Rob Cooke starts the Yukon Quest at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Feb. 1. Cooke said simply holding a race this year is a “light for us at the end of the tunnel.” (John Hopkins-Hill/Yukon News file) - Fairbanks, Alaska 
The 2021 Yukon Quest will be like no other
The Yukon Quest’s announcement on June 17 of separate races in Alaska and the Yukon in 2021 means that whatever happens this year will be unlike any other Quest.
Things like race length, checkpoints and prize money are still to be determined, but Shayna Hammer, executive director of the Yukon Quest International Association in Canada, said the announcement allows for planning to begin in earnest.
“Because of the border limitations surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, our board … sat down and had to look at what challenges we might be facing with travel restrictions,” Hammer said. “The ability to travel between either country is integral to the execution of the race. Not just for the mushers themselves, but for the infrastructure of the race in terms of logistics.”
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