Day 6 Results


Nanuq! Aqiarulaaq! Taquliik! Go! These dogs are feeling the urgency in their masters’ voices now; the frontrunners are vying closely with one another as the challenge gets closer. Fourth and fifth racers Bobby and Willie may be challenging each other for fourth place as they now have only 2 minutes difference in their positions overall.

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The night at Nuluartalik was spent with some in a hunter’s cabin and the rest in four igluit. The morning began with a -25 degree temperature, no wind and light clouds. The trail was flat in the beginning and became hilly as Ivakkak approached Kangirsuk, which has hilly terrain. The teams were faced with open water close to Kangirsuk (which means “bay”) and had to Ivakkak upriver, cross the river first in order to Ivakkak on to Kangirsuk. The open water was due to the high tides that broke ice close to the shore at the last recent full moon. This was the most challenging part as the racers then had to slide down a hill through rough and broken ice along the river.

Charlie Watt Jr. managed to arrive first today at 3 hours and 37 minutes and still in 2nd position overall as Junior May had to deal with a damaged ski on his sled during that slide down the river close to Kangirsuk. He still made it at a good ivakkak of 3 hours and 50 minutes. He is still in first place overall.

Taamusie keeps his ivakkak at 3 hours and 51 and maintains third place while Willie and Bobby vie for fourth place, now they have a difference of only two minutes overall, and unless something really slows Taamusie down they’ll be fighting for fourth position perhaps all the way to Quartaq. Let’s see how chance plays its turn for them tomorrow and whether they’ll be pushing themselves and their huskies a little harder. Charlie Inukpuk is over two hours behind them and it will be up to him to ivakkak much more if he wants to catch up with them, so far he is sixth overall.

Here are today’s results in the order of their positions and their total accumulated time.

Junior May 3h50, accumulating 20h5

Charlie Watt Jr. 3h37, 21h6

Taamusie Sivuaraapik 3h51, 23h40

Bobby Novalinga 4h28, 26h7

Willie Kullulaaq 4h4, 26h9

Charlie Inukpuk 4h58, 28h45

Massiu Nassaq 6h8, 35h20

Adamie Inukpuk 6h15, 39h00

George Annanack 6h24, 63h00

Harry Okpik 8h23, 66h18

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The return of the Inuit Dogs

At the end of the last century, the pure-breed Husky dog was nearly extinct in Nunavik. Nowadays, Inuit people mostly travel by snowmobile. Yet, the memories of another time when dogs were man’s most reliable partners are not so far behind. Long known to be man’s best friend, dogs were once essential to the survival of Inuit in the merciless arctic environment. In fact, only a few decades ago, sled dogs were a foundation of the Inuit nomadic way of life.

These brave allies were central to seasonal Inuit movements, especially in the winter.Strongly built with a thick fur, huskies can withstand bitterly cold temperatures and are capable of lugging their share of supplies during long hours travelling across the endless tundra. Harnessed to a sled or simply keeping pace alongside their master, dogs made it possible for Inuit to cover great distances in their search for game to provide for their families, and to transport heavy loads (...).

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