Garrick Schmidt also competed in the Canadian Challenge 10-dog race in 2023 and 2024. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

First time champion

Schmidt wins Canadian Challenge main 10-dog race

Feb 20, 2025 | 3:00 PM

Garrick Schmidt is the winner of the Canadian Challenge premiere 10-dog, 322-kilometer race.

Schmidt, a resident of Wawota, Sask., left La Ronge on Tuesday at 10 a.m. under extreme cold warning with the temperature hovering around -30 C with a -35 C wind chill value. By Wednesday at 5 p.m., five of the mushers who entered the 10-dog race had dropped out, leaving Schmidt, as well as Anna Bolvin and Dan Kirkup, as the remaining competitors.

When Schmidt reached the finish line back in La Ronge on Thursday at 12:50 p.m., he said he was feeling good. As the winner, he will receive a $3,179 prize.

“[I’m] full of energy and I still feel like this hasn’t become a real thing yet like it hasn’t set in,” he remarked.

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Schmidt has six years of mushing experience and he’s been competing in the Canadian Challenge since 2022. He participated in the 10-dog, 322-kilometer race in 2023 and 2024, but this marks the first time he will leave as the champion.

Not only did he have to struggle through the freezing temperatures, but Schmidt also sustained an injury on Wednesday evening during a mandatory break. He cut two of his fingers – cutting into the tendons in one – and was stitched up but still requires surgery.

“It just sucks because I like to ski pole with both [hands], like switch, and I couldn’t use my ski pole on it, so my right shoulder is really sore,” Schmidt added.

“I just like to help the dogs as much as I can.”

As for why there were so many mushers who dropped out of the race, Schmidt believes the cold weather had a lot to do with it. He noted some competitors came from the United States, where they don’t have experience mushing in such extreme conditions.

Schmidt competed in this year’s Canadian Challenge as a qualifier for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.

As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, Bolvin and Kirkup are neck-to-neck on the trail. They should reach La Ronge at about 4 p.m.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com