Preparations for Ivakkak 2023 are well underway

All teams and support staff are now in Kangirsujuaq gearing up for the start line tomorrow.

This year’s edition has 6 teams from 4 of Nunavik’s communities.

Team 1 | Musher – Saanti Jaaka and Partner – Paulie Kiatainak

Team 2 | Musher – Carlos Surusilak and Partner – Paul Amagoalik

Team 3 | Musher – Ken Labbe and Partner – Andrew Gordon

Team 4 | Musher – Charlie Angnatuk and Partner – Johnny Kritik

Team 5 | Musher – Aloupa Kauki and Partner – Sheldon Whiteley

Team 6 | Musher – Willie Cain and Partner – Itsaja Arnatuk

Teams made it into Kangirsujuaq over the weekend and the opening ceremony was held on Sunday where the teams and support staff were welcomed with a feast hosted by the community.

The last couple of days have been busy with the planning and gear preparation that comes before the race begins. Final inspections of the dogs also took place ensuring that all dogs meet the eligibility criteria along with some tending to dogs by the Vet and mushers.

The race is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10:00 am with the teams departing in 2-minute intervals in the order of team number.

The terrain in the area will pose some challenges to the teams and as a result, a decision was made for 2023 to increase the number of support teams available to the event.

The support staff this year will be:

The day one plan is a target distance of 80 km to an area called Iqalukjuaq.

We hope you follow along for Ivakkak 2023, updates will be posted frequently both on our website at Ivakkak.com and on our Facebook page here.

Live tracking will be available again this year but due to delays with the shipping of equipment, tracking will not be available for the first 1-2 days of Ivakkak.

Preparations for Ivakkak 2023 are well underway