Bye Bye Yellowknife

To the community of Yellowknife, I must say what a great city you have that has the heart of a small caring town. Everyone says “hello” or gives you a “nod” when you enter a restaurant or pub. How much more welcoming is that?

Thanks for the support to the racers and media throughout the week. I heard that on the race course there was free pizza and water being handed out by a local that decided to set up their own aid station.

Thanks to the downtown liquor store where I found bottles of Napa red wine I can’t find in my hometown of Toronto.

One day I will came back in the summer and really see this city at it’s fullest and catch a giant pike with Ragnar at his fishing lodge. Mind you, seeing unspoiled snow covered lakes in the winter is magic to the eyes.

The winners of the various divisions in the Rock and Ice Ultra are off today by airplane to pick up their first place prizes, EKATI diamonds from the actual mine site located 300 KM from Yellowknife.

Tonight they officially get to celebrate!

The real UBER athletes of the Rock and Ice Ultra…

I touched a bit about the logistics of this race in prior blogs but now is the time to give honor and respect to the Race Crew of the Rock and Ice Ultra.

Race Director Scott Smith has three right hands that look after the race when he is off breaking trail. Ken Brophy, Jeff Baxter and Elaine and all the other volunteers make this race happen in a supportive and safe way for all the athletes that participate.

Here’s the out of the ordinary work they all do….

Insure the trails for the day’s stage are marked and packed down to the best of their ability for the athletes.

Build aid stations and stage camps in the middle of no where in minus 20 weather

Take personal holidays to be part of this race crew.

Love the fact Yellowknife women dig them because they smell of gas when they get off their snowmobiles.

Work 13 hour days eating powder soup, tin foil dinners for 6 days straight, packing sleds every morning in minus 28 C weather and you never hear a peep of negativity.

Love the fact the athletes were slammed on day 1 of the race by at blizzard and bone chilling wind chill to show them what the true meaning of what the NWT is about and why they teach a survival course prior to race day.

YET!!!!

This is the same race crew that will build a fire on the race course or offer their own parkas to warm up athletes on the race route, feed athletes when they have run out of food and drive at 2 KMH at 11 PM in a minus 37 C temperature lighting up the path for an athlete to find the finish line of the stage.

Perhaps the best story to summarize the organizer and crew of this race was told to me by the Race Director Scott Smith. Scott and two others were escorting the last athlete into the stage that very late evening or should I say around midnight. Scott mentions he had to stop his snowmobile and run around it to warm up even though he had heat packs plastered all over his body. The athlete stops, looks at them, speak but they can barely hear her because of the ice that had formed on her face mask to keep the bitter cold away. Once Scott had chipped away the ice he thought the athlete was going to call it quits. Instead in a very tiny voice the words “Aurora” came out and the right arm pointed skyward. The athlete wanted them to see the northern lights as they danced across the sky that clear night. They all laughed, smiled and carried on.

I hate SLOW Wireless connections because...

I can't share photos with you...

So I was going to show some very very very nasty blisters on a pair of feet, our number 1 photographer taking a close up picture of them of course! To show the previous night athlete dinner, the crazy spanish athlete and his portion sizes and how the Europeans chill after a race, count 12 plus Molson Canadian Beer Cans and one napping athlete.

Perhaps to save embarassment for the athletes, this might be the better way?

hm

Coming into the finish!

The winner and the media circus including the runner up.

Race is over BUT blogs continue until Friday

Hi all, the 2009 Rock and Ice Ultra is over. On a sunny day with a bitterly cold wind chill the battle between RN 420 Phil Villeneuve and 419 Micheal Argue came to an end with Micheal winning the final stage by 2 minutes. At one point in this stage Phil had a 50 M lead but Micheal closed the gap once they left the hills.

In the open area, Micheal unleashed his international level sprint speed that Phil couldn't match. This by far was the most competitive division of the Rock and Ice Ultra.

More blogs will be released about the race and all it's other elements today and tomorrow.

Official race results can be found at www.sleepmonsters.com

hm

Day 5 Finish, start of Day 6

Hi all, a photo of the finish between the two man gladiator race of RN 420 Phil Villeneuve and 419 Micheal Argue .

The race is on as I write this to you. Phil and Micheal for the sixth day in a row assume the lead position at the start line. I did have a chance to speak to them yesterday.

