Canada's Yukon Quest releases statement on Facebook

In a post on Facebook Thursday morning, Canada's Yukon Quest broke its silence on the news yesterday that there would not be a race in 2026. The brief message lined out the biggest issues the organization faced. As with all of their posts in the last few months, the organization limited comments on the post, but that didn't stop a multitude of fans and mushers from sharing the post far and wide on social media.

"As you may have gathered from the flurry of CBC activity," the organization wrote, "there is presently no Yukon Quest sled dog race organized for 2026.

The reasons are quite long in the making, but the volunteer Board that formed in June 2025 inherited a debt of over $30,000 from the previous Board and Race Organization. The debt issue overshadowed everything the new Board tried e.g. one is not allowed to have a raffle license in the Yukon if the proceeds are to pay off debt; and of course divisions arose about the route, although the Rangers wouldn't prep a route on the Yukon River because of the dangers of thin ice...and so the Board became inactive one by one.

The Board could have accessed the funds from YG, except there are strict requirements to access such money, involving marketing plans, detailed budgets and detailed monthly cash flow projections - somewhat beyond most volunteer Board members - to access the money a professional was required to complete the paperwork in order to access the money ... that was needed to pay the professional...Catch 22, the money's there, but money is first needed to pay someone to complete the paperwork, and the Board was sitting on $30k of inherited debt.

If you wish to follow mushing in the Yukon, the sport and people who love and work with their dogs, we suggest you look up these sites:  Yukon Odyssey ,  Yukon Dog Mushers Association  (YDMA),  Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon (DPSAY). 

The Quest simply became a business that lost contact with, and failed to nurture, its base: the sport, culture, people and dogs of mushing.

Happy Trails!"

The Yukon Quest in Canada was scheduled to be a 100mile race starting from Whitehorse on January 31, 2026. Alaska's Yukon Quest is still set to start on February 7 in Fairbanks, Alaska, and will travel in a loop of 750miles back to Fairbanks.

What are your thoughts on the Yukon Quest's statement? Do you think it can be saved? Should it? Comment with your ideas below!

Buy me a slice of pizza to help keep the blog up and running. It's always appreciated but never expected.