Top mushers bolster 2015 Yukon Quest sled dog race

Less than a month before the start of the 2015 Yukon Quest sled dog race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, organizers are busy on both sides of the border.

The annual 1,600-kilometre race is scheduled to begin this year on Feb. 7 in Whitehorse. Marty Steury, executive director of the Quest's Alaska wing, says this is the most exciting time of the year for facilitators.

"We're getting close to the food drop for the mushers, and the vet checks," she says.

"Prior to that, we'll be buying groceries, getting straw out to checkpoints... working on the trail, and doing everything that is entailed with the million tasks that goes with putting on a 1,000 mile international sled dog race."

Quest organizers are also making a last-minute push for sponsorships and donations. According to Steury, it costs about $1 million to hold the race, which includes supplies, staffing, veterinarians and officials, and paying for transportation costs.

It's the 32nd anniversary for the Yukon Quest, which began in 1984. Last year, the race was won by Allen Moore of Two Rivers, Alaska, who seeks his third consecutive title this year.

Four-time champion Lance Mackey is also in the running, and Brent Sass of Eureka, Alaska, who dropped out of the race last year after falling from his sled and suffering a concussion, will also return.

Twenty-six mushers have signed up for this year's race, including six from the Yukon: veterans Ed Hopkins, Rob Cooke, Brian Wilmshurst and Norman Casavant, and rookies Tamra Reynolds and Magnus Feren Kaltenborn. Eighteen mushers competed last year.

Groomers on both sides of the border will begin their work on the Quest trails this weekend.