Phil is suffering from swollen feet and a bit of frost bite on the left side of his face. Overall he feels strong and believes he needs an extra gear today to overcome his 32 second deficit to Micheal.

Micheal has no feet issues and is ready for the final push. He is training full time to make the Canadian National Team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. He is originally from Yellowknife.

Out of the two, Phil is a bit more relaxed with Micheal being focused for the task at hand.

hm

This picture says it all about the Day 5 Blog.

A bit of everything!

Day 5, we are all together, one incredible day to go!

No photo today gang, we are located at http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=62.4664,-114.9762&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1, Trout Lake Lodge for today’s finish of the stage. I have internet access but it’s dreadfully slow so I am limited in sharing today’s action with you.

From our perspective it was a wonderful day in the NWT full of sunshine and minimal wind. The main issue we heard from the athletes was the changing conditions of the snow. They would be racing in powder and then find hard packed snow.

From the start of the stage, the cat and mouse game between RN 420 Phil Villeneuve and 419 Micheal Argue continued with Argue opening a 33 second lead with one kilometer to go in the stage. The final stage will be very exciting and we are planning to be at the spot where we anticipate the battle for the EKATI diamond will begin.

Athletes and media are all in the same camp today totally isolated from the world.. It’s our first chance to be around the athletes. We were driven here by the owner of the Lodge, Ragnar Wesstrom in his Swedish military built Hagglunds. They are crazy fun, nothing can stop these vehicles, deep snow, trees, hills, we move forward. These are the same vehicles they use to monitor the ice depth in the highway used in Ice Truck Driver Highway TV series. Other than these vehicles, snowmobiles and Float plane are the only way you can reach this Fishing & Hunting Lodge (www.enodah.com) that specializes in prize catches. For the non racers, like me and the other cats, the lodge has a bar and it’s open!

The final athletes finished by mid afternoon so this was a great opportunity for me to observe and ask reader questions. Here are their comments……

“ I feel loose, warm and the race comes down to tomorrow”

“let’s get this over”

“hard packed last 5 K, time to fly”

“I use the other races to motivate myself”

“Viva Italia, Viva Spain”

“Oh my god, that beer felt good (yes, from a racer!)”

“I need to fix my pulk”

“The difference between possible and impossible is in the mind”

“I’m pretty pleased and I can’t wait for a bath!”

“We are sad the race is over because we have been happy every day”

“If the Irish can win the Grand Slam of Rugby, I can finish this race”

“I am looking forward to KFC and a dirty bucket of bert”

We are all in one warm crowded lodge room, gear is everywhere drying out, the room smells like sweat and then gas as the race crew shows up. The Europeans are talking a combo of Spanish and French, the Canadians are trying to figure out which pulk works the best and wait I smell a whiff of A-535. Some nap but the brits are enjoying Canadian beer and showing off their blisters, Yeck! There is a public computer and the athletes line up one by one to update their blogs. Lunch is Moose stew and dinner is pasta with caribou meat sauce, welcome to the Northwest Territories.

This room is the perfect setting to start thinking about a great athletic blog to finish this epic event.

Another reason to love Canada...

When your house is on an island in Great Slave Lake in the summer, you can drive right up to it in the winter.

Day 4, Last race of the Ultra, but stories abound!

For the diehards that have been following the Diamond race, everyone is following the cat and mouse game between RN 420 Phil Villeneuve and 419 Micheal Argue. These two national level athletes who are also friends in the x-country ski division have been shadowing each other since day 1 like lions looking for dinner. Waiting for a hint when the other will break and then pounce. Phil informed me he has an unusual bit of swelling in his feet but being a true sportsman he didn’t take advantage of a very late opportunity in yesterday’s stage when his competitor broke his pole with less than a kilometer to the finish line.

The crazy brits, 402 and 404 continue to enjoy their first ultra race or should I continue to repeat, their daily first marathon or the first time they have ever been on cross country skis ever race. Their feet are quite blistered but they continue to laugh and carry on.

It’s hard to talk to all the athletes because they don’t come out of their warm quarters until just before the race start. I don’t even dare to enter their inner sanctum in the mornings.

