Will this be the world's toughest adventure race?

Certainly it will be the coldest.

Other adventure races have had snow sections. The premier Raid International Ukatak takes place entirely in the mid-winter snows of Canada. Four person, coed teams from Europe, Japan and North America will cover over 400km through the Charlevoix region, two hours east of Quebec City. The race will start on Sunday, January 28, and officially end at midnight on Friday, February 2.

The Charlevoix region has been declared a World Biosphere reserve by Unesco. It runs inland from the St. Lawrence River, where whales play in summer. In mid-winter, of course, the river is frozen over and the region, as a whole, averages nine metres of snow annually. Peaks rise to over 1000 metres and the terrain is broken by steep, ice-bound gorges. The competitors, who come from Europe, Japan, North America and even Brazil, will have to navigate their way through this spectacular terrain on mountain bikes (with derailleurs and brakes icing up), on cross-country skis and snow shoes.

There will also be a section of ascending and rappelling on fixed ropes. A planned ice climbing section had to be cancelled when ice was late in forming. And there will be a quintessentially Quebecois activity, ice boating. With the waterways frozen over, this has historically been a way of winter travel. Teams will have the assistance of a boat captain, however, to ensure fairness and safety.

At some stage during the race, all teams will be required to undergo a mandatory rest period. The purpose of this is to determine that the teams are carrying all the required gear and are capable of using it in the conditions — real winter with freezing winds raging down from the Arctic. Any teams that fail and require assistance will incur a severe time penalty.

Most of the checkpoints (CP) have been designed to be 8-10 hours apart. To make it easier, on both officials and competitors, most of the CPs will be heated huts or aboriginal style teepees and even one igloo.

The Ukatak is the brain child of a pair of young Quebeckers, Martin Nieto and Natalie Pelland. Martin and Natalie have competed around the world in the Eco-Challenge, the Southern Traverse, the Elf Authentic Adventure, the Fila Chrono Vert Mauritius and the Sierra Designs Raid the North. Obviously they felt these events were too easy or too tropical and wanted to create a real challenge. This is the result, the world's first mid-winter adventure race.

A great deal of time, thought and planning has gone into this event to ensure a challenging course but recognizing accidents do happen, a world-class search and rescue team will be on hand at all times.

For more information on the race, contact race organizers at info@ukatak.com or call (514)918-6673.