Yukon Quest - Rules

Rules

The Yukon Quest encourages participants' self-sufficiency, and one of its objectives is " encourage and facilitate knowledge and application of the widest variety of bush skills and practices that form the foundation of Arctic survival." On the trail, racers may not accept outside assistance and are limited in the changes they may make to their teams and sled. There are 10 checkpoints and four additional locations where sick or injured dogs may be dropped from a team. Only four checkpoint stops are mandated: a 36-hour stop at Dawson City; a four-hour stop in Eagle, Alaska; a two-hour stop at the first checkpoint; and an eight-hour stop at the last.

As well as food, camping equipment, and dog-care gear, mushers must carry an axe, a cold-weather sleeping bag, a pair of snowshoes, veterinary records, Quest promotional material, a cooker, and eight booties per dog. Included in the required promotional material are numerous event covers intended to reflect the Quest's ancestry as a mail route. One unusual rule requires mushers to immediately butcher any game animal killed during the race. This rule was applied in 1993, when a musher was attacked by a moose and killed it to protect himself.

Read more about this topic:  Yukon Quest

Famous quotes containing the word rules:

    “For 350 years we have been taught that reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man. Football’s place is to add a patina of character, a deference to the rules and a respect for authority.”
    —Walter Wellesley (Red)

    “There are different rules for reading, for thinking, and for talking. Writing blends all three of them.”
    —Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    “The five kings count the dead but do not soften
    The crusted wound nor stroke the brow;
    A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven;
    Hands have no tears to flow.”
    —Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)