After watching the wind burned, very stiff but ready for the day’s challenge Diamond athletes leave Matrix village I bumped into RN 002 Martin Parnell who won the Cold Foot Classic Solo Foot / Snowshoe single day race. He gave me an idea of how brutal the weather conditions were that day. He ran his first 30 K in 3 hours and 50 minutes, the final 15 K took him 3 hours and 15 minutes. This was the result of a cold snowy head wind that resulted in whiteouts and numbing wind chills. Ugh! Martin was at Matrix headquarters to be awarded his 1st trophy by volunteer extrodinaire, Elaine.

Another fascinating unbelievable story involves the Japanese and Korean athletes, RN 427 Miho, 236 Yukako and 414 Jesse. Rumor has it which is great about blog writing since I’m not a real reporter, I’m smiling, can write about chatter, when they showed up prior to the start of the race some of their gear still had the price tags and plastic attached. They have this wonderful non rush attitude which is confirmed when you check out their respective race results at www.sleepmonsters.com . Even at today’s race start time of 9:00 AM this threesome didn’t even start their race until 9:28 AM but still had time to pose for my camera. Say Sushi, which I did have for dinner tonight from Sushi North.

As a race sidebar, last night the media and the race crew enjoyed evening beverages at the Black Knight Pub, being a true gentlemen, Race director Scott Smith politely excused himself to brush his teeth in the bar before joining our table. If you ever meet Scott he is a gentle giant, massive in size yet genuine and grounded with emotion.

Day 4, one race left but

Hi gang, as day 4 of the Diamond race begins we find some great stories as we start pondering the finish line which is only 2 days away.

From the cat and mouse game of the lead cross country skiers, the behind the scene race crew, the Japanese and Korean athletes, the international media team and the love of the locals.

Stay tuned!

Spring?

So, I have been talking a fair bit about the weather, I've had e-mails about how much snow there really is, here's the evidence from my hotel room and main street YellowKnife.

I hope where you are, you are enjoying Spring time!

hm

Day 3, two races finish, one more to go…

Today marks the end for the 3 day Ultra racers and the half way point for the 6 day Diamond racers.

The weather today is somewhere in the mid to low teens! Cloudy, light wind and we had another inch of snow overnight.

The day starts by meeting RN 406, a female Italian Diamond racer that dropped out of the race on day 2 because of severe knee pain. She weighs 49 KG and the ski pulk she was pulling weighed 20 KG which set off the knee pain. On a tech side, she didn’t like the pulk she was using because it didn’t track straight and kept pulling her from side to side. Her next race in May is a 6 day ultra run in Africa.

The media team grows as we welcome on board RN 406 and 415 for their expert knowledge as we travel the course. Unfortunately both athletes dropped out of the race due to medical reasons.

Sadly I meet RN 225 on the course while she is on the back a snowmobile. You will re-call RN 225 was the five star chef of peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches for her partner. Due to the wet brutally cold feet she abandoned the race. She later learned her partner also was forced to leave the course due to sickness. In her ever positive way she told me a touching story about the volunteer that gave her smokey peanuts in the 2008 race and met them again at the same point in the race this year and had in his hands for them, smokey peanuts!

From our vantage point on the Ice Highway, we see the athletes heading toward the finish line focused but with a tiny smile because this is the first time in three days they have full traction under their feet. From our moving warm media van these cold weather extreme athletes tell us:

“I’m doing as good as possible after 130 K but I’m a bit of whiner” This self called whiner ends up winning the Ultra Snowshoe Male Division.

“I might sound like a bit of a southerner but how cool is it to be running on an ice road”

“Hard day one day, tailwind today”

“Does anyone speak Spanish?”

“All I need today is one layer” I have spoken to RN 424 before, a male diamond racer and I have come to the conclusion he is a human furnace.

A very touching moment at the finish line, RN 204 Sara Montgomery who wins the Female Snowshoe Division runs straight into the arms of her husband Derek Spafford who had to drop out of the Diamond race due to sickness. The first words she uttered with tears in her eyes were, “are you okay?”

So you were wondering….

Who’s the sponsor of this extreme event? Bhpbilliton, resourcing the future, a diamond company (bhpbilliton.com) which produced the first diamond mine in Canada. The mine is located 300 miles from YellowKnife and is air only accessible for their employees which numbers 600 – 700 per day. Their work force is made up of approximately 67% northerners and 39% from the aboriginal community. What a perfect sponsor for this Yellowknife based event. They have also signed on for the 2010 race so start training on your cross country skis, snowshoes or running shoes!

