Two kayakers repeatedly paddled 18 hours straight, survived everything from lightning storms to mosquito clouds, and crushed the Yukon 1000 course record in a grueling, team-driven effort.
The Yukon 1000 carves deep into the history of its namesake Canadian territory. When Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie, and George Washington Carmack found gold in a tributary of the Yukon River in August 1896, they had no idea what would come next — except an adventure.
Legend only knows how long it took the three explorers to cover the 1,000 miles from the Yukon to the Arctic Circle. But two paddlers recently knocked it out faster than anyone ever before.
On July 7, Jason Magness and Daniel Staudigel pulled past the finish line at Alaska’s Dalton Highway Bridge after 5 days, 11 hours, and 48 minutes in their kayaks. For the armchair mathematicians, that’s an average of almost 200 miles per day.
Thanks to their…