Iqaluit’s Crowley leads pack of daredevil dogsledders

Braving a blizzard and the brutal but beautiful terrain of the Meta Incognita Peninsula, three teams of mushers pulled into Iqaluit Monday at the end of the inaugural Qimualaniq Quest sled race.

Paul Crowley of Iqaluit was the winner, with a combined time over the race's two legs of 27 hours and 58 minutes. Matty McNair and Amy Elgersma finished second at 38 hours, 22 minutes, and Siu-Ling Han placed third with a time of 47 hours and 43 minutes.

Jean-Sébastien Tougas and Martine Dupont had to turn back to Iqaluit on the race's first day when they ran into bad weather.

It's the second race for Crowley, who participated in the Nunavut Quest a few years back from Pond Inlet to Hall Beach. There's no magic formula for racing well, he said.

"You run your dogs a lot, feed them well and that's about it," he said.

Han didn't appear bothered by finishing third of three racers. After a feed of caribou stew in Kimmirut, she said the view coming onto the Soper Valley was breathtaking, although having to make two trips up the plateau-leaving one load of stuff at the top and going back down for a second trip-was not so much fun.

So why do it?

"I guess just for the sake of participating and showing some community spirit," she said.

Along the route, mushers stopped at cabins in Katannilik Territorial park that normally serve as unheated, bare-bones emergency shelters. Still wearing a frost-caked mask and goggles after completing the trek, Elgersma said the cabins served their purpose just fine, as long as you're not too excited, or cold, from a day of racing.

"You can get a lot of sleep," she said. "But I didn't."

Billed as an attempt to spark renewed interest in sled dog racing, the quest failed to attract a single Inuk racer, though several Inuit were helping out as guides along the trail. Iqaluit's Meeka Mike travelled with Han, and several Canadian Rangers from Kimmirut also worked along the course as support staff.

Mike said the cost of flying to and from Iqaluit, plus the fact that many would-be racers also work as guides for the annual polar bear sport hunt that is going on now, may have kept some Inuit out of the Qimualaniq Quest.

"I can see how they'd have to weigh sport hunting against a race," she said.

Kitty Barrieau, a member of Kimmirut's tourism committee, said it would have been nice to have some local racers and hopes more Inuit will join in future quests.

"I hope one day one of my kids will be able to race," she said.

Pascal Baillargeon, who for 14 years has taught science, shop and "whatever needs to be taught" at Kimmirut's K-12 Qaqqalik School, said for young Kimmirummiut, the Qimualaniq Quest turns dog team racing from something abstract into "something real."

"This is something worth doing now and not just something to talk about."

And then there's the economic impact for Kimmirut. Erin Gorley, the hamlet's economic development officer, said tourism and the traditional economy help bring money to the non-decentralized community. It was also a chance to do a dry run for a local program that sees tourists billeted with local families.

"With 15 or 16 people here (for the Quest) it's not a huge influx but it does give us experience for our home stay program," she said.

When the community's freezer broke down a day before the race, with dozens of visitors coming and a feast for a hundred guests planned, Gorley said the entire community pitched in to get ready.

Daniel Cuerrier, executive director of the Association des Francophones du Nunavut, credited the people of Kimmirut for looking after the racers and a plane-load of reporters and spectators who flew in to the community.

When that plane's departure was delayed a day by bad weather in Iqaluit, Qaqqalik School opened the doors of its home economics classroom to become a communal kitchen for the storm-stranded visitors.

As for the race itself, Cuerrier said it was not an unqualified success, but went well for a first time event. He said the organizing committee will meet this fall to start planning the next one, rather than in January.

"Things can be done differently, things can be done better, but at least we made it happen."