How do you move all those orange tents and the gear belonging to the athletes? Well, you do what they call a sling load. You get a giant cargo net, load all the gear bags in the middle of the net and call in a helicopter to fly the “sling load” to the next stage camp. I was very impressed to watch this high level of co-ordination.

So Harold what do you do with your spare time? Well today was the first time the cats were allowed to play so I did something I absolutely wanted to do prior to arriving. I became an ice highway runner because I don’t know how to drive an eighteen wheeler which means I could never call myself an ice highway trucker like the specialty channel show that was filmed in Yellowknife that people from all over the world know about.

Day 2 thank goodness because Day 1 hammered the field!

We returned to the start of stage 2 for the Ultra (3 day) and Diamond (6 day) athletes prior to race start. The athletes were sleeping in orange dome tents with a stove inside to keep them warm. The only complaint I heard was some of them didn’t bring a sleeping pad so they slept on the snow.

To demonstrate toughness, Race Director Scott Smith and one of the official camera photographers, Morten Hilmer from Denmark slept outside with no tent. I heard the temperature on the lake hovered around – 30 C.

I spoke to some of the athletes and volunteers about yesterdays very tough, ugly and brutal stage. Their comments are not pretty:

RN 415 – Took over 9 hours to finish the stage with his wife, didn’t eat enough and had a cold coming on
RN 418 – Why would a man my age (50) do a race like this? He was still questioning himself when I left him
RN 404 – I slipped off my sleeping mat last night and was cold until I realized what happened. Being from England I have never done a marathon or skied before but I chose to do the 6 day Ultra with skiis.
A Volunteer was told by one of the racers, stage 1 was soul destroying.

The French athletes are doing well, they seem to be a hardy bunch with a ton of experience in this climate. The Italians are down to their last athlete due to equipment issues and the weather which is also beating on everyone. Another morning issue is frozen bindings RN 202 and zippers on the equipment bags.

If you check the stats from stage 1 some of the athletes were coming in after 13 hours of racing which would have been the cold night but a great time to see the Auroras. The volunteers insured everyone was cheered to the finish line and taken to a warm tent and given hot fluids.

Positive energy was the theme of the morning. This most likely was the way to forget about stage 1. The best line I heard was from a RN 225 a Yellowknife female athlete who was doing the Ultra race with her boyfriend and said the two of them were enjoying the 3 day tour. Just before heading out to the course, she smiled at her boyfriend and said “ I have a surprise, peanut butter and marmalade sandwiches today!” You should have seen his smile through his wind burned face.

Today’s forecast called for a minus 21 C temperature with sunny skies and light winds and for once they were right. However, not mentioned is that the trails have 4 inches of fresh unbroken snow.

Interesting tidbit from a Yellowknifer, when the temperature is minus 30 C or colder, school kids are permitted to have indoor recess. Wow!

After the athletes left Powder Point we were off to meet them at a road accessible checkpoint. The first athletes to arrive were a pack of 4 men. They were the leaders from stage 1, 2 from the Ultra and 2 from the Diamond that were working together. One of the best parts of an extreme endurance race is all the sugar you get to eat. When they stopped to re-fill their water bottles, all you could see them consume was high calorie energy bars and gels. A later athlete indulged in cut up sausage and cheese.

The only complaint we heard from the athletes was with the changing conditions from yesterday to today was that the skiers kept having to change their wax selection. I was even a pit crew for RN 202 while she ate and drank tea. She had a positive non rush attitude yet she was kicking some young female butt chasing her.

The remainder of the athletes had a united theme of being thankful for the weather conditions of the day and that for day 3 they were headed back to Yellowknife and in past Rock and Ice Ultra races, you have a tailwind to take you back to civilization.

As always a bit of laughter to end this blog, our Media Host Brian Desjardins has pretty well decided this media team I am honoured to be a part of is like “herding a bunch of cats.” Whenever we stop we are like a bunch of caged animals, the doors open, the videographers and photographers dash out looking for the best angles, if there are athletes in the area I’m on my way to get a quote and Brian is just getting out of the van shaking his head. More about this comedy cat team later. A hint, you know when a team has bonded when the Aussie is playing the pull my finger game.

