Whitehorse Daily Star

Image title

Photo by Marissa Tiel

A NICE DAY ON THE LAKE – Whitehorse standup paddleboarder Michelle Eshpeter continues to smile on Lake Laberge.

Image title

Photo by Marissa Tiel

EXHAUSTION – Brad Pennington collapses on the dock after arriving at the Carmacks checkpoint as the first solo kayaker today.

Support crew finds perfect balance at River Quest 2016

The support crews arrive early. They stake out their camp,

By Marissa Tiel on June 30, 2016

CARMACKS CHECKPOINT — The support crews arrive early. They stake out their camp, where they will care for their Yukon River Quest teams as they show up sometime between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. today.

Tarps hang taught, shelter from sun or rain – whatever Mother Nature decides to throw. Coleman camp stoves sit at picnic table ends as support crews relax in folding camp chairs, beer in hand, relishing the calm before the storm.

Some pitch tents, others sleep in their cars, motorized shelters on four wheels. When paddlers come in, that mattress tucked in a truck bed will be their little slice of heaven after paddling across Lake Laberge and through the night to the Carmacks checkpoint.

The camp is quiet at 7 a.m. Tent flies are damp from the night’s previous storm. Somehow, miraculously, the furious rain missed the paddlers.

The checkpoint officially opened an hour ago, but no paddlers are yet in sight.

People begin to stir, giant yawns as they crack open their tents and cars.

Andrew Dye and son, six-month-old Tavas, wake gently to an overcast day. But something is different for Tavas. Breakfast is on the horizon as mom, a standup paddleboard (SUP) world champion, makes her way to Carmacks.

“I bet the first thing she says is, ‘Where’s Tav?’” says Dye with a smile as he drinks his morning coffee in the family’s camp. Tav, sleeping once again is rocked gently by Nikki Rekman. Together, Rekman and Dye will support Lina Augaitis and Norm Hann as they come into Carmacks later today.

Dye jokes that he’s more of a support crew for Tav than anything.

What the small group may lack in numbers, they make up for in heart, and in experience.

In 2011, Augaitis became the first person to SUP from Whitehorse to Dawson. She had attempted to enter the Yukon River Quest that year, but was refused.

Instead, she and Dye made their own journey. “She wanted to race the river,” says Dye. He wanted to take his time and explore. The result: a hybrid trip which combined long, hard days of paddling with adventure.

“I love all the stories up here,” says Dye. Especially the wild characters and paddle wheeler graveyard from the pioneer days of the past.

When it was announced in November that SUP would be added as an experimental class in the River Quest this year, there was no way Augaitis wouldn’t be among the pioneers to run the race.

“Lina has been waiting five years,” says Dye. Come hell or high water, she would be on that board.

Rekman and her partner have also run the river from Whitehorse to Dawson and they got off the water just before the River Quest started.

Rekman says she couldn’t help but think of the teams that would follow them down the river a few days later.

“It was spectacular,” says Rekman of her trip. She was enamored by the remoteness of the river and the signs of the pioneers that have mostly been reclaimed by the wild.

Their experience paddling the river will be key in the support they provide to Hann and Augaitis when they come off the water.

“Hopefully they’re very hungry,” says Dye. “If they’re not, there’s something very wrong.”

Both Hann and Augaitis have requested a greasy burger and fries, a choice Rekman finds peculiar. “I was like, ‘your bodies are a temple!’”

Also on the potential menu: salt and vinegar chips, water, electrolytes, oranges, melon. Augaitis likes juicy food, says Rekman.

After being on the paddleboard for more than 24 hours, the athletes will be happy to put their feet up and lie down.

Augaitis will also be a mom, breast-feeding with baby Tav.

Hann got off Lake Laberge at 9:34 p.m., among the leading group of SUPers. Augaitis was off the lake at 10:16, p.m. Earlier on the water, Hann and two other SUPs drafted a voyageur canoe, making the long trip across the lake a little easier.

Augaitis meanwhile, had an ear-to-ear smile in the near perfect conditions on the lake.

At press time, there were four SUPs in the top 40 boats.

“They kinda killed it on the lake,” says Rekman. “These are real athletes.”

She says there was some skepticism about the SUPs’ ability to meet the cutoff time off Lake Laberge. With these fast times, the racers have put that to rest. Rekman thinks that with the success of this year’s racers, many more will come next year.

Rekman and Dye will be ready to provide whatever it is Augaitis and Hann might need in the seven-hour mandatory rest after they get off the water in Carmacks.

Hot and cold drinks will definitely be on the menu. Augaitis has asked for Coke. “Which she never drinks at home,” says Dye.

And Rekman thinks Hann will likely want to talk to his young family, who stayed home in B.C. There’s no magic formula to providing the best support for your crew. You ask the athlete what they think they want, and the rest, says Rekman, “Be creative.”

By MARISSA TIEL Star Sports Editor

Be the first to comment

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.