Pond Inlet comes out to greet Nunavut Quest mushers
10 dogsled teams cross the finish-line on Monday, Day 7; winner to be announced Wednesday
A crowd in Pond Inlet hoists Owen Jaworenko, a musher from Pond Inlet, into the air to celebrate his completion of Nunavut Quest on Monday. Ten mushers competed in the race, which ran from Arctic Bay to Pond Inlet, a distance of approximately 370 kilometres. (Photo by Shanshan Tian, special to Nunatsiaq News)
The Nunavut Quest crew woke up Monday at Naggutiqaqpaktuup Saanga to a beautiful day with mountains and icebergs in sight.
The last camp along the 370-kilometre route from Arctic Bay to Pond Inlet is strategically placed closer to the finishing community so community members can come out to visit the last camp. The last day’s trail was only 52 kilometres long.
On the last day, the logistics of the race are different from the prior days. The dog teams and mushers are off by a shotgun start instead of the one-minute staggered start they had on earlier days.
The mushers are also the first to leave camp ahead of the snowmobile drivers and support teams, to allow the teams to arrive in town earlier in the day to allow for community members to join in on the celebration at the finish line.
The elder guide, Charlie Inuarak, led the snow machine parade into town. First, the machines and qamutiks approach the town in a straight line, moving closer to shore as a wave across the horizon.
Then, seamlessly, the convoy of 30 snowmobiles merged into one long parade circling the ice in front of the crowd that had gathered.
Mittimatalingmiut — the traditional name for people of Pond Inlet — and visitors to the hamlet of 1,500 residents gathered down on the ice to welcome the race crew with warm embraces and handshakes.
Mushers arrived one by one. As they crossed the finish line and completed the bylaw check, the crowd circled each musher, hoisting the qamutik and musher up into the air to celebrate their completion of Nunavut Quest.
Kids were clapping, jumping, and trying to squeeze into the middle of the crowds.
“This is the best time of the year, even better than Christmas,” said Karla Evaluajuk, Daniel Inuarak’s (#5) partner.
The students from Nasivik High School painted signs for the finish lines, the community hall and dog team parking lot. The community of Pond Inlet was ready to receive visitors from out of town for this big event.
Because mushers had staggered starts on most race days, the first finisher on the last day isn’t necessarily the winner of the race and its $20,000 first prize. The total prize money is $54,500.
First prize goes to the musher whose team had the shortest combined time over the six days of racing.
The winner and official standings will be announced at the closing ceremony for Nunavut Quest on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Pond Inlet Community Hall.
Qikiqtani Inuit Association is expected to go live on its Facebook page for the announcement.
Day 7 order of arrival in Pond Inlet:
- Qiliqti Ivalu (#3)
- David Oyukuluk (#1)
- Tom Naqitarvik (#8)
- Lee Inuarak (#2)
- Nanuraq Uttak (#9)
- Donovan Qaunaq (#4)
- Apak Taqtu (#11)
- Jeremy Koonoo (#7)
- Owen Jaworenko (#10)
- Daniel Inuarak (#5)
A crowd gathers on the ice in front of Pond Inlet on Monday, awaiting the arrival of the dogsled teams competing in the Nunavut Quest. Ten mushers set out from Arctic Bay on April 16 in the annual race, which covered approximately 250 kilometres this year. (Photo by Shanshan Tian, special to Nunatsiaq News)
This article and the accompanying pictures are the result of a partnership between Nunatsiaq News and Igloolik youth participating in the Nunavut Quest Field Course, a project sponsored by QIA and the Ilagiiktunut Fund.
Visit the Nunatsiaq News Features section to see recaps from previous days’ Nunavut Quest racing.
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