretary Tanja Tabel believes both mushers had issues with dogs not wanting to lead.

“If you don’t have leaders, then you don’t actually go anywhere,” Tabel said. “Basically, they both bedded down, rested and gave them warm food and water and then tried again, probably multiple times and the dogs really were not interested in going forward. The dogs themselves were fine. None of them were heavily injured or none of that. Often it is more of a mental thing than a physical thing.”

Having left Elk Ridge yesterday at noon, mushers faced increasingly bitter temperatures as the sun set. Mushers arrived in La Ronge for a mandatory eight-hour stop between 6 and 8 a.m. this morning. At that time, Environment Canada recorded a temperature of -39 C without the wind.

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Ontario’s Jesse Terry was the first to arrive in La Ronge just before 6 a.m., followed by New Brunswick’s Katherine Langlais about half an hour later. Saskatchewan’s Anna Bolvin and Ontario’s Rhonda Heerschap arrived next at 7:12 a.m. only seconds apart.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, most teams are headed for Missinipe with Terry still first and Langlais in second. The 50-mile stretch to Missinipe is expected to take five hours and mushers will need to stop there for a mandatory five-hour rest. Environment Canada is forecasting a low of -33 C tonight and Tabel expects the winning team to arrive some time early tomorrow morning.

“I would say generally there was very few concerns,” Tabel said of the cold weather. “Obviously, the dogs are handling it just fine. It could be more challenging for the people avoiding frostbite and that.”

Tomorrow starting at 1 p.m. the public is invited to the start of the eight-dog, 100-mile race in La Ronge’s Patterson Park. Dog teams will be leaving the park every two minutes starting at that time.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno