A new feature on the Yukon Quest Facebook page this year has been the regular appearance of riveting, dynamic video clips produced by Mark Gillett, of the United Kingdom, and his production company, Junglemoon Images. Gillett, on his website, describes himself as a "Photographer, Explorer, Adventurer and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society," and writes that he has owned his own business in the UK for 18 years and "essentially always worked for myself since the age of 17. My professional career has been in coaching, expeditions, travel and photography."
On the About page of his site, Gillett shares, "I have always been driven by adventure, wanting to know what is out there? What's next?"
On his blog Mark Gillett wrote about filming the Yukon Quest: "This year I have been lucky enough to work with this great race…. I travelled to the Yukon to cover another event in 2009 and 2011 and both times saw glimpses of the Quest. I was sucked in back then and now photographing it and producing video is just beautiful." And later, from Dawson City, "The relatively little known Yukon Quest is one of the most powerful events I have witnessed. I am here in the Yukon, Dawson City to be precise, and have travelled from Kuwait to London then Fairbanks to get here… I have been sucked in to this race already and cannot believe the performance of the mushers.. Tough, focussed, and basically the hardest human beings I have met."
Below this beautifully-paced video on the start of the 2012 Yukon Quest, edited by Tom Barber and with a haunting soundtrack, Gillett wrote: "This race gives a new meaning to high performance and the mushers incredibly tough people. Gluing finger cracks with Super Glue, sleeping out in -40, tackling mountains, ice flows, overflows with water everywhere. The mushers and their teams of Huskies are phenomenal. Watch the above video and post around as much as you can if you like it… The race needs support from everywhere not just Alaska and the Yukon."
In another post from Dawson City, A Night on the Quest, Gillett shared his thoughts more personally: "The quest seeps into my blood more each day. Having run endurance I understand their need to complete this. Their thirst for finishing, thirst for winning and their desire to push themselves to the limits of human endurance. The hardest part is the mental. They will be feeling exhausted and elated at the same time. Physically drained yet energised with the power of their achievement. Their minds will be playing games. "Why?" "What for?" "Never again" and usually only minutes after finishing in Whitehorse they will be talking of their next race….. But what makes these guys special is that they also need to care for their team . 12-14 dogs that need feeding, sleep and looking after. This make this event far tougher than met I have witnessed…. We have another week or so on the journey to Whitehorse and who knows who will take the prize. What is clear is that all are winners."
Follow all the videos of the 2012 Yukon Quest on YouTube, or find them posted at the YQ Facebook page.
Helen Hegener is an author and a documentary filmmaker specializing in distance sled dog races and the men, women and dogs who run them. This post originally appeared on her website, Northern Light Media. It has been republished with permission.