Yukon Quest musher Sebastian Schnuelle's hair was worth close to $3,000 when it was chopped off Sunday night at the Quest's finish banquet in the Yukon College gym.

Schnuelle came through on a bet he had with race marshal Mike McCowan that if he finished the 1,600-kilometre sled dog race in the top 10, he would cut his hair.

The Whitehorse musher finished in the number 10 spot last Thursday.

McCowan and Schnuelle opted to turn the hair cut into a fundraiser for William Kleedehn, who scratched from the race after breaking his thigh bone early in the race. Kleedehn has a prosthetic lower leg.

Acting mayor, and in this case barber, Bev Buckway tied Schnuelle's hair into 10 ponytails, which were auctioned off. Winners were invited to come up to the stage and chop off their choice of locks.

Bids ranged from $200 up to $350 with Layne St. John, executive director of the Quest in Fairbanks.

Later in the evening, Thomas Tetz, who won the sportsmanship award, donated his $500 US prize to Kleedehn as well.

'As a real sportsman, I think I didn't bet any of Sebastain's hair, so I donate (the) money for William,' he said.

The sportsmanship award is voted on by mushers. It goes to the musher who demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship on the trail.

This year, the votes originally came to a tie. When mushers were asked to choose between the tied mushers, it was a 9-8 vote for Tetz, with three abstentions.

Tetz, who placed ninth in the race, also received a beaver fur lined hat for the award.

Kleedehn wasn't at the banquet, but his girlfriend Catherine Pinard, who came in 13th place, thanked everyone on his behalf.

'I think he would be really touched to see what happened tonight and I know he got lots of phone calls and a lot of people wrote letters and stuff so I'm sure he would like to be here to thank you,' she said.

Musher Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain, Alaska was the first to win a special award. He took home the Kiwanis award, which goes to the first musher to cross the international border between Canada and the U.S.

'I might, actually, have been the first musher across the border twice this year,' he said after receiving the plaque. As a rookie, he noted, he got confused and turned his team around in that area.

Steer also took the Rookie of the Year award for being the first rookie musher to cross the finish line. He ended the race in second place last Thursday afternoon.

Steer was the only musher to take home two of the special awards along with $24,000 in prize money for his second-place finish.

He told the crowd his race went better than expected, even though he saw the winner, Hans Gatt of Atlin, B.C., a little more than he wanted to.

'I wish I could've seen him a little more at the very end of the race, but I was glad to be out there with him because he made me a better racer, and I just hope I made him a little (bit of a) better racer too,' he said.

While Steer didn't have a lot of sponsors to thank, he did note the help he received from his boss.

'I want to thank my boss at Sheep Mountain Lodge for giving me the time off to do the race; thank my boss for helping me with the training this year; thank my boss for watching my kid; thank my boss for driving my truck and being my handler in Dawson,' he said. 'And I want to thank my wife for being such a good boss.'

Gatt was presented with the Dawson Award a four-ounce gold poke, for being the first musher to arrive in Dawson, the midpoint in the race.

'I was just lucky to pass Zack (Steer) 20, 30 miles before Dawson, and came in first,' he said. 'Nice to get gold again.'

His lead dogs, Havana and Felix, received the Golden Harness Award, custom-made harnesses and steaks.

Marcel Marin, a rookie from the Northwest Territories who placed 14th in the race, also took home the Challenge of the North award. The crystal artwork goes to the musher who most exemplifies the spirit of the race. The winner is voted on by race officials.

Marin didn't think he should have won the award. He noted Michelle Phillips, a rookie, should have won, but said he would take it. He also recalled Kyla Boivin made fires for him and Pinard guided him through the second half of the race.

The Vet's Choice Award of a burl bowel with an etching of a musher and dog face to face went to Healy, Alaska musher Dave Dalton. He finished the race in third place with all 14 dogs he started with.

The award is voted on by trail vets.

'I just decided that every time I come to a checkpoint, the vets come up to me say, Hey you need help,' I say, Yes, I need to know what is going on with that team,' ' he said.

After Dawson, Dalton said, he wondered whether the vets would stay away from him, not wanting to go through the whole team.

'But they were great, you know; they kept on it,' he said.

For his third-place finish, Dalton took home a cheque of $18,000 US. He noted it was Leo Olesen's voice throughout the race that kept him going.

Olesen volunteered in various capacities for the race since it began in 1984, up until his death last year. The race was dedicated to his memory with his wife Donna and son Alex on-hand at the banquet last night.

Tom Benson won the red lantern for being the final racer to cross the finish line.

Many mushers recalled their experiences on the trail. They also acknowledged the excellent trail conditions.

On the Yukon side, the Canadian Rangers prepare the trail.

In an interview this morning, Wendel Carey, the assistant race manager said the Quest held a meeting with the Rangers in January about how the trail could be prepared this year.

'They did a great job,' he said.

The Rangers heard suggestions like standing up on snowmobiles for a different perspective on the trial and cutting brush along the side, he noted.

'It was a real good effort,' he said.

The Quest is planning to clean up the trail over the next couple of weeks.

See related coverage opposite.