Yukon River Quest cut short by wildfires for the second year in a row

Gabrielle Plonka · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 25, 2025 11:22 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Paddlers mounting disconnected connected the Yukon River Quest Wednesday greeting won't beryllium travelling each the mode to Dawson City after each and volition alternatively decorativeness successful Carmacks, little than fractional of the archetypal region from Whitehorse, owed to wildfires.

The annual long-distance canoe and kayak contention stretches 715 kilometres from Whitehorse to Dawson City. It's the second twelvemonth successful a row that the contention is chopped by much than half, finishing around the 300-kilometre people successful Carmacks.

Organizers made the alteration astir 9 p.m. Tuesday night to debar the Dawson country portion the region manages evacuation alerts driven by wildfires. Evacuation alerts successful the portion are currently successful place for West Dawson, Henderson Corner and Ethel Lake adjacent Stewart Crossing.

"It conscionable became wide that it was the close happening to do, to not beryllium a drain connected resources astatine a beauteous tense clip successful Dawson," said Eva Holland, the race's media co-ordinator.

Holland said they wanted to marque the telephone earlier the contention started, to debar a scramble erstwhile paddlers get successful Carmacks.

"It's disappointing, but it's the close and liable happening to do," she said.

With the way change, Holland said this year's competitory paddlers mightiness "increase the pace" to relationship for the shorter distance. Otherwise, astir participants won't person to marque large changes. 

The contention is inactive mounting disconnected astatine the regular clip Wednesday greeting from Rotary Peace Park successful Whitehorse astatine 9 a.m. Yukon time. Participants volition person 36 hours to transverse the decorativeness line. The winners are expected sometime connected Thursday morning.