Musher Jennifer LaBar’s dog leaps into the air at the start of the 350-mile Yukon Quest this winter. Image Credit: Lex Treinen, Alaska Public Media | Article Credit: Dan Bross, KUAC - Fairbanks - Fairbanks, Alaska 
Yukon Quest organizations break up
The relationship between the Alaska and Canadian organizations that have run the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race since 1984 has fallen apart.
The breakdown began with a Canadian proposal earlier this spring to dramatically increase the amount of time mushers are required to rest their dogs along the 1,000-mile trail between Fairbanks and Whitehorse.
Mark Weber, Yukon Quest board vice president in Alaska, said the Canadians wanted a total of five days of rest.
“That’s 120 hours of mandatory rest and right now there was 52,” he said.
Weber said requiring that much rest would fundamentally change the Yukon Quest from the original vision of a wilderness race, in which a good portion of the rest taken along the trail is left up to mushers to decide on.
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