"It's a race designed for the lazy, the infirm and the few who are fast.”

That's how Skagway's Buckwheat Donahue, founder of the Buckwheat Ski Classic, described the 2011 event, which will be held on the Log Cabin, B.C., course on March 26.

Anyone interested in registering in the Classic can do so in Whitehorse at Coast Mountain Sports or Sport Yukon.

Early registration deadline is today at 5 p.m. Registrations received after then cost an additional $10.

Race brochures and entry forms are also available at the Mountain Shop in Skagway, Lutak Lumber in Haines and Foggy Mountain in Juneau.

"There's still a little bit of room left,” Donahue said yesterday, adding that he'll have a better idea of the number of registrants by tonight when he picks up the next round of registration forms.

He added that there are a little more than 100 registrations in hand, and that he hasn't picked up registrations in two weeks.

"So I'm sure that number's going to go up.”

Once again there will be a 50 kilometre, 25 km and 10 km course, as well as a 5 km for kids.

"For the guys that are in the 10 km…there's a couple of downhills there that will get you some speed going, but it's basically your beginner course. With each distance it gets a bit more challenging,” Donahue said.

Most of the prizes are plaques, he added, though the winner of the men's and women's 50 km race will win $500 US. Second-place finishers will win $200 US and third place will get $100 US.

All races take place at Log Cabin on the South Klondike Highway. There are pre- and post race events scheduled for Skagway, including a "fabulous” awards banquet and dance at the historic Eagles Hall.

Last year's entertainment, blues rock band The Reverend Neil Down out of Memphis, Tenn., will make the long trek up again this year, which will mark Buckwheat's last year organizing the race.

"I'm going to continue to support the event, or whatever it might be called after this, but being involved 100 per cent isn't going to happen anymore. I'm just getting too old,” Donahue said. "Next year somebody else can worry about it. I've been trying to find somebody to take it over for the last five years and I've been unsuccessful, so that's that. I hope somebody picks it up. But if not, that's just the way it's got to be.”

Hopefully someone picks up where Donahue will leave off.

Claude Chabot, executive director of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club, agrees.

Chabot was one of many Yukoners to take part in last year's event.

"It's kind of a funny one; it's almost a unique northern thing,” he said, adding that a large number of skiers, as well as the groomer, comes from Whitehorse.

"It's got a couple countries and three jurisdictions nicely covered there. It's kind of interesting.

"There's a lot of people that this would be the only event they'd ever go to, pure recreational skiers.”

Donahue said the origins of the race are simple.

"The main reason was once they decided to open up the road between Skagway and Whitehorse, a bunch of us guys got together and were trying to figure out how to get good looking women to come to town in the winter. And it worked,” Donahue said.

And?

"Because we like to ski, and not all of us are good at back-country skiing where we have to break our own trail.

"And we wanted to start a ski school for the Skagway kids, and just encourage people to come down to the Log Cabin area, maybe even come into Skagway and book a motel room and maybe keep a restaurant open in the winter in Skagway that has good food,” he added.

"Plus just the camaraderie; a lot of us have close friends that live in Whitehorse and this is just a good excuse to get together and party again.”

Registration forms may be dropped off at the Skagway and Whitehorse locations or mailed directly to Buckwheat Ski Class, Box 636, Skagway, AK, 99840.

There are separate forms for U.S. adults, Canadian adults, U.S. kids and Canadian kids.