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COMMUNITY SKI DAY – (Left) Young skiers start their race in Old Crow at the fifth annual Father Mouchet Memorial Loppet. (Right) Pavlina Sudrich and Knute Johnsgaard, back centre, pose with some of the young athletes participating in the ski races. A record 45 participants took part in the loppet.

Father Mouchet honoured at fifth annual race

To honour Yukon cross-country skier, coach, and storied program founder Father Jean-Marie Mouchet, Olympian Knute Johnsgaard and other experienced skiers joined young skiers in the community of Old Crow to keep his legacy going.

By Dustin Cook on April 3, 2018

To honour Yukon cross-country skier, coach, and storied program founder Father Jean-Marie Mouchet, Olympian Knute Johnsgaard and other experienced skiers joined young skiers in the community of Old Crow to keep his legacy going.

The fifth annual Father Mouchet Memorial Loppet this past weekend in Old Crow continued to grow with 45 participants in three different race distances.

Johnsgaard and fellow organizer Pavlina Sudrich have been involved with the race since the beginning.

Sudrich said the race started when Johnsgaard visited Old Crow back in 2013 to reinvigorate skiing in the community.

This was the same year Father Mouchet died at the age of 96 and Sudrich said the community instantly approached them to discuss the idea of a commemorative event to honour him.

Both Sudrich and Johnsgaard were part of the Territorial Experimental Ski Training (TEST) program that remains Mouchet’s long-lasting legacy.

Sudrich said they were both close to him and wanted to be a part of honouring him and so the loppet was formed.

Each spring the community comes together to remember the man who did so much for skiing in the North.

The TEST program was a way to introduce cross-country skiing to youth in the North and provide an outdoor education program through skiing.

These skiers went on to participate in Canadian Championships, World Ski Championships as well as the Olympics.

Most recently, Johnsgaard made his Olympic debut in Pyeongchang and was able to share his experience with his friends in Old Crow.

“They feel very connected to their friend Knute who is an Olympian as well,” Sudrich said of how the young skiers reacted to their Olympic companion. “They were putting on his Olympic gear and wearing his Olympic jacket and hat.”

Sudrich said from the first memorial race in 2014, the loppet has continued to grow and they have worked with the community to build it as a way to honour Father Mouchet who was such a big part of Old Crow.

“He worked with a lot of people here who still remember that and talk about that,” Sudrich said. “This is a really special way to engage with peoples’ kids and grandkids.”

This year saw the highest participation numbers in the history of the race and had eight young skiers try out the longer eight-kilometre distance.

“We have great participation, when people show up, that’s a testament of their reaction,” Sudrich said. “Every year we had more and more kids empowered to ski the eight-km with us, which is a pretty exciting eight-km trail.”

Desmond Kyikavichik was the top youth finisher in the long-distance race finishing in a time of 1:37:41. Siblings Gavin and Jayce Charlie finished close together, four minutes back of Kyikavichik.

For the adults, Allan Benjamin was the top eight-kilometre finisher in a time of 46:19. Andrew Cameron placed second with Francis Ross in third.

Vuntut Gwitchin MLA Pauline Frost also took part in the community event completing the eight-km race in a time of 1:31:16.

The event also featured a short two-kilometre race for beginners and a four-kilometre distance for young competitors under 12 who wanted a bit of a tougher challenge. Dredyan Kassi was the top four-kilometre finisher in a time of 30:51.

With a record number of participants and continued increase in support and sponsorship, Sudrich said it is great to see the event growing and increasing in popularity.

“It’s unbelievable it’s in its fifth year. It’s been easier than ever and definitely the best event ever,” Sudrich said. “The first day no one showed up in the first year.”

There are always kinks to work out for the race, she recalled, including the second year of the event where they had to build a track setter out of wooden two-by-four planks.

Sudrich said they have received support from Whitehorse, including through Lumel Studios who donated 50 blue glass medals for the participants.

“We had equipment donations from Icycle Sports, we had an easter egg hunt, and we had five people fly up to participate in the event,” she said.

The race is a way to encourage youth to get out and ski and push themselves, while doing so in a friendly environment with their community.

“Absolutely, it is a race. But it is a race where you are challenging yourself and where you’re at. Our objective is always to have these kids just push themselves,” she said.

One thing that hasn’t changed about the race each year is the conditions.

Although it was a cold morning at the start of the day with temperatures around -30 C, Sudrich said it began to warm up when the sun beamed down on the trails throughout the day.

“It’s always sunny in Old Crow for this loppet,” she said. “It was sunny and it was warm.”

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