The Yukon River Quest is off after a last-minute decision by the board of directors Tuesday evening.

As of late last week, 48 teams comprised of 136 paddlers had been set to leave Rotary Peace Park for Dawson City at noon today. They were residents of the territory and three provinces.

“The board of the Yukon River Quest is very disappointed to announce that the 2021 race is CANCELLED. The recent 100-year flood levels along the Yukon River make it impossible for us to offer a reasonable level of safety to our racers and volunteers,” a news release from the organization stated early Tuesday evening.

It’s the second consecutive year the race has been called off.

In 2020, it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Otherwise, the race has an unblemished record.

It’s been a bitter pill to swallow for almost everyone involved, from the organizers to the participants.

The race is world-renowned, and publications such as the Huffington Post have rated it as one of the world’s toughest events, said Roger Hanberg, the longtime race marshall.

Hanberg spoke to the Star this morning, and it was obvious the decision had been a heart-wrenching process.

The chief factor in making the move was the record-high level of the Yukon River.

Hanberg called it a “100-year event” that no one has seen the likes of.

“We’ve had a couple of years of high water, but nothing quite like this,” he said.

“We waited until literally the last hour to make a decision.”

When the Yukon government issued a flood alert for Carmacks on Tuesday afternoon, it was the final blow.

“Water level on the Yukon River at Carmacks has continued to increase and is currently above the 100-year return period level1,” the alert said.

“Contributions from the Teslin River and Upper Yukon River watersheds are continuing to increase, while flow from the Big Salmon River watershed has started increasing again.

“The public is advised to stay clear of the fast-flowing rivers and potentially unstable riverbanks during the high-streamflow period. Flood prone property owners are advised to have a plan in place in the event of a flood.”

Carmacks is an official checkpoint and mandatory stop or the race. Volunteers and the owners of the campground where the checkpoint is located were expressing serious concerns about the safety of themselves and the racers.

“The people at the campground said if it was up to them, they’d cancel the race,” Hanberg told the Star.

“Race officials spoke with Yukon government officials after the new flood warning was issued earlier (Tuesday),” the news release said.

“While only days ago the water was thought to be cresting in Carmacks, recent warm temperatures and rain are causing water levels to rise and continue rising.”

Hanberg has never seen this many issues with river and race safety.

“We have to consider the safety of our racers and also our volunteers. We have people at remote checkpoints and very close to a river in flood. It isn’t safe for us to continue,” he said.

Race officials had concerns with water volumes, especially from the Teslin downstream, and the lack of pull-out spots for racers who need rest or get into difficulty.

Several checkpoints had already been moved and some may not have been viable at all with the continued rising water.

“We’ve overcome a lot this year to put on this race, but this was one hurdle too many,” said Quest board president Peter Coates.

“A temporary postponement is not a viable option. We are very disappointed to have to make this decision.

“People have trained hard, and travelled and quarantined in some cases. We were looking forward to a new race record.

“But, faced with 100-year flood levels, and the water still rising, it is the responsible thing to do for racers and volunteers.”

Hanberg noted the race has operated for 22 years without a fatality – and the board of directors wanted to keep it that way.

Organizers had already waded through concerns about the latest COVID-19 outbreak, he said, and some resistance from the communities about the outbreak. The high water levels were simply the latest problem that couldn’t be weathered.

A further announcement was set to be posted on the race’s Facebook page this afternoon, Hanberg said.

The event’s future will be under discussion over the next couple of days, he said. It’s unknown at this point what any revised format might look like.

Some disgruntled racers planned on tackling the river late this morning in an unsanctioned bid to still complete the Quest on an informal basis.

Greg McHale and Steven Mooney are included in this informal river run as part of a four person team.

Mooney said they were looking to set an all-time record for the trip.

McHale said he was excited about the idea.

The River Quest, he said, was intended as a wilderness-style trip, and this was returning the event to its roots.

Neither was impressed with the decision to cancel the race.

They both said they had questioned the need for the stop in Carmacks, which is central to the decision to cancel the Quest.

Hanberg said he and the board couldn’t condone such actions, but could take no steps to stop it.

Some of the racers, he said, are capable of tackling any conditions on the river, but the organizers had to look at the big picture.

The non-stop race (except for 10 hours of mandatory rest) would have involved a 715-km (444-mile) run to Dawson, arriving between Friday afternoon and late Saturday evening. Awards would have been given out Sunday morning on Dawson’s waterfront.

This week’s race would have been the smallest one since 2002.

Coates had predicted “enormous demand” from potential participants for the 2022 odyssey.