Imaruittuq Angutimarik

Elders share advice, warnings about dangerous open-water polynya in area After two days of bad weather, Tuesday was a perfect spring day. On Day 8 of Nunavut Quest, the goal was to get to camp in the open sea ice close to Igloolik, where the annual dogsled route ends this year after an approximately 500-kilometre journey from Pond Inlet. The trail for the day was an 84-kilometre mix of bumpy, hard-packed snow and smooth sea ice.

Race scheduled to resume Tuesday with 1 more camp before finish line in Igloolik Nunavut Quest’s mushers, support crew and officials met at 9 a.m. Easter Monday to decide whether to race that day. These decisions are often taken to a vote by the mushers. Support teams and officials will simply follow their lead. The weather was less whiteout than Sunday’s conditions. However, according to the weather forecast, it was supposed to get much worse throughout the day, only to ease up late in the evening.

Top four mushers running neck and neck after four days of racing Friday’s Nunavut Quest racing started with sunny skies and strong winds at Kanagjuk. The morning meeting took place at 9 a.m. with mushers, support crew and officials huddled in a circle. Each day during the morning meeting, mushers have an opportunity to display anything they found along the trail in the previous day. Mushers get time subtracted from their race time for items they pick up along the way.