Another Blog...

Hi gang, this was sent to me by one of our readers. The writer of this blog finished tied for first with the friend he mentions for stage 1 of the Diamond Ultra 6 day race.

Rock and Ice Ultra: The Rabbit vs. the Turtle battle
By: Phil Villeneuve (2009/03/16)
Two Canadian cross-country skiers, Phil Villeneuve and Mike Argue, are about to go head to head 6 days from now in the 2009 Rock and Ice Ultra - www.rockandiceultra.com!

What is it? It’s a self supported 225km trek taking place over the course of 6-days in Yellowknife, NWT.

What’s at stake? Mike and I are both competing in the solo category, hoping to take home a 0.7 carat diamond worth over $6,000!

Race Details... The race is a typical ‘stage race’ format where every day is a mass start event, and time is cumulative over the course of the 6 days. Each stage varies in length between 25 and 45km. Participants are required to carry all of their supplies (food, tools, clothes, sleeping material, etc…) in a pulk (sled) which is towed behind them. The track will be packed by snowmobiles but not groomed…

In an effort to put a little more on the line, I thought it would be fun to pump up the dual between Mike and I – hence the attached doc.

Mike Argue still trains competitively as one of Canada’s top development skiers, but more notably, is amongst the fastest men in the sprint event, having won numerous National level sprint events in Canada! Mike’s speed may not be a factor over the 6-day event, but his high level of fitness and regular training habits most certainly will.

Phil Villeneuve on the other hand has been retired since 2001, but has maintained good fitness to focus on long distance Nordic events – His most recent accomplishment includes a 3rd place finish in Canada’s most popular ski event, the 53km Gatineau Loppet in Gatineau, QC. Although Phil’s training habits may not be as honed as Mike’s, his experience in marathon events (such as the TransRockies Run) will undoubtedly help in this test of endurance.

The Rabbit VS the Turtle battle is on... Mix in some cool Arctic weather and we’ve got ourselves a exciting matchup!

The race will be covered by www.sleepmonster.com or you can follow along on my blog at: http://x-cphil.blogspot.com/. Thanks for reading!

Race Day!

For athletes the fun of YellowKnife is over, it’s time to race. Yep, it’s cold again and with the windchill, it’s somewhere in the minus twenties range. I feel fortunate to be bundled up each day with Goose feathers unlike the Ultra athletes who are trying to figure out what gear will work for these harsh conditions event though it’s suppose to be spring!

Today’s blog is 90% about the race and full of words from the racers. Strap on your snowshoes or skiis, do you have your survival gear in your backpack, what about your face cover gear? Do you have enough food, fluids and an extra pair of gloves in your backpack? Move your way to the start line please….

As I work my way around the athlete’s pre-race area, here’s what I notice and hear…racer number (RN) 10 is having her pant legs duct taped to her ankles to prevent snow build up, RN 420 is re-doing the wax on his skiis, the Aussie RN 403 who has raised over 250 K for a hospital in his home by racing all over the world, tells me, it’s mind over matter, so if you don’t mind it, it doesn’t matter! Race Director Scott Smith is very excited! RN 414 love this race and he’s from Japan! RN 203 a female Japanese racer has a whole crew with her cheering her on. RN 424 from Ottawa can’t wait to see 6 days of Yellowknife backcountry, RN 5 let’s kick ass, RN 11 just finish, RN 003 let’s get going, RN 223 Woo Hoo!

Bang goes the gun they are off and are you? Don’t worry Mike from arctic response and his team have you covered just in case (www.arcticresponse.ca)

As media dude I’m off in a helicopter to take photos and to catch up with the athletes. Great for us to fly in the direction of the athletes BUT the athletes will be facing an headwind for 95% of the day today with little relief. Todays’ terrain features some protected forest areas but he majority is crossing frozen exposed lake. Yikes I hate racing in cold windy weather and I don’t have to carry a backpack or pull a ski pulk.

We reach the first major checkpoint, RN 408 I’m hungry! RN 404 from England, a delightful race, I’m a long way from home but it’s better than the tube, Checkpoint Manager Andrea tells me some frost bitten noses are coming by but we have duct tape to fix that! OWWWW! RN 48 from Ireland, no problems with me or my equipment, RN 105 in the relay with bunny ears is pumped to do her part, however within the next 30 minutes of leaving this checkpoint the weather turns and not only do we have a head wind but we also have a snow storm and low visibility added in for fun.

