Nunavut Quest a go in spring 2022

A 500-kilometre dogsled race in north Baffin Island is scheduled to take place in April for the first time since 2019, says one of the event’s organizers.

The Nunavut Quest is planned to begin in Arctic Bay on April 18 and end in Igloolik on April 25, said Crystal Natanine, a member of the Nunavut Quest Committee.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Natanine said in an interview. “Everyone’s looking forward to it.”

The Nunavut Quest has been cancelled two years in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, organizers cancelled the competition just days before it kicked off due to an outbreak in the territory.

This year, Natanine said the competition is still dependent on the pandemic, but that the committee is coming up with alternative plans in the event that the territory has more public health restrictions come race time.

For example, if there is a COVID-19 outbreak in Igloolik and the Government of Nunavut changes public health restrictions so that they affect mushers and their families, the race may need to happen between Arctic Bay and another community.

There won’t be any spectators this year, said Natanine, who has been with the committee since 2017. Only two snowmobiles are allowed to follow each musher, and must be a helper or a close family member.

The deadline for mushers to apply is April 5, and Natanine said the committee has yet to receive any applications. There are no restrictions on how many mushers can join the race, but they have to be an Inuit beneficiary, she said.

The first-place finisher will take home $20,000, second place $15,000, third place $10,000, fourth place $5,000, fifth place $4,000, sixth place $3,000, and seventh place $2,000.

In April 2021, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association announced it would give the Nunavut Quest $100,000 for each annual race for the next seven years.

The money came from the federal government after it apologized to Qikiqtani Inuit for colonial practices between 1950 and 1975, including the killing of qimmiit, or sled dogs.