The extreme event held in the ice desert of the Yukon Territory started this weekend with the disciplines car handling and camp building. Together with former World Rally Champion Isolde Holderied, Hans had designed a two-kilometre course representing a true test for the competitor’s driving skills. A challenge the entrants had to cope with at the wheel of a 250bhp Toyota Camry.

The second contest followed in the afternoon of day one: the set-up of a protected and firmly anchored tent at a horse ranch located north to Whitehorse. A task that may sound simple, however, strong squalls, the frozen ground and temperatures of about -20°C made it anything but easy. With two disciplines completed, the German celebrity team, Birgit Fischer and Wigald Boning, held the lead.

The second day of the arctic multi-discipline battle started with an energy sapping contest: a semi-marathon on ice and snow took many of the entrants close to the limits of their stamina. And the fourth discipline turned out to be just as exhausting: the crossing of a canyon by means of a rope. The entrants had a maximum of five minutes to cross the 30 metre wide and 12 metre deep Miles Canyon. On day two, Simon Euler took the lead in the men’s category, with Dutch Olga van Kampen holding the lead in the women’s standings.

In the contests held on day three, a dogsled race and another vehicle competition, skilfulness was a must. At first, every competitor had to complete a mountainous 8.3-kilometre circuit with a six-Husky team to switch to another vehicle afterwards: At the wheel of a Toyota RAV4 off-road car, the entrants had to master a 3.5-kilometre mountain trail. With six disciplines contested, Simon Euler (Team Germany 2) still holds the lead in the men’s standings, with Team Canada’s Jay Cherian being the new leader in the women’s rankings.