I am now at the finish point of today’s stage at Powder Point, the first person to cross the line is RN 224, competing in the 3 day Ultra race, approximately 5 hours and 50 minutes after the race start and he looks fresh. No wonder why, he trains with the Canadian Nordic Team and he is a local. The first 6 day diamond athlete RN 419 comes in 10 minutes later.

These superstar athletes are concerned that their hydration systems are freezing up, the worst wind they have ever faced and the soft snow they are traveling on.

Big cheers go out to RN 005, Craig Scott a local that has won the single day cold foot race of the Rock and Ice Ultra. He also couldn’t believe the head wind.

Now your thinking has anyone dropped out, yes there have been. Reasons: frostbite, snow blindness, broken equipment and hypothermia.

We leave the stage on finish eight and a half hours after race start and only 25 % of the athletes have finished and it’s starting to get dark.

You can find official results for all the races and stages at: www.sleepmonsters.com and for race information, www.rockandiceultra.com . I will supply the human stories so check back again for the next 6 days. Be an internet Ultra athlete to follow me.

It's Race Day

7:30 AM - Cloudy, red sunrise, anticipated temperature minus 25, mass start coming up, hoping to get some helicopter photos today.

The large tent in photo is Matrix Village where the race start is. You can also see the Snow Castle tourist place in the background. The village and castle are both located on the ice of Great Slave Lake.

Thanks to all that inquired about their friends and family racing. I'll see what I can do to find them.

Tourism Yellowknife almost over, Let’s race!

Your probably by now getting sick of my morning weather report but it gives me comfort to share my pain with you, it’s minus 27 but it looks like the sun is going to be out for the entire day. Looks like another Parka day.

Here’s some quick bits about Yellowknife, since it’s so cold here they rarely salt their roads which means many of the vehicles you see driving around town have no rust no matter the year it was made. Most of the buildings are very bland, either square or rectangular but I have noticed a set of townhouses under construction which look quite modern from the outside. The welcome sign to Yellowknife is very interesting because of the actual airplane frame they have behind it which is the first airplane that landed on the North Pole. There is a beautiful monument to Bush Pilots that lost their lives while flying. It overlooks the entire Yellowknife area from every direction.

We spent a considerable part of our day at the Aurora Village (www.auroravillage.com) where we enjoyed dog sledding, snowmobiling and a 3 story tube ride. We returned later in the night to enjoy the Aurora Borealis show. It was awesome! I will honestly say this was a 5 star experience and the staff were outstanding. I suggest to anyone that visits Yellowknife they make this part of their holiday schedule.

Okay, that’s it about Yellowknife folks and what it has to offer, it’s time to talk about the race.

Participation has grown from 5 in year one to 82 two years later. More numbers means more volunteers and even more airplanes, helicopters and snowmobiles to transport support gear. Race Director Scott Smith has everything under control.

Today was the final warm up day for the athletes and for them to test their gear. Two Ultra athletes from Spain were testing out their harnesses for their ski pulk. You need to be an engineer to understand the rope rigging attaching bamboo sticks to plastic.

Some athletes were still in the city purchasing final pieces of equipment and food.

You could hear the nervous laughter from the Rock and Ice rookies attempting any of the distances during the safety talk provided by the Arctic Response medical crew. So if you break through the ice you need to just hold onto the edge until we come and rescue you and we will! The frostbite photos had everyone re-evaluate their footwear choice since foot problems seem to be the number one cause for an athlete pulling out of the race.

Solidarity among the athletes is forming as final photos were taken. I had the pleasure of being the photographer for a group composed of athletes from Japan, Korea, Spain, Canada and France who were staying in the same quansi hut.

During the final race talk to all the athletes during the pasta dinner, you could see the focus on their faces, a bit of nervous tension and as one aussie said “let’s get this bloody race on, I’m getting antsy.”

If anyone reading this has a specific athlete I can find information about let me know his / her name their race number and e-mail me at hmblogger@gmail.com .

Photo Time!!

Hi all, some shots which work well with yesterday's blog. More to come later today.

Over sized luggage at Edmonton Airport

Kite Skiing on Great Slave Lake

Warren, our video race dude from Nova Scotia

Goodbye Edmonton, Hello Yellowknife!

Hi all, I know blogs are suppose to be short but so much happened today I have to share it “all” with you!

When I checked out of our hotel in Edmonton this morning, so did another twenty plus Rock and Ice athletes that came in overnight. Athletes from France, Italy, Australia, Japan, Korea and Canada already had their “game on” looks. Everyone was checking out each other’s luggage and gear.

The check in at the airport was quite comical as the oversized luggage check in Security Officer was overwhelmed by the athlete’s skis and pulks. This resulted in her having to call for help over the radio.

The flight from YellowKnife to Edmonton was surprisingly short. Within one and a half hours First Air landed us on schedule and fed us brekkie. Perhaps Air Canada should take a lesson or two from this company.

Upon our arrival (temperature -13 C but with the wind feels like -23 C) yes it is still winter here, we met the Race Director Scott Smith and his Media Director Brian Desjardins. We were then shuttled to our home for the race compliments of the Chateau Nova (www.ChateauNova.com) located just off the main street of YellowKnife.

Another comical moment, our shuttle driver was from Australia and was volunteering for the Rock and Ice Ultra. Problem was he has only been in Canada for a week and isn’t used to driving on the right hand side of the road. So, we almost had a head on collision leaving the airport parking lot.

Since the athletes were arriving throughout the day the media couldn’t connect with them. Instead, we were taken to participate in YellowKnife’s non running winter sports. Our host of fun was Greg Robertson (www.bluefishservices.com) who brought out the snowmobiles to ride across Great Slave Lake. Talk about frozen, they estimate the ice pack on the lake is 3 meters thick. No wonder why they have a 8 lane wide road in the middle servicing the small communities around YellowKnife. During the winter months you can reach these locations in 10 minutes. In the summer, add another 35 minutes!

The newest sport of YellowKnife is kite skiing on the lake. Imagine a giant kite pulling you across the lake while you wear a pair of skiis or snowboard. Needless to say some of us were dragged across the snow as a lone husky followed wagging his tail in laughter. Warren practiced the use of his snowboard for his …….

A quick drive through town revealed the number one fashion item is a parka and if you want to be a fashion model any Canada Goose Model.

Dinner was at the Black Knight Pub (www.blacknightpub.com) known as the only Scottish Pub in the North. Unfortunately no local beer is produced in Yellowknife so we had to settle for beer from the western part of Canada. I had one of the most interesting dinner tables and discussions in my life. The table of 7 was composed of a person from Nova Scotia, France, YellowKnife, Ottawa, Australia and Denmark.

This is the beauty of an international event, the participants come from all over the world for a common goal, to compete and then to shake each other’s hands in friendship when it is all over. I heard this great saying recently, you can learn more about a person in a hour during play then a lifetime at workplace. So true!

Friday is athlete day, they register, go through their safety checks and learn about the monster they are about to face. I will be there to watch and then share their emotions with you.

If your a traveller

If you fly alot or just want to enjoy life more with peace, you have to get a set of Noise Cancellation earphones. Not the super expensive Bose ones, a hundred bucks or less and your movies and music will sound great. They eliminate the engine noise in the plane. Trust me you won't believe the silence they bring. Can also be used in your home to avoid partners, wives, hubbies, in-laws......

I'm in Edmonton...

and it's only minus 8, staying at a hotel 3 minutes from the airport but 30 minutes from downtown and the famous West Edmonton Mall.  From what I could see, it's one flat city with tons of snow.

While waiting for the hotel shuttle I met the official videographer of the race, Warren Robertson from Scope Productions.  Young guy who is based in Antogonish, Nova Scotia of all places.  He had a ton of gear including his snow board, I didn't think they had mountains in Nova Scotia but he assured me there is!  A later blog will reveal his plans for the snowboard.

I've been told later this evening there will be athletes arriving. Stay tuned...

On the way...

Good news!  The average temperature according to the Weather Network calls for average temperatures during the race, that means only minus 8 during the day!  The flight is on time for once.  Go Air Canada.

Just over a week to go...

Oh great, the average high in YellowKnife from today until Sunday is - 20 C and the low in the - 30 range, time to go out and buy more under layers!

Getting Ready....

Hello all, get ready to join the fun in a week and a half.  Daily blogs launch March 19, 2009.