Sled Dog Watchdog - Yukon Quest media coverage 2008 (page 1)

February 8th, 7:55 AM: CBC Yukon cheerleading team 'first out of the chutes' with long-time Yukon
Quest evangelist Mardy Derby spreading the 'good word' from the 'Dog Mushing Capital of the World' -
Ms. Derby was proud to report that Yukon Quest legend Frank Turner will be using some 18-month old
pups in his team. Frank! These are like 9-or-10-year old kids in dog years. Shame on you and get out
of the dog breeding business!

February 8th, 12:00 PM [Enter an 'actual journalist'- the Yukon News' Genesee Keevil gets to work]:

'Yukon Quest 08: Barren trail casts pall over race banquet'

There were many tense mushers at the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race start banquet on Thursday night. And it wasn't
pre-race jitters. At the musher's meeting, they'd learned there was no snow on Rosebud Summit - just bare rock and shale.
"I've been up there with six feet of snow and it's insane," said Whitehorse musher Kyla Boivin.

Once on the summit, mushers run about eight kilometres on a six-metre ridge with steep drops on either side. The ridge trail
climbs and falls over outcroppings of rock. "It's hairy, scary up and down, and if there's no snow for the brake, there's not much
you can do for the dogs," said Boivin. "Breaking a sled or injuring five or six dogs is not a certainty, but it's a likely possibility."

Rather than sending teams over that trail, race officials are considering trucking the dogs from Chena Hot Springs checkpoint to
Mile 101 dog drop, roughly 65 kilometres. "If I have trouble on Rosebud and have to scratch, then I'm never running this race
again," said Whitehorse rookie Didier Moggia."It's too much of an investment for me, my wife, dogs and sponsors to have to go
home at Mile 101."

Boivin agreed. "If we run over Rosebud, I'm never running the race again either - not from this direction," she said. Before
Thursday's musher's meeting, veteran mushers were invited to a private gathering to discuss trucking dogs around Rosebud.
Eight mushers showed up. And six wanted dogs trucked.

"I want to protect the dogs," said Tagish veteran Michelle Phillips, during the banquet. "That can be a pretty rough section." It's
especially dangerous when the team is still "rippin', snorting" to go, she said. "When you start a race and they're fresh and
you're hitting glaciers and going down hills with no snow, it's scary - it's not necessary. "We're here for the dogs and we've got
to take care of them. When you're going down a trail without snow, what's going to happen? You can't slow down and brake on
shale rock." The dogs know when a musher's out of control, said Boivin. "They start trying to slow down and there's a good
chance of breaking legs."

It's best to err on the side of caution, said '87 Quest champ Bill Cotter, who is racing this year. "I haven't seen the trail, so it's all
secondhand information, but no snow on those steep downhills is crazy." Dawsonite Peter Ledwidge, whose wife Ann is running
in his place after his back acted up, also wants the dogs trucked. "I've wiped out on some of those drops, and if there's no snow
to cushion it, the musher and the dogs could get hurt, and the sled could get trashed," said Ledwidge, who has sat on the Quest
trail committee.

But Dawson veteran Cor Guimond wants to take his team over Rosebud. "It's part of the race and I think it should be in - this
race starts under all kinds of weather conditions and that's all part of it."

"It's the Quest," said Annie Lake musher Hugh Neff. "But hopefully they'll make the right call and choose what's best for the
dogs," he added.

Guimond was one of two mushers who supported running the trail as is, during the veteran mushers meeting. "I really can't see
how the dogs could get all that hurt if there's a lack of snow," he said. "It's more the mushers being worried about getting hurt,
but I was outnumbered."

A younger musher first voiced concern, said Guimond. And then some older mushers backed that up, he said. "So, maybe the
young are too young and the old are too old. I support the original route, the original plans and the original ideas, but that
changed a long time ago." Sonny Lindner, who won the first Yukon Quest in '84, is "out looking at the trail right now," added
Guimond.

The decision to truck dogs or run over Rosebud rests with Doug Grilliot, who was appointed race marshal several weeks ago
after two previous marshals quit earlier this year. "There have been no decisions so far," said Grilliot during the banquet.
"We've got people out there looking at the trail and we're waiting for their final reports." A decision will be made Friday, he
said. "It's no secret we haven't had much snow in this part of the country. And we knew we'd be making some decisions in the
last week." With the cold snap, and still no snow, Rosebud "went to the top of the list," said Grilliot. "If it was flat it would be a
different story, but it's not flat up there. And three to five miles can be a long way if it's barren." Eagle Summit, which has been
hazardous in the past, has lots of snow this year, he added.

The Quest trucked dogs before, said Boivin. "In '03 they trucked us from Braeburn to Carmacks because there wasn't enough
snow and there were logs and stumps sticking out. That's much less scary than what we're talking about now, and that was 100
miles." "It's an easy decision in the end," said Grilliot. "We'll do what's best for the dogs and mushers." In past races, "people
have sometimes been a little robotic about just doing it," said veteran Frank Turner. But that's changed.

Reigning champ Lance Mackey isn't so sure. "There's a lot of people that won't sign up for this race again until they have people
making confident decisions to not send us over stuff like that," he said. Once officials start making better decisions, they might
get more people signing up, he said. "Because nobody wants to go out there and injure themselves or their dogs, and that is
ultimately the biggest concern - the dogs."

On Saturday Moggia from Whitehorse/France will be first out of the Chena River start chute. "I'm not comfortable with that," he
told the crowd, in a thick accent. "That is just terrible for me."

http://www.yukon-news.com/news/08feb2008/4244/ [Free subscription to Yukon News ONLINE]

Sunday Feb. 10th update: After all the drama/melodrama captured in the story by Genesse Keevil,
the Quest organization did in fact decide on trucking dog teams, thus avoiding the barren and
treacherous Rosebud Summit stretch, which is obviously disappointing to big heroes like Cor Guimond,
and other Quest people who love the 'element of danger,' thereby displaying an appalling lack of
concern about the danger to the real athletes (slaves) in this race - the dogs.

YUKON QUEST PRESS RELEASE: Saturday, Feb. 9th

Race Marshal Announces Plan to Truck Teams Around Rosebud Summit

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA (February 9, 2008) – Citing poor trail conditions, Yukon Quest Race Marshal Doug Grilliot told a crowd of
reporters that teams competing in Saturday’s 1,000-mile race will be trucked between two checkpoints, Chena Hot Springs and
Mile 101, a distance of approximately 40 miles.

“We thought long and hard about it,” Grilliot told about 35 journalists and photographers gathered at a downtown coffee shop
for a pre-race media orientation meeting.

“We don’t want to take away from the integrity of the race, but it was the prudent thing to do.”
Grilliot said the most dangerous part is not the 3,640-foot Rosebud Summit itself, but a steep valley at the foot of Rosebud near
the Steese Highway. The ground is covered in sharp shale where there is normally snow. It would be impossible for a musher
to hook a team securely if required, he said.

Mushers will drive their dogs to Mile 101 following a mandatory two-hour layover and veterinary check at Chena Hot Springs,
the first official checkpoint in the race and approximately 100 miles from the Start chute on the Chena River in downtown
Fairbanks. Mushers will be allowed eight hours to make the drive.

The 40 miles will not be made up later. However, the Yukon Quest 300, which leaves the same Start chute six hours later, at 5
p.m., will make up the trucked distance by returning to Central checkpoint from Circle.

Reporters were curious about conditions on the notoriously challenging 3,685-foot Eagle Summit, which mushers will conquer
soon after leaving Mile 101. Yukon Quest competitor Brent Sass took a 12-dog team up Eagle Summit on Monday, said Grilliot,
and reported that the trail was in good condition. The Yukon Quest has put rubber tires as anchor points at the summit this year
so mushers can lock down their dogs before the steep descent, he added.

The 2008 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race begins today at 11 a.m. For updated information as the race progresses visit
the new website www.yukonquest.com.

Yukon Quest B.S. from the Yukon Quest website - this is some of the garbage that greets
visitors to the Quest site, which has obviously had a major (and expensive) update - not hard to pay for
when you are getting 200 Grand per year from Yukon Tourism and from some new corporate
sponsorship from 'willing dupes,' blind to the cruelty they are supporting year round when they support
the Yukon Quest (but hey, if the Territorial Tourism department is a major sponsor then it MUST be
OK!).

There is also a video of Richie Beattie's dog team at the 2007 race start in Whitehorse. Mr. Beattie's dog
team apparently betrayed him, by refusing to run, close to last year's finish line in Fairbanks. The dogs
cost him $4,000 in prize money. One interesting fact that was left out of this little vignette about the
'wonders of the Quest' was about the issue of Quest mushers culling dogs, which last year's race
marshal, Mike McCowan (good riddance to him) advised CBC that the Quest organization did not care
about the dog culling policies of Quest mushers ("not the Quest's business").

At the “top of the world”, in the Yukon and Alaska wilderness of northwestern North America, an epic winter sports event takes
place every February, the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. Covering 1,000 miles between Whitehorse, Yukon and
Fairbanks, Alaska during the depths of the Arctic winter, the Yukon Quest is known for excellence in canine care and
fostering the traditions of northern travel by dog sled.

The Yukon Quest has been run every year since 1984 over the 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of rough, sometimes hazardous
terrain between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska. The Yukon Quest Race Start alternates annually between these two
host cities.

This incredible winter sports event takes place every February when weather conditions can be the coldest and
sometimes the most unpredictable of the year. The Yukon Quest race starts on schedule regardless of weather
and lasts from 10 to 16 days until the final dog team arrives at the Finish Line, depending on weather and trail
conditions.

The Yukon Quest Trail follows historic Gold Rush and Mail Delivery dog sled routes from the turn of the 20th Century. Once the
transportation “highways” of the Northern frontier, the Yukon Quest Trail now only comes alive during February when the frosty
breath and haunting howls of hundreds of sled dogs return to these historic routes. Dog teams consisting of one human
'musher' and their 14 canine athletes, travel for two weeks, racing across some of the last pristine wilderness remaining in
North America.

The Yukon Quest is dedicated to excellence in canine care. Yukon Quest mushers are coaches, cooks,
cheerleaders, and companions to their dogs and Yukon Quest sled dogs are elite, marathon athletes. Bred from
stock that survived and thrived during the Klondike Gold Rush, no animal on earth can match them for
endurance, dedication and their ability to perform in the extreme conditions of the North.

A maximum of 50 mushers and their sled dog teams are allowed, and the $200,000 (US dollars) purse is shared between
the first 15 finishing teams, with all teams completing the race receiving $1,000 in recognition of the 1,000 mile trail. The Yukon
Quest Champion will take home $35,000. Dog team drivers (mushers) must be at least 18 years old by the race start date and
must have demonstrated their ability to successfully complete a 200-mile and a 300-mile sled dog race to be allowed to enter
the Yukon Quest.

The spirit of the Yukon Quest is still true to its northern soul. Mushers carry mandatory equipment, food and supplies at
all times. They cannot replace their dog sleds without penalty, and are not permitted to accept any assistance,
except in Dawson City, the home of the Klondike Gold Rush and the half-way point of the race. The Yukon Quest Trail runs
across frozen rivers, climbs four mountain ranges, and passes through isolated, northern villages. With temperatures hitting
40 below, 100 mile-an-hour winds, open water and bad ice all working against the teams, the Yukon Quest is a
true test of the capacity of humans and canines, and a tribute to the strength of the ancient bond that unites
them.

Ten checkpoints lie along the Yukon Quest Trail, including the Start and Finish lines, some checkpoints are more than 200
miles apart. Teams are truly on their own, relying on a combination of toughness and skill, the commitment and
endurance of the dogs, and sometimes luck (???). Race updates provide up-to-the-minute information on dog teams'
positions, progress and times as mushers check in and out of race checkpoints. Five dog drops, or veterinary stations, are also
strategically positioned along the race route, offering additional locations where race veterinarians are available to the mushers
and their dog teams.

All Yukon Quest dogs are checked by the race veterinarians and supported by the Yukon Quest Veterinary Program at
checkpoints and dog drops throughout the race. Race veterinarians ensure that every dog is fit to continue before their team
departs from race checkpoints or dog drops.

Yesterday morning, CBC race reporter Mardy Derby was on the Whitehorse CBC radio morning show,
talking to show host (and fellow CBC Quest fanatic) Bob Unger, about all the Quest hoopla taking place
in Fairbanks - lots of drinking as usual, Ms. Mardy even gave a little plug to major Quest sponsor
Molson Brewing, about a beer special keeping the Quest fanatics well plied with alcohol. Ms. Derby
reported that it was like 'Grey Cup weekend' in Fairbanks, there were even bus tours out to the dog
yards. It was minus 42 Celsius in Fairbanks at the time of the report. Ms. Derby mentioned that
departed CBC 'cub reporter' Trisha Estabrooks was still following the race (Ms. Estabrooks served as
race reporter for the 2005 and 2006 Quests. The biggest report she ever gave was in 2005, when she
innocently blurted out to CBC Yukon 'Lunch Break' noon show host Nancy Thomson, that there was a
section of the Quest trail affectionately named in the Quest community as 'The Dog Killer' (couldn't
find this on the Yukon Quest route map). Speaking of which, the Quest had better not be responsible
for killing any dogs during the race this year, because they are sure to get a major response from the
public (likely not from the apathetic Yukon public though), after having killed three dogs in last
year's race.

Note - If you would like to follow the Quest hoopla on 'Radio Free Quest' here are the low and high
bandwidth stream addresses for your entertainment pleasure (race reports are given between about
6:10 and 8:30 AM, 12 to 1 PM, and 4:00 to 6:00 PM, Pacific time zone).

http://www.cbc.ca/listen/streams/r1_whitehorse_16.html
http://www.cbc.ca/listen/streams/r1_whitehorse_32.html