Extreme cold, frostbite and hypothermia force halt to Yukon Arctic Ultra race

It's billed as "the world's coldest and toughest ultra" race and few would argue, after this year.

The long-distance, backcountry Yukon Arctic Ultra race, which began Thursday in Whitehorse, was put on hold on Friday after a slew of competitors fell victim to hypothermia and frostbite, calling for help, and dropping out of the race.

"We are in what we refer to as 'high alert status,'" says a noticeon the race website.

The temperature in Whitehorse as racers set off on Thursday morning was hovering around30 C. Overnight, it was closer to45 C, race officials say.

• PHOTOS | Athletes hit the trail from Whitehorse on the 'ultimate adventure'

"We were hoping most of them will get through the night without major problems. Unfortunately, this was not the case," the race website says.

As of Friday afternoon, several competitors had already been retrieved from the trail, and some have gone tohospital to be treated for frostbite.

'Rescue me!'

Mark Kelly, a Whitehorse photographer, found himself unexpectedly busy on Friday morning, picking up racers in distress on his snowmobile and delivering them to safety.

He had arranged to meet one of the racers on the trail, freelance journalist Eva Holland, to take some photographs for her. He didn't get far out of town before he was sidetracked.

"I was maybe fiveor eightkilometreson the trail, and afellowhopped out of the bush and waved me down and just said, 'rescue me!'. Poor guy, I really felt for him. He was definitely hypothermic," Kelly said.

Kelly gave the cold mansome hot tea, loaded him on his sled, and took him back to his truck to warm up and wait to be picked up. Kelly then set off again to meet Holland.

Again, he was stopped before he reached her. Another man was in trouble, and calling for help.

"After the second fellow with the blackening fingers, I thought, this is serious," Kelly said.

"One of the fellows, he'd stopped [to camp] because he was freezing cold, but his hands were so frostbitten that he couldn't even open his Thermarest. So he was laying, literally, right on the frozen ground no wonder he was hypothermic."

Kelly eventually made it to Holland, who in the meantime had also called for help. Her fingers were frostbitten, but she was in good spirits, Kelly said.

"She said, 'sometimes the story is better when you don't make it through.'"

He brought Holland back to town, where she planned to go to the hospital to get checked out.

More cold nights ahead

It wasn'tclear on Friday whether, or when, the race might resume. Race officials say it depends on the weather.

The forecast is not promising According to Environment Canada, temperatures were again expected to approach40 C overnight on Friday, and could stay consistently around30 in the coming days.

Any racers who haven't dropped out, and manage to reach the Dog Grave Lake checkpoint, will have to stay there. Race officials says there's a wall tent set up there, with space for everybody.

"It won't be comfortable, but will sure be warmer than outside," the race website says.

• Runner returns to Yukon, 2 years after frostbite took him out of race

• Yukon hospital gains attention with new treatment for frostbite