Product Description

While many people have heard of the Iditarod, the Alaskan dog-sled race that, in recent years, has become a venue for millionaire adventurers to show off their rented dogs and sleds, the great race that has remained true to the Northern spirit in which it was founded is the Yukon Quest. Snaking over 1,000 forbidding miles along the Yukon River between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska—diverting only to cross several formidable mountain ranges—it has been called the toughest race on Earth.

In Racing the White Silence, Canadian journalist Adam Killick traverses the entire Quest route, telling an incredible story of participants and their dogs, the terrible beauty and danger of the wilderness they traverse, and the psychological and physical challenges they must endure. We meet the sledders themselves, including one-legged William Kleedehn, who races with a single-minded passion; Joran Freeman, whose cast-off sled dogs race brilliantly under his guidance; and David Sawatzky, who battles tragedy in his pursuit of the Quest title.

Killick introduces us to the fascinating history of dog sledding and explores the truly astonishing physiology of sled dogs. And he takes us into the heart of the Yukon and Alaska, as the Quest winds its way through inaccessible, brutal yet stunningly beautiful terrain. We hear of the heroes and legends of this land and are introduced to a culture that is sometimes iconoclastic, often contradictory and always extraordinary.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #437804 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-07
• Released on: 2002-10-15
• Binding: Hardcover
• 296 pages

Amazon.ca
Racing the White Silence is journalist Adam Killick's account of the 2001 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, a less commercialized and much tougher version of the Iditarod race that covers "1,640 kilometres of the least hospitable real estate on the planet between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska." In covering the race, Killick captures the spirit of this rugged place and the history of the people who choose to live there. And sled dogs are an essential part of that culture. In an age when motorized transportation--be it planes, automobiles, or snowmobiles--is readily available, many who live in these harsh outposts still rely on sled dogs to transport them, much as they have for generations. These dogs are essential parts of their existence and they are treated as such: "All of the [mushers] live with their dogs year-round and their dogs are the central focus of their lives. To be a musher capable of completing this frozen passage demands nothing less." Killick never shies away from interviewing the most intimidating (or insane) characters or exposing himself to the potential pitfalls of being in the middle of such an intense competition that takes the better part of two weeks to complete. By the end of the book, it's clear that the Yukon Quest is more than just a race--it's a reflection of the participants' lives and their daily struggle for existence. --Adem Tepedelen

About the Author
Adam Killick is an award-winning writer and photographer whose work has appeared in many major newspapers and magazines in Canada, the U.S. and U.K. He is the former Manitoba and Saskatchewan correspondent for the National Post, and is currently a contributing editor to Explore magazine. He has covered the Yukon Quest for the Yukon News, the National Post, CTV news and for the Telegraph Magazine in the U.K. He has lived in both the Yukon and Alaska, and worked as a dog handler for top Canadian musher Frank Turner. Adam and his wife, Kathleen, live in Toronto.