The Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra (MYAU), billed as the world's coldest race, has been tentatively cancelled, race organizer Robert Pollhammer told the Star Tuesday afternoon from Germany.

Pollhammer said the news hasn't been a surprise to those who have done the race.

"If international tourists are not allowed until spring, then it will be hard to put on the race," he said. "Well over half of the racers are non-Canadians. We are still trying to organize something and have something to offer."

For athletes from the Yukon and the rest of Canada, Pollhammer said, he is evaluating if he can put on a race that would look "slightly different."

One of the options is to move in stages because that would allow everyone to remain closer – avoid athletes spreading over 100 or more miles.

The race, or part of it, could be done on the Quest trail, and wall tent camps would be used as checkpoints to steer-clear of the communities.

If the Yukon's bubble remains only with B.C., the N.W.T. and Nunavut, Pollhammer said, the Canadian alternative would have to be cancelled.

"I can't organize a race for five people," said Pollhammer. "I doubt other Canadians would have the time if they had to self-iso for 14 days. Most of the people who participate have busy lives."

The MYAU follows the Yukon Quest trail broken by the Canadian Rangers on the Yukon side. In early September, the Quest announced it would not be holding a race on the Yukon side of the border.

Pollhammer said this would have been a challenge but one they could have overcome.

"We knew about the Quest cancellation, they told us a day before," said Pollhammer. "We were willing to deal with it. Some trails are broken always."

The decision to cancel the race also came with the safety of everyone involved.

"I don't want to be in rebellion with the politicians," said Pollhammer. "There is no guarantee we wouldn't bring the virus to the Yukon. That would be a bad scenario for everyone."

For Europeans and other nationalities allowed to travel to Sweden, Pollhammer is looking at organizing an alternative race in Swedish Lapland.

"I am in touch with a community that is right below the Arctic Circle, and they love the idea of u going there," wrote Pollhammer on the MYAU website.

That race would be the same as a regular MYAU. The maximum distance would be around 300 miles, with the option to go longer if appropriate trails are found.

Registration for the 2021 race had already opened, and Pollhammer said he worked to be transparent with entrants that there was the possibility it would be cancelled.

"I tried to do a good job of informing people along the way," said Pollhammer. "From the beginning, I didn't charge the full entry fee, just the deposit."

The deposit fee works out to about $300 Canadian (it varies based on the entrant's home country's currency) and Pollhammer said people will be getting 80 per cent of their money back.

The MYAU's inaugural year was 2003. It will be the second time the race has been shuttered. It wasn't held in 2010, when Vancouver hosted the Olympics.