Snow Snakes, High Kicks challenge AWG contenders

Snow Snakes and High Kicks were the highlights for many participants in the 2006 Arctic Winter Games held this past week in Kenai, Alaska.

The Dene Games, which include such events such as the Stick Pull or Finger Pull, began with the Snow Snake competition.

During the Snow Snake, an athlete has a smooth pole or stick that he or she must release or throw onto the snow without crossing a line. The pole slides on the snow, and the pole that goes the longest distance is the winner. Each athlete is given three opportunities to throw.

“It is not really about power, but more finesse than anything,” Thomas Levi of Arctic Bay told the AWG newspaper, the Ulu News.

Levi’s second place finish in the men’s open category also gave him the second-longest throw of the day.

Steven Ribbonley of Alberta won the open men’s Snow Snake with a throw of 375 feet, nine inches. Levi placed second, and William Hubloo of Nunavik was third with a throw of 319 feet. six inches.

In the Inuit Games, the One Foot High Kick, for example, requires the athlete to jump, kick a seal-skin ball with one foot, and land on the same foot that touched the ball.

The record for this event is held by Jesse Frankson of Point Hope who kicked nine feet, eight inches in the 2004 World Eskimo-Indian Olympics in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Kugluktuk MLA Joe Allan Evyagotailak, of Nunavut, was in Kenai for his fifth Arctic Winter Games.

“I’m very glad to be here representing Nunavut,” Evyagotailak told the Ulu News. “This is a once in a lifetime thing, so it’s very exciting.”

The AWG athletes return to Nunavik and Nunavut this weekend. For the full information on medal standings, consult the AWG web site at www.awg